Jerrell Cogmon fired as Stratford football coach

Michael Murphy
The Tennessean
Jerrell Cogmon

Jerrell Cogmon has been fired as a football coach at Stratford.

Cogmon, who was in his second season, was demoted following the Spartans' 34-12 season-opening loss to Christ Presbyterian Academy. Sanders remained on the coaching staff for the following two weeks — losses to both Hillsboro and Father Ryan. 

"I was demoted after the CPA game," Cogmon said. "We had been going through some stuff, differences of opinion with the executive principal (Mike Steele) on how we needed to run this program, and I was completely removed from the staff after the Ryan game."

Metro Nashville Public Schools athletic director Roosevelt Sanders confirmed the Cogmon's firing on Thursday. 

"I filed a grievance with MNPS, and after filing the grievance there isn't a whole lot that I can say with regards to that," Cogmon said. "I'm kind of just waiting on MNPS to go through the process and figure out where to go from there.

"I feel pretty confident about the whole thing."

Assistant coach Thomas Porter has coached Stratford in its last three games, including last week’s 41-14 win over Northwest. The Spartans (1-3) take on Region 5-3A rival East Nashville on Friday.

Cogmon, who was hired in April 2017, spent two seasons as an assistant under former Stratford coach Maurice Fitzgerald. He was promoted to head coach upon Fitzgerald’s departure to Hillsboro.

In addition to serving as a coach at Tampa-area schools Leto (2003-04) and Zephyrills (2008), Cogmon has also made numerous assistant-coaching stops, including stints as linebackers coach at TSU (2009-12) and offensive coordinator at Hillwood (2013-15).  

Reach Michael Murphy at mfmurphy@tennessean.com, 615-259-8026, and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.