Greeneville senior Ty Youngblood holds offers from Navy, Air Force, Richmond and ETSU. (Photo by Danny Parker)
Greeneville graduated 27 seniors off last season’s powerhouse 4A state championship football team.
These weren’t just any old seniors.
Consider the collective totals of quarterback Cade Ballard, wide receiver Dorien Goddard and running back Jaevon Gillespie as the Greene Devils went 15-0 to claim their second-consecutive state crown.
The senior trio combined for 6,422 yards from scrimmage and accounted for 92 touchdowns as Greeneville averaged 51 points a game.
Longtime assistant Dan Hammonds takes over for Caine Ballard, who resigned after leading the Greene Devils to their second-consecutive undefeated season in 2018.
Hammonds is charged with the task of replacing a legendary coach and rebuilding a historic team.
Ballard went 122-15 in 10 seasons at Greeneville and won four state championships.
Greeneville enters the 2019 season riding a 30-game winning streak.
Hammonds said the Greene Devils will no doubt have a new look in 2019 without several longtime staples of the program, but he’s optimistic Greeneville can be a state contender once again.
“(We’ve lost) a lot of people who have been so committed to the program for so long,” said Hammonds.
“The leadership of players like Cade was so huge, but this group of seniors we have now has been waiting their turn and they definitely have something to prove. They seem hungry.”
On the heels of spring practice, here are some things to watch for as the Greene Devils start the countdown to the 2019 season.
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