Independence Head Football Coach Scott Blade is resigning his position after 9 years.
Scott Blade is responsible for a 5A State Championship in 2015 and coached many Division 1 and NFL Athletes. He is a 7-time region coach of the year and to this point one of the most decorated coaches in Tennessee high school history.
He was extremely important to Independence High School. The community, his coworkers and students appreciated his leadership.
Dr. Niki Patton, the principal stated, “Coach Blade has certainly been an integral part of Indy Nation. He has established and propelled our football program to an elite level, and our goal for his replacement is to continue to build upon the championship culture that Coach Blade has cultivated. We are sad to see Coach Blade go, but we are still excited about our returning players and our program’s future.”
What he accomplished prior at Oak Ridge and Hillsboro translated to The Eagles and he brought a winning culture with him. He finishes his tenure with a 66% winning percentage at the school.
“I have to say that this was a shock to all of us hearing that coach Blade was stepping down,” says assistant coach Jeff Veeder, “I was lucky and honored that Scott asked me to come out here from California to run the defense for him here at Indy. He’s obviously a Tennessee legend, not only for what he did here at Independence but for the fact that he revolutionized football throughout the state. When he came here, a good number of teams were still running the Wing-T, and he brought his version of the spread offense and dramatically changed everything.”
