Best High School Football Coaches in State History

[BBest]

What about these?

 

1) Dickson HS coach Charlie Daniel from 1977-1986

Wins-81 losses-29 with a State Champinoship in 1980

Under Coach Daniel Dickson HS was always tough and competitive. A true powerhouse under his tenure.

 

2) Randy Thomas at Springfield HS was very talented and charismatic (who can forget the hat he wore?).Coached from 1993-2002. Winning a State ring in 93, his teams were always exciting to watch and very physical. His record faded toward the end but I believe the school was bumped in classification? Either way he did 'alot' with a little while there.

 

3) Coutras while at Overton, a legend

 

4) Milan coach John Tucker from 1969-1993

wins-225 losses-61 ties-2

[KWoodroof]

What about these?

 

1) Dickson HS coach Charlie Daniel from 1977-1986

Wins-81 losses-29 with a State Champinoship in 1980

Under Coach Daniel Dickson HS was always tough and competitive. A true powerhouse under his tenure.

 

2) Randy Thomas at Springfield HS was very talented and charismatic (who can forget the hat he wore?).Coached from 1993-2002. Winning a State ring in 93, his teams were always exciting to watch and very physical. His record faded toward the end but I believe the school was bumped in classification? Either way he did 'alot' with a little while there.

 

3) Coutras while at Overton, a legend

 

4) Milan coach John Tucker from 1969-1993

wins-225 losses-61 ties-2

The only one I'm familiar with is Coutras, and he was a great one, and a very fine man beyond that. He coached at a time of real giants in Nashville football.

 

But if you're going to mention Springfiled, surely you have to mention Boyce Smith. From the website http://tntcarden.com/tree/ensor/SHS.html

 

"Smith coached football at Springfield High School for forty-four years (1928- 1972), winning 288 games, losing 116, and tying 34. His teams in 1935, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1942, and 1943 finished the season undefeated. At one point Smith's Spring- field team won an amazing thirty-two straight games. He led his team to fourteen bowl games, compiling a 10-1-3 record, and in 1937 his team led the nation in scoring and was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not as "Point a Minute Team." Smith also coached basketball for thirty years from 1928-1958."

Edited May 2, 2011 by KWoodroof

[rapidjohn]

What about these?

 

1) Dickson HS coach Charlie Daniel from 1977-1986

Wins-81 losses-29 with a State Champinoship in 1980

Under Coach Daniel Dickson HS was always tough and competitive. A true powerhouse under his tenure.

 

2) Randy Thomas at Springfield HS was very talented and charismatic (who can forget the hat he wore?).Coached from 1993-2002. Winning a State ring in 93, his teams were always exciting to watch and very physical. His record faded toward the end but I believe the school was bumped in classification? Either way he did 'alot' with a little while there.

 

3) Coutras while at Overton, a legend

 

4) Milan coach John Tucker from 1969-1993

wins-225 losses-61 ties-2

 

Dickson Co. was super during that period..............but the coach was Jerry Pearson when they won the State

[bounder]

Been reading for a while and thought Jack Armstrong of Oak Ridge might fit.

1955-1967 4 state championships, 3 undefeated seasons and 1 National Championship.

Just saying

[REBELRON]

Emory Hale was pretty darn good.

[KWoodroof]

I don't know how you'd ever establish the criteria for answering this question, much less get agreement, But it's been a lot of fun reading about some great coaches, especially some of the ones I'm not familiar with.

[REBELRON]

Other great ones were

 

 

Benny Monroe. 3 titles in a row at Cleveland

 

Sam Anderson. He had great talent at AE but they were well coached also.

 

Ken Colquette. Marion County hasn't been the same since he left.

[BBest]

Dickson Co. was super during that period..............but the coach was Jerry Pearson when they won the State

 

 

Wow, I was unaware of this. Did Coach Daniel leave and return? I played against those guys 85-87 in the "Town and Country" bowl. They were always competitive. Thanks for the info.

[BBest]

The only one I'm familiar with is Coutras, and he was a great one, and a very fine man beyond that. He coached at a time of real giants in Nashville football.

 

But if you're going to mention Springfiled, surely you have to mention Boyce Smith. From the website http://tntcarden.com/tree/ensor/SHS.html

 

"Smith coached football at Springfield High School for forty-four years (1928- 1972), winning 288 games, losing 116, and tying 34. His teams in 1935, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1942, and 1943 finished the season undefeated. At one point Smith's Spring- field team won an amazing thirty-two straight games. He led his team to fourteen bowl games, compiling a 10-1-3 record, and in 1937 his team led the nation in scoring and was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not as "Point a Minute Team." Smith also coached basketball for thirty years from 1928-1958."

 

Yeah KW, I played in the Boyce Smith Youth football league during the 70's. Springfield would take up the ENTIRE field with players during warm-ups. Their 11 and 12 yr old youth teams must have dressed about 60 kids. Boyce Smith made Springfield a football town. Sad to see the lack of support the community gives the school now.

[KWoodroof]

Yeah KW, I played in the Boyce Smith Youth football league during the 70's. Springfield would take up the ENTIRE field with players during warm-ups. Their 11 and 12 yr old youth teams must have dressed about 60 kids. Boyce Smith made Springfield a football town. Sad to see the lack of support the community gives the school now.

In the pre-playoff days, I saw one of the wildest game I've ever seen at the Blanket Bowl in Springfield. Nashville Cumberland and Clarksville Burt played, and while the schools brought decent crowds, the place was filled with people from Springfield who just wanted to see good football. I went to several bowl games prior to the play-offs, and the only game that attracted more was the Clinic Bowl at Vanderbilt. Of course, you have to be fairly old to remember these.

[BBest]

In the pre-playoff days, I saw one of the wildest game I've ever seen at the Blanket Bowl in Springfield. Nashville Cumberland and Clarksville Burt played, and while the schools brought decent crowds, the place was filled with people from Springfield who just wanted to see good football. I went to several bowl games prior to the play-offs, and the only game that attracted more was the Clinic Bowl at Vanderbilt. Of course, you have to be fairly old to remember these.

 

Not quite that old. I do however remember the largest crowd I have seen being the State Championship at Vandy where I believe Gallatin played Lincoln Co.It seemed the crowd was larger than those the Commodores were drawing at that time.I forget the name of Lincoln Co.'s coach, but they too were a respectable program for a lenghty period. I wonder what the record attendance is for a Championship game? Also, Father Ryan and Maplewood's regular season battles drew large crowds.

[KWoodroof]

Not quite that old. I do however remember the largest crowd I have seen being the State Championship at Vandy where I believe Gallatin played Lincoln Co.It seemed the crowd was larger than those the Commodores were drawing at that time.I forget the name of Lincoln Co.'s coach, but they too were a respectable program for a lenghty period. I wonder what the record attendance is for a Championship game? Also, Father Ryan and Maplewood's regular season battles drew large crowds.

It used to be that one or two games a year might be moved to Vanderbilt to accomodate bigger crowds. I remember that the '71 MBA-Ryan game, with both teams 9-0, drew a crowd estimated between 23,000-26,000, depending on which paper you read. Maplewood-Ryan was a great rivalry for a while, after an epic playoff game in '74.

 

In an effort to stay on topic, you could probably throw Donnelly (Ryan) and Elrod (Maplewood) in for consideration here.