Haywood names Germantown's Chris Smith head football coach

Haywood announced its new head football coach on Thursday as the administration named Germantown coach Chris Smith to the position. Smith has been at Germantown for the past four seasons.

"Haywood County has an excellent tradition of excellence in all athletics," Smith said. "They are one school, one town, one community. They have an excellent administration that cares about the student-athlete as a whole — academically and athletically."

Smith has a 21-game regular-season winning streak at Germantown, which outscored its opponents 481-151 last season.

The Red Devils lost in the Class 6A quarterfinals last season, going 12-1. Smith was 31-16 at Germantown and was named the National Football Foundation Rex Dockery Award winner in April.

"We left the program a lot better than I found it," Smith said. "We built a program here that can compete and be a state contender for years to come. We had 100 players in the offseason working out. I feel good about the state in which I am leaving it for someone."

Smith replaces Steve Hookfin, who took a job in Arkansas in mid-April. Hookfin coached the Tomcats for the past four years. He went 35-17 with Haywood with a state semifinal appearance in 2017 and a state championship appearance in 2018.

"The culture is set at Haywood," Smith said. "You have to come in and sell your vision. You want to keep all that you can keep intact. You have to work hard. You have to have coaches with good relationships with players, players have good relationships with coaches and players with good relationships with players. It is a continual process of striving to be a champion."

Haywood finished runner-up to Greeneville in the Class 4A state championship in 2018. The Tomcats graduate 31 players off of last year's roster.

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Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.