Sounds like you know your area history well. Going back and looking the records were better than I thought but mostly still beating Upper East TN schools. Ballard sounds like he came/was promoted at the right time.
I do think it’s no coincidence that them keeping the HCs as guys who were former guys on the staff. Too many times schools want a “state championship” leveled coach from the outside but they don’t know the landscape. Promoting from within will help with less turnover and keep the program consistent.