Clarksville Academy football hires former Smith County, Nashville Metro coach Scott Murray to lead program

George Robinson
Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle

Clarksville Academy has named Scott Murray as its football coach. Murray takes over for John Crosby, who resigned last month after two seasons with the Cougars.

Murray, 49, has more than 25 years of coaching experience. He was dismissed last fall at Smith County after going 11-12 in two seasons and is 29-65 in nine seasons as a head coach. He also coached at Hunters Lane, Whites Creek and Glencliff. He also coached at Cumberland University.

"I'm excited about this opportunity," Murray said Tuesday. "I'm excited because this is going to be my last stop and I wanted this to be a good fit. I wanted my last stop to be somewhere I felt good about. Clarksville Academy is a place I feel good about."

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Murray inherits a program that hasn't had a winning season since 2014 and has hired its third coach in six years.

Clarksville Academy didn't win a game on the field last fall, competing in Division II-A Middle. Its only win came from a COVID-19 forfeit against Fayette Academy. The Cougars' final two games were canceled when players tested positive for the virus.

"The two goals we had for this position was, No. 1, head coaching experience and No. 2, someone who could be in the building," Clarksville Academy athletics director Jake Peterson said. "Coach Murray will work in our PE department, but we knew we needed someone who knows how to run a program, knows how to sustain it and can still build."

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Scott Murray talks with the Clarksville Academy fans during his introductory press conference as the new football coach Tuesday, June, 8, 2021 in Clarksville.

Murray's recent run as a coach has been a rollercoaster ride. He took Smith County to two playoff appearances. His seven combined years at Hunters Lane, Whites Creek and Glencliff resulted in an 18-53 record.

"I've been in a lot of places," Murray said. "I've coached in the city, I've been in the rural towns, I've been an assistant and a head coach and we've done some good things everywhere I've been. And along that way, we've made some mistakes and we've learned from those mistakes."

Murray said he felt Smith County (a Class 3A school) was moving in the right direction and was stunned when the school dismissed him in November.

"I felt we had a wonderful thing going," he said. "We were 8-2 in region play in the last two years with our only (region) loss to Upperman (both years). We had three playoff games, one of which we won and the other was an overtime loss (to Brainerd last year)."

Although Murray said Clarksville Academy will be his last coaching stop, he never considered retiring after Smith County. He briefly accepted an assistant's role as the wide receivers coach at Wilson Central.

"Wilson Central knew if I had a better offer somewhere else that I would look at taking it," Murray said. "I joined Wilson Central and helped out during their spring football, so they were understanding when I took the Clarksville Academy job."

Murray said his goal is to build a consistent winner with the Cougars that can compete for region titles and eventually state championships.

"Everyone has a calling," he said. "This is my calling. This is what I'm supposed to do. I'm still passionate about it. I still love it. I'm still a young coach, I'm only 49 and I have a lot of goals. One of those is building an elite program here."

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Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com or (931) 245-0747 and on Twitter @Cville_Sports