How Scott Cummings became Lenoir City's football coach, a year after after coaching Oak Ridge

Scott Cummings had been a football coach for 21 straight years, dating back to 2002. 

The streak ended this year after resigning from Oak Ridge after one season. 

“I've told everybody during this past year that my wife actually likes me again,” Cummings joked when contacted by Knox News on Tuesday. “I tell her all the time how much more domesticated I am but I think she's ready for me to get back out.”

Cummings will return to the sidelines in 2024 after Lenoir City announced he was hired as its new coach.

“These are people I want to be around,” Cummings said. “Their commitment to athletics, football in particular and to make things right for me to be able to go there means a lot. Like I tell them I just want to be around people that I want to go in every day and enjoy."

He replaces interim coach Mike Zeller who led the Panthers to a 7-5 season. 

Why Lenoir City

Cummings said he did not seek out a coaching job in 2023. He continued teaching at Oak Ridge and enjoyed watching his son finish his senior season at West, which won the Class 5A state championship. 

Lenoir City along with a few other schools contacted him. 

“When you've been doing this as long as I have now, people know how to get in touch with me,” Cummings said. “Lenoir City did that, they impressed me with with just everything, you know, their whole recruiting pitch.”

Cummings said that Lenoir City had looked good as it reached the Class 5A second round in 2023. He said that his new team returns a lot of starters on the defensive end and that the scheme should remain similar. 

The offense is a different scenario as it will need to change after star tailback and safety Trey Wilhite who rushed for 1,770 yards and 22 touchdowns finished his senior season.

“I anticipate as the offense is getting their feet wet, learning how to play in a different scheme the defense I'm sure will need to lead us,” Cummings said. 

Last stop at Oak Ridge

In his lone season with Oak Ridge, the Wildcats finished 7-6, reaching the Class 5A quarterfinals.

Prior to Oak Ridge, Cummings coached at Knoxville Halls from 2019-21. He also coached at Cleveland for four years and Knoxville West for 13 years, winning the program's first state championship in 2014.

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After he resigned from Oak Ridge, Cummings told Knox News that he was told that the direction of the program was “in question” and that he was surprised that can be determined in one year. 

“You wouldn’t think that one year would be enough time to evaluate and make a decision on the direction of the program,” Cummings said on Dec. 16, 2022. “Think it’s like anything — football is a people business and sometimes people can’t see eye to eye. That’s probably in this case, at the end of the day, the result of that.”

When asked how he has grown since his time coaching Oak Ridge, Cummings said that he can’t say “he’s a different person” now. 

“It's just a right place right time or wrong place wrong time,” Cummings said. 

In less than two years, Lenoir City has hired its third coach. Before Zeller became the interim, the Panthers were led by Gary Dugger who was fired over “unprofessional conduct,” the athletic director said in a statement.

Toyloy Brown III is a Knox News sports reporter. Email toyloy.brown@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter, @TJ3rd_.