Scott Blade named Lipscomb Academy defensive coordinator, returns to Nashville area football scene

Scott Blade is returning to the Nashville area high school football scene.

The former head coach who won TSSAA state titles at Independence and Hillsboro was announced as Lipscomb Academy’s defensive coordinator Friday.  

Blade, 50, led Hillsboro to the 2008 Class 4A state championship and Independence to the 2015 Class 5A state title. He held a 146-57 coaching record when he left Independence in 2021 for a career outside of coaching and teaching. 

He is the second former head coach to join Lipscomb Academy as an assistant since the school hired new coach Jamie Graham in December to replace Kevin Mawae. Graham also hired former Antioch coach Devin Arnold, a past Lipscomb assistant who will be the Mustangs’ director of football operations.

Blade was a big winner in each of his Tennessee coaching stops. 

Independence’s 15-0 Class 5A state championship season in 2015 remains the program’s only state championship. The Eagles went 14-1 the following season and were state runners-up to Farragut in Class 5A. 

Blade was 74-37 in nine seasons at Independence and never missed the playoffs.  Before that, he went 35-15 from 2009-12 at Oak Ridge with one state semifinal appearance. 

He was 37-5 at Hillsboro from 2006-08 and led the Burros to the 2008 Class 4A state title. That had been Metro Nashville Public Schools’ most recent state title until Pearl-Cohn won the Class 4A championship this past season. 

More:Lipscomb Academy football hires UAB assistant, Vanderbilt star Jamie Graham as next coach

Lipscomb’s staff overhaul stems from its mutual agreement to part ways with Mawae following the 2023 season, after the Mustangs were placed on restrictive probation and removed from the Division II-AAA playoffs. The TSSAA deemed the school violated its recruiting rule when an assistant exchanged text messages with a former parent who said he no longer was eligible for need-based aid. That assistant is no longer on Lipscomb's staff.

Lipscomb Academy is banned from the 2024 playoffs but is taking steps toward having the ban lifted. In December, headmaster Brad Schultz presented the TSSAA with measures the school is taking to ensure it won’t violate rules in the future, including the hiring of an athletics compliance officer and educating coaches about TSSAA violations. 

Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.