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Inman out, Hicks in as Panthers football coach




Former Portland East Middle School coach Hunter Hicks will take over as Portland High's new head football coach.

Former Portland East Middle School coach Hunter Hicks will take over as Portland High’s new head football coach.

Portland High School football coach Wes Inman submitted his resignation on Friday morning and was immediately replaced by Hunter Hicks as the Panthers’ new head coach.

Inman departed on his own terms to return to Gallatin High School, his alma mater, where he will serve as an assistant on new head coach Michael Stroup’s staff.

Hicks, a Portland native and member of the Panthers’ state championship club in 2000, assumes the head coaching duties after three seasons on Inman’s staff. Prior to that, Hicks had been head coach at Portland East Middle School. He also served a stint as head football coach at White House Heritage High School.

“As far as Coach Hicks is concerned, we are very fortunate to have such a great football mind here at our school that can step in and take over as head coach this late in the game,” PHS principal David Woods said. “He is a Portland graduate that played for Coach Perry on the 2000 State Championship team, so he knows what it takes to be competitive at the highest level in high school.”

 

 

Woods praised Hicks’ work ethic and coaching skills as someone who can continue to push the program forward.

“His work ethic and attention to detail is unmatched and I have all the confidence in the world that he will continue to take our football program to the next level we strive to go,” Woods said. “He has coached football at several middle schools and high schools ever since graduating from college and I know that coming home to lead the Panthers as their head coach has always been a dream and goal of his. I am super excited to see what coach Hicks and his teams will do in the seasons ahead.”

Inman had applied for the Green Wave head coaching job that went to Stroup, but the school was still interested in him as an assistant coach, a position he accepted before submitting his resignation in Portland on Friday.

Inman was the Panthers head coach for two seasons and had been on staff for three years altogether. Portland finished 6-6 in 2022 and won its first playoff game in 18 years under Inman’s guidance with a first-round victory over Memphis Southwind. In all, Inman was 10-13 in two seasons at the Panthers’ helm.

Coach Inman will finish teaching this semester and then transfer to Gallatin. I want to thank Coach” Inman for serving as head football coach the last two seasons,” Wood said. “He has done a fine job and really made some strides the last two years including winning a playoff game this year for the first time since 2004. I wish him nothing but the best moving forward. I am so thankful and appreciative of his leadership.”

Updated 12:00 p.m.; Jan. 27

“I am very grateful to Mr. (David) Woods and Portland High School for their incredible support through this decision,” Wes Inman said. “Like me returning to Gallatin, I know what this place (Portland) means to Hunter, and they are heading in a good direction because of that.”

Inman will continue to teach at Portland High School through the spring semester but will start traveling to Gallatin in the afternoons for workouts and will coach spring practice with the Green Wave before joining as a full-time teacher in the fall.

“I’m excited to work with coach Stroup,” Inman said. “We share the same important values, so I want to ensure I do a good job for him, the school and the community. I’m very excited.”

Inman’s specific coaching duties have not been determined, but with his knowledge on both sides of the football, it’s safe to assume the learning curve may not exist.

“I met with him one time and will say he has great structure, knows how to build a culture, accountability is important and he values hard work, which is the thing I like the most.”

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