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Hibdon credits his own mentors and coaches who shaped his career and taught him important skills and lessons along the way. His high school coaches taught him toughness, defense, basketball strategy, and reasoning. One in particular had a significant impact on his character development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCoach Jones at Riverdale taught me how to be a great person, great teammate, and to be a leader,\u201d Hibdon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ricky Field, a legendary multisport coach at Riverdale, coached Hibdon in youth sports and became the most influential voice in his early coaching career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe was like a second father to me for many years,\u201d Hibdon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hibdon also spent considerable time studying coaches Dean Smith and John Wooden and said he models much of his approach to culture-building on their principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His years at Blackman High School put him on the map as one of the best girls basketball coaches in the country. From 2006\u201315, he compiled an outstanding 199- 98 record with Blackman. His 2014 team was named national champion by USA Today, MaxPreps, and ESPN, and he received both the USA Today National Coach of the Year and the Naismith All-USA National Girls Basketball Coach of the Year awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2015, he led Blackman\u2019s Lady Blaze team to back-to-back state titles, winning in double overtime against Oakland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter we won, we were celebrating with our families and fans, and those former players proudly used the words, \u2018We did it, Coach.\u2019 That meant so much to me,\u201d Hibdon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He coaches his teams to work hard and stay consistent with their training, and he models that through his own life as an example to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cConsistency starts with commitment, and the head coach has to lead with consistency,\u201d Hibdon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were beaten a few times late in that 2015 game, and during a few timeouts I reminded them that we were built for this because of our daily habits and commitment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hibdon\u2019s career shifted to college coaching after a conversation with Liberty University Head Coach Carey Green led to an offer from Truett-McConnell University in North Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe honestly didn\u2019t think there was any chance we would take the job, but thought it would be a great weekend getaway in the mountains,\u201d Hibdon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He and his wife, Lea, left in tears, both sensing a clear call to go. From there, he coached at Trevecca Nazarene University before the desire to go back to high school coaching brought him to Tullahoma. Hibdon said he wanted to be more present for his children, Eli and Lydia, and a friend had recommended Tullahoma to their family. The Hibdons recognized that this was a great place to settle with a family, and were happy with the schools in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis was a family decision, as coaching college basketball was taking me away from being at home consistently while our children were growing so fast,\u201d Hibdon said. \u201cIt has been a joy and blessing for our family to become part of the Tullahoma community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hibdon has spent the past four years coaching the Tullahoma High School Lady Cats, which he says has been an awesome journey so far. In the 2025-26 season, Hibdon led the Lady Cats to their first state tournament appearance in 49 years, competing in the Class 3A tournament at Middle Tennessee State University and finishing the season ranked fifth in the state. He credits the support of Dr. Stephens, Coach Olive, and the Tullahoma High School administration, as well as assistant coaches Amy, Rob, and TT. Hibdon\u2019s basketball program runs on four pillars: Give, Grow, Love, Win. He said the last one \u2014 winning \u2014 is simply a byproduct of the first three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost of the stories I tell from the past are from the players who were not the \u2018superstars\u2019 on the team \u2014 they were the players that understood their role, worked really hard, and made major impacts on the culture and court,\u201d Hibdon said. GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Coach Chad Hibdon, head coach of the Lady Cats at Tullahoma High School, has built championship-level programs throughout his career. Hibdon\u2019s record as a coach is impressive, but his character is even greater than his biggest wins. Hibdon grew up in Lascassas, where he attended Oakland High School for three years before transferring to Riverdale […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":25428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[6,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-tullahoma"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/08\/1-4-1024x683.jpg\")
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