Westview hires former UT Martin quarterback Jarod Neal as new football coach

Michael Odom
Jackson Sun

Former UT Martin quarterback Jarod Neal is coming back to Martin as Westview has named him its new football coach.

"Going through the hiring process, we have a lot of great defensive guys on our staff, so we were looking at offensive guys," Westview Principal Jeromy Davidson said. "He interviewed quite well, and the couple of folks I talked to about his character were complimentary. This guy is going to be leading our kids, a figurehead in our community and interviewed by people, so you want to make sure the guy that is going to be representing you is of good character."

Neal comes back to Martin after being an assistant coach at Siegel the past two seasons.

"I have a lot of friends here, and this is home as well, as I was here for five years, met my wife here and got married here," Neal said. "I felt like God was leading us back. This is the second year in a row that it opened up, and this was the second year in a row that I was contacted by people in the community that I knew. It felt right."

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Neal replaces Matt McConnell, who left to become the head coach at Camden.

Neal will try to institute some of the lessons that he learned the past two years at Siegel in the program at Westview.

"Practice habits of moving fast and giving it everything that you have got and letting that translate onto the field," Neal said about what he will bring with him. "It is about growing men from boys. That way when they leave Westview, they can become good community members and good men, good husbands, good fathers."

Westview went from 2-8 in 2018 to 6-5 this past season, and that is a trend that Neal wants to continue by building on what was successful last season.

Neal played at UT Martin under Jason Simpson, and he was a three-year starter at quarterback (2013-15). As a senior, Neal, a native of Hendersonville, threw for 3,117 yards and 30 touchdowns to go along with 208 rushing yards.

Simpson's son Ty Simpson, a sophomore, is a two-year starting quarterback for the Chargers and threw for 1,770 yards and 18 touchdowns last season.

"I have seen film on Ty, and he is a great player," Neal said. "I look forward to trying to help him continue to grow."

Neal remembers Ty Simpson being around practice during his years at UT Martin as much as he could be. He even got to help Ty with his throw back then before he hit middle school.

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