Gallatin football hires USJ coach Michael Stroup

University School of Jackson football coach Michael Stroup has resigned and is coming to Middle Tennessee to take over at Gallatin.

Stroup was named the Green Wave coach, Gallatin principal Ron Becker confirmed to The Tennessean. He replaces Chad Watson, who resigned to be named the football coach at first-year school Kirkwood, which opens this fall in Clarksville.

"It's the tradition of their football program and the success they've had over the years," said Stroup on the lure of Gallatin. "It's a football town. I've always had a dream to coach on the highest level of high school football and this is an opportunity to do that."

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Stroup spent the past six seasons at USJ, competing in Division II-A, going 51-23 with TSSAA state runner-up finishes to Davidson Academy in 2019 and 2020. The Bruins finished 10-2 this past season, losing to Friendship Christian 24-20 in the state semifinals. USJ is moving up to DII-AA next season because of its increased enrollment.

"It's tough (to leave) because you've formed relationships with kids and parents and the community," Stroup said. "It's not easy."

Prior to coaching at USJ, he went 24-22 in four seasons at Scotts Hill and led the program to its first playoff win against Loretto in 2014. Stroup's top season with the Lions came in 2016 when they went 9-4, losing to Waverly 20-14 in the Class 2A state quarterfinals.

Gallatin is coming off a 4-7 season in which the Green Wave finished the year with four straight losses, including a 48-0 Class 6A first-round playoff loss to Cane Ridge.

The Green Wave will remain in Class 6A the next two seasons while Sumner County rivals Beech and Hendersonville drop to Class 5A. Gallatin will compete in Region 4-6A next season with Green Hill, Lebanon, Mt. Juliet, Warren County and Wilson Central. However, if the Green Wave are able to reach the playoffs, they would line up with Region 3-6A, which includes three-time defending state champion Oakland.

"I think the biggest challenge is going in and establishing relationships," Stroup said. "There is a lot of work to be done before you can talk about postseason play and how far you want to go. There's relationships and team building and things of that nature.

"Once you lay that foundation, all that other stuff will come."

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.