Patriots Open Spring Practice With New Faces on Staff

When the Jefferson County Patriots open spring football practice on Monday, there will be 3 new assistants on Head Coach Kenny Cobble’s staff. Some changes were made on the Coaching Staff, for a variety of reasons. Coaches departing the program were Logan Hollingshead, long term assistant Jonathan Brimer, and Offensive Coordinator Joey Wood. Cobble says while he hates to see those guys go, he is excited about the new staff and future of the program, “Its exciting, you get kind of a new shot, and some of our guys get a new shot.” Now meet those guys that get a ‘’new shot”.

Scott Branton
Staff Photo by Mike Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports

Scott Branton- Offensive Coordinator, QB Coach-

Scott Branton comes to Jefferson County after spending the last 4 years at IMAC foe Seymour High School as the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach. The previous 4 years before his time at Seymour, he was an assistant at NAIA School Pikeville College where he served as Offensive Coordinator in his final year.

The reason for leaving Seymour was a coaching change, but Branton says he knew Jefferson County was the place for him, “I felt at home, I felt at ease, and I felt like this was the place I needed to go to.” He also said they plan to run a balanced offense.

Heath Woods
Staff Photo by Mike Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports

Heath Woods- Linebackers Coach-

Most notable assistant on this year’s staff has to be new Linebackers Coach, Heath Woods. Woods was the head coach at nearby Carter High School for the past 12 years where he was 21-13 in his final 3 seasons. Woods says there comes a time for everything, “ There comes a time when you accomplish what you think you can at the time, and there comes a time when it’s somebody else’s time to do something.” He added “ And I think at Carter I had reached the pinnacle of what we could do there.” He says that Cobble, and Jefferson County, were among the very few schools that were even in consideration for his duties, “ From the get go one of the first people I talked to or even thought about talking to was Coach Cobble.” He added “Because of location, because I’m from East Tennessee, and I really like Coach Cobble and his staff.”

Derek Witt- Offensive Line/Defensive Line-

Derek Witt comes to Jefferson County after being the Head Football Coach at Karns High School. After leading Karns to 3 straight victories to end the 2010 season on an interim basis, he had that tag removed heading into the 2011 season when they went 6-5 and made and appearance in the 6A playoffs. Coach Witt was unavailable for comment at the time due to his role with the JCHS track and field team.

Head Coach Kenny Cobble plans for his players to become more complete players during the spring practice, “I want our kids to compete and learn the fact that every single rep counts, and take that mindset from the weight room to the classroom.” About the new coaches, Cobble is overwhelmed with excitement for the upcoming year, “I think we have a lot of experience coming on board , I’m really excited about what these guys bring to our staff.”

Jefferson County will end spring practice on May 19th with a scrimmage against Elizabethton at Leroy-Shannon Field in Dandridge.