Jason McCowan (standing) coached Cleveland's boys' basketball team for 12 seasons and won 239 games -- most in school history -- resigned his position Sunday to take a job with the Texas-Based Flippen Group. Reggie Tucker, seated third from left, has been named McCowan's successor.
photo by Dennis Norwood/File Photo
Jason McCowan officially resigned as the boys’ basketball coach at Cleveland High School on Sunday and his “right-hand man,” Reggie Tucker will take his place as leader of the highly successful Blue Raiders’ program.
McCowan has accepted a position with the Texas-based Flippen Group, which for 25 years has “leveraged neuroscience, psychometrics and adult-learning technologies to bring out the best in school districts, Fortune 500 businesses, government organizations and professional sports teams,” according to its website.
McCowan attended a Flippen-hosted conference in Texas shortly before taking the Blue Raiders to the 2019 boys’ state basketball tournament in Murfreesboro. However, the job offer didn’t come until last week, he said.
“I have never been presented with an opportunity like this one, never even thought about leaving Cleveland for another job. Coaching Cleveland basketball has been my dream job,” said McCowan, who turns 42 in August. “I wasn’t looking for anything and, in fact, was looking forward to (teachers) in-service this week and school starting the following week. I’m leaving a dream job for another dream job.”
Part of Flippen’s offer will allow the McCowans to remain living in Rhea County – in the original offer Flippen called for McCowan be based in Texas – and he will handle most of his full-time work responsibilities from home and travel to Texas one or two times a month.
“That was a big part of the (negotiations),” McCowan said. “We have a couple of kids that need solid family support and this provides us a better chance to do that without, primarily because I won’t be traveling as much as I did as a basketball coach. Flippen worked really well with us to make that happen.”
McCowan said met with the Cleveland players earlier on Sunday.
“I think they were surprised and shocked by the timing of all this since school starts in two weeks,” he said, “and that was all I was thinking about just a week ago. Reggie was officially introduced today and I’m thrilled about this passing of the torch. To leave Cleveland and have Reggie take over is great because he’s deserving and I know he’ll do an outstanding job.”
Tucker has been an assistant on McCowan’s staff since 2011 and the two are close friends. The 44-year-old Tucker is grateful for the opportunity to lead the Blue Raiders but admitted the manner in which he was given the job has been part of a “crazy 24 hours.”
“I’m just trying to take it all in,” Tucker said by telephone. “This is a sweet moment because Jason is one of my best friends and I’m trying to not make it about me but what he did for our school, basketball program and community.”
Tucker credited McCowan’s mentorship with preparing for taking on the challenge of becoming the Blue Raiders’ head coach.
“Definitely,” Tucker said. “We challenged each other to learn more and more about the game. He let me do my thing and I was never free to make my own decisions. Jason gave me free will to work through mistakes and, in that way, I was always learning. I’ve also grown as a person because our relationship has always been way more than basketball since I’ve been here.”
With good reason, Rucker has no plans to change much to the basketball program because the success McCowan had over his 12-year stint as Cleveland’s coach.
“We’re going to keep our culture in place,” he said. “We have guys that can flat-out play the game and we’ve got a couple of unbelievable leaders in JaCobi Wood and Grant Hurst. They all know what to expect. The transition will be easy. Jason did a great job managing people that is going to be my biggest focus.
McCowan, the winningest boys’ coach in Cleveland High School history with 239 victories, took over when Aaron Green left the Blue Raiders to become a graduation assistant at Tennessee. Green is now head coach at Oak Ridge High School.
McCowan had one losing season with the Blue Raiders, his first. Cleveland vacated 16 wins due to playing an ineligible player and finished 9-10. Two years later McCowan led the Blue Raiders to a 26-5 record that included district and region tournament championships.
Over the last two seasons Cleveland was a combined went 108-21 and McCowan’s last squad made its first state tournament appearance since 1997 when the Vincent-Yarbrough-led Blue Raiders captured their only state tournament title. The Blue Raiders went into the 2019 state tourney riding a 21-game winning streak but was thumped by powerful Memphis East, 77-51.
Cleveland’s 29 wins last season tied the school record set by the 1968-69 team.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)