Tennessee high school football never lacks excitement, even when it comes to new classification assignments.
On Oct. 5, the TSSAA published its final football classifications for the 2027-29 cycle, including a handful of Nashville area programs that will occupy new classes while others opt for non-region schedules that remove them from TSSAA playoffs.
Here are the moves that will have the biggest impact on the high school football scene over the next two years.
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Pearl-Cohn moves down to 2A
The Firebirds have played in 4A since 2021 and have dominated. In that stretch, they've
gone 63-18, made three appearances in the state title game, and won a state championship in 2023, posting a perfect 15-0 record.
This season, it's sitting at 4-3, playing one of the harder schedules in the state and have picked up wins against Springfield, Bartlett, CPA and Kenwood. Given how battle-tested this team has been over the last half-decade, the Firebirds could do serious damage in 2A.
Pearl-Cohn has not lost to a program lower than 3A since the establishment of the six-class system in Division I in 2009. The last time Pearl-Cohn lost to a 3A team was Milan on Nov. 27, 2020, 27-13, in 3A playoffs.
East Nashville moves down to 1A
Another program that has been punching above its weight class for the last few years is East Nashville.
It moved to 2A in 2025 and has a combined record of 10-9 in 2A. The Eagles will go to 1A with their enrollment of 337, making them the fourth-largest school in that classification. The program played in 3A from 2015 to 2024 and made the state title game three straight years (2021-2023), losing to Alcoa each time.
Like Pearl-Cohn, East Nashville will be a force in 1A for the next two years, given the program's success and experience and could have a chance to raise its first state title in program history.
Glencliff returns to region play
After two seasons of non-region play, Glencliff is back, playing in 4A for the first time since 2022.
The Colts opted for a non-region schedule for the 2023-2025 cycle after a 2-5 finish in their first season in 5A. Glencliff is 0-16 over these last two seasons as a freelance program, having not won a game since Aug. 30, 2024, a 41-6 victory over RePublic, which also has not fielded a football program since then.
Glencliff is the only program returning to non-region play as multiple programs in both divisions leave. Nine teams in Division II will play non-region schedules and six teams in Division I will do the same.
Zion Christian Academy opts for another year in non-region play
While eight schools in Division II have newly opted into non-region schedules for the next two years, Zion Christianis the only program that will play two consecutive cycles in non-region competition.
The Eagles were originally assigned to play in DII-A, which would be their first season in 11-man region play since 2018. Zion Christian went from TSSAA in 2018 to non-region (2019-2020) and TSIAA eight-man football (2021-2024) before returning to TSSAA and 11-man football in 2025. This season the Eagles are 2-4.
They will have more teams to schedule for this cycle, after Clarksville Academy, First Assembly Christian Academy and Mt. Juliet Christian Academy also opted to leave DII-A for non-region play.
Reach The Tennessean's high school writer, Jack Williams at jackwilliams@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform @jackgwilliams.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA football classification shakeup sees Pearl-Cohn, East Nashville move down
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