AFTER 29 years and a state championship title, John Olive retired as head football coach of Tullahoma High School. In his last season coaching, Tullahoma went 15-0, beating Elizabethton 21-14 in double overtime in the Class 4A state championship game. Olive leaves behind a well-respected football program and a more than capable coaching staff.
Tullahoma Wildcat defensive coordinator Coy Sisk has been named the team’s new head coach and Olive’s replacement. Sisk has been an assistant coach at Tullahoma since 2014. Though this will be his first undertaking as an official head coach, Sisk has extensive experience coaching high school football, specifically in this region. He has coached in Coffee County, Marshall County, Lincoln County, and Tullahoma. Sisk expressed that this advancement to head coach feels like a natural progression. He shared how Olive had been mentoring and grooming him for the position, for what feels like years.
Sisk, a 1993 Lincoln County High School graduate, played on his school’s state championship team his junior year, making him no stranger to success. He later attended Maryville College and Middle Tennessee State University, where he earned physical and secondary education degrees. Both Sisk and his wife Amy are educators within the Tullahoma School System.
Sisk acknowledged the question that the greater half of our community has been asking, “Does Sisk realize the enormous shoes he has to fill with coach Olive leaving the program?” Sisk answered, “Absolutely. Coach Olive has been here since 1993.” However, Sisk continued, “Do I think it will be hard to follow coach Olive? No, because coach Olivie has paved the way. It’s an honor to follow behind him because the foundation is in place, and the bar is set at a certain level. Now, my job and our coaches’ job is to maintain that level of excellence or try to surpass it.
Our main focus is maintaining that same level of growing young men and women.”
Maintaining those high standards will be Sisk’s most significant challenge as the new head coach. However, he jokingly shared what he considered his greatest asset. He said, “I’ve got big shoulders. I can handle it. It’s my job as head coach now, to bear that pressure. If you play for me, I don’t want you to feel pressure. That’s my role. It’s my duty to make you a better football player. It’s your job to play football.”
With the next football season quickly approaching, Sisk shared what seems like record- breaking numbers for the football team. He confirmed that 103 players have signed up for the 2022-2023 football season. Excitement for football season is through the roof. Our community eagerly waits for that first Friday night when the band’s drumline can be heard all along Jackson Street. The announcer roars overhead, “It’s football time in Tennessee! Welcome to the field, our Tullahoma Wildcats!” GN
