Warren County Middle School didn’t have to look far to fill its open football head coach position. Adam Wood will be the next head coach for the Pioneers, replacing Greg Cotten after he left to take a position with the Warren County High School team.
Wood served as an assistant coach last season for the Pioneers and also coaches the 7-8 grade WCMS boys basketball team.
Wood was a walk-on with the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders and recently returned to Warren County to work closely with coach Cotten last season as the Pioneers finished with a 7-3 record and won two bowl games.
Warren County Middle School athletic director Kristie Rogers is sad to see coach Cotten leave, but thinks the team can continue to thrive with Wood at the helm.
“Coach Cotten has had an outstanding run with us and we hate to lose him as a coach, but we get to keep him as a teacher,” said Rogers. “We have nothing but great expectations for Adam and we think he’ll do an awesome job.”
Coach Cotten took over the Warren County Middle School football team four years ago and didn’t win a game his first season.
Then, he presided over one of the most successful three-year runs in the program’s history to become the all-time winningest coach in school history.
Coach Cotten has decided to help a different set of Pioneers next season as he has accepted a full-time position to coach the defensive line for the Warren County High School team.
Cotten has also accepted a position with the Knoxville Nighthawks, an indoor football team playing its inaugural season this spring.
Though the decision was a tough one, coach Cotten felt the time to move was now.
“I’ve always wanted to coach high school football,” said Cotten. “These past four years have been amazing, but I think the time is right for me to move on.”
Wood will take over a program that has developed nicely in the past four years under Cotten. In 2009, the Pioneers claimed the Central Tennessee Conference title with a six-win season. Last year, the Pioneers won seven games, the second-highest total in school history.
The Warren County Middle School football team will continue to compete in the Central Tennessee Conference and play an eight-game schedule.
The team is currently going through offseason conditioning and will begin spring practice in May.