Mark Peach speaks at his introductory press conference Friday after being named the Danville head coach after one season at Trigg County. [Danville Schools Photo]
Trigg County wanted to move its football program in a new direction shortly before COVID-19 struck in 2020. One year later, the program will be taking a new direction once again.
In a move that didn’t surprise many, Mark Peach left Trigg County after one season to take the Danville job. I mean, let’s face it. The Danville job isn’t the best one in the state right now, but it’s the equivalent of an SEC job coming open. Whether it’s Tennessee, Ole Miss, or South Carolina, it’s still a top job in college football. Danville is the same thing.
Peach has ties to both Danville and central Kentucky. He takes over a Danville program that cut ties with successful coach Clay Clevenger. However, one postseason win since winning a 2017 state title wasn’t enough for him to keep his job. Peach also has to coach across town from Boyle County High School, which has won two state titles in the past four years.
As far as Trigg County goes, two big questions are on the horizon for the program.
First, what direction will the program take? When Joe Jaggers left in 1976, Trigg County followed with Joe Harrel and Danny Maxberry who both coached just one season. Dixie Jones was promoted to head coach in 1979 and roamed the sidelines for 20 seasons, winning 97 games and leading Trigg County to the 1989 state title game.
Trigg County opted to go outside the program to replace Jones in 1999, hiring Curtis Higgins. He stayed at Trigg for eight seasons, winning 69 games, and still has the highest winning percentage [.726] of any Wildcat football coach.
Trigg’s next two coaches were homegrown products who played under Jones and coached under Higgins. Shannon Burcham won 26 games in four seasons before making the move to the high school principal job.
Coby Lewis coached nine seasons and was perhaps dealt the toughest hand since Jones’ Wildcat teams were placed in the same district as Mayfield in the early 1980s.
Trigg County was bumped to Class 3A when Lewis took over in 2011. The Wildcats were put into the same district with Paducah Tilghman, a team they have never beaten, and Caldwell County, a team they haven’t beaten since 2012. Caldwell County has since dropped to Class 2A.
After averaging five wins and winning just one playoff game in nine seasons, Trigg County moved on from Lewis in 2020.
Trigg County only has one coach on its staff with head coaching experience – Dixie Jones. The school has posted the position which gives anyone 30 days to apply for the position and makes it unlikely they will promote from within.
There are several interesting names being tossed about, some with prior success at the schools where they coached. Will Trigg go outside the program again? Will they look to hire within?
Second, will the new coach be able to put a defense on the field that can be competitive with Tilghman and Union County? The offense wasn’t a problem under Peach. The Wildcats averaged 31 points a game, 10th best in program history and third-best since the departure of Higgins in 2006.
However, Trigg County allowed 41 points a game – second-most by a Trigg County team. In fact, Trigg County has allowed 30 points or more in five of the past six seasons. The Wildcats gave up 63 and 53 points in two losses to Paducah Tilghman last year and allowed 48 points to district champion Union County.
The pieces are there for the new coach. The defense returns three of its top four tacklers from 2020. Kendric Adams led the team as a junior. Jhaden Vaughn and Dillion Skinner both had three interceptions.
The Wildcats return a 1,500-yard passer in Jacob Wease, leading rusher Adams, and four of its top five returning receivers.
Trigg also has talent returning upfront.
With the coaching change happening in the spring, there aren’t many dominoes left among head coaches. Paducah Tilghman, Warren Central, and Crittenden County have already had openings and filled them. Like Trigg County, the Christian County head coaching job is open.
Because of COVID-19, there was no spring football practice last year. Trigg’s job becoming open in April puts the new coach immediately behind the 8-ball. The program can’t afford a second straight year of no spring practice under the guidance of the head coach.
Despite the lack of spring practice and summer 7-on-7 games, Peach was able to slot the players in the correct positions throughout the season. All indications are, there will be a summer 7-on-7 schedule which will give the new coach more preseason preparation than last year.
With a talented group of underclassmen scheduled to return and an upgraded weight room facility, the Trigg County job is an attractive one. But for the first time in 42 years, the Trigg County football program is going through a stretch of three coaches in three seasons.
Whether they look inside or gamble again by going outside, there will be a lot of eyes watching this hiring process given the talent cycle Trigg County has going in its favor right now.
The new coach is expected to be named in early May.
