This story has been updated to reflect an inaccurate subhead
With the TSSAA football season rapidly approaching, everybody’s an expert.
Here are five hot takes from Tennessean high school sports writer Tyler Palmateer heading into the 2026 Tennessee high school football season.
A coaching legend will retire or resign
One of the area’s longtime veterans will either retire or find a new job after the season. Think along these lines: Coaches who’ve been around and have nothing more to prove at their current school. Oakland coach Kevin Creasy is entering his 19th season and has won nine state titles. Page coach Charles Rathbone finally won a state title last season, and his son, Jacob, is entering his freshman season at Central Arkansas; by 2027, will Rathbone want to start watching him
play? Friendship Christian’s John McNeal has been at the school for nearly four decades across two stints and has four state titles. You get the idea.
Clarksville will win its first playoff game since 2022
Coach Isaac Shelby and the Wildcats have won their region the last three years, but it hasn’t culminated with a playoff win. Clarksville hasn’t won a TSSAA football playoff game since 2022, and there have been some heartbreaking finishes. Last year’s team graduated key pieces — namely running back Jamarcus Watkins, quarterback Kayden Pledger and linebacker Dawson Smith — but this group will find a way somehow.
Lebanon will regain the Wilson Country crown
Senior running back Gyan Ezeta will have a huge season, and the Blue Devils will win their first region championship since 2021 by holding off Green Hill and Mt. Juliet in Region 4-6A.
No Region 6-6A team will make it out of the second round
Brentwood and Ravenwood will be solid — and no offense to Shelbyville and the other Williamson County teams in Region 6-6A — but no team in this region will reach the state quarterfinals. Region 6 matches up Regions 7 and 8 in the second round, and the Memphis-area powers like Collierville, Houston, Germantown, Southwind and Whitehaven will prevail.
Pearl-Cohn will snap Alcoa’s streak of 11 state titles
Something at Pearl-Cohn’s workouts thus far is making it feel like a special season. So, let’s step out on a limb here. Pearl-Cohn brings back a bunch of stars. Alcoa beat Pearl-Cohn by double digits in last year’s Class 4A state final, but the Firebirds won’t be as starstruck when they return this time. Tony Brunetti and Pearl-Cohn will stop the nation’s longest 11-man football state title streak in the nation.
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.
He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 5 TSSAA football hot takes entering the 2026 high school season
