Top 15 high school coaching jobs in Gibson County during 2024-25 school year

By Michael Odom | June 25, 2025 |

Milan’s Wade Comer

Over the past two weeks we have looked back at the most memorable games and top teams from the 2024-25 school year in Gibson County.

Now, we will look at which Gibson County high school coaches did the best job leading their teams during the past year.

Here are the top 15 in Gibson County to do it in 2024-25:

1. Wade Comer (Milan football) – After making the move from McKenzie to Bulldog country, Comer put a banner year together in his inaugural season. The Bulldogs played for the Class 2A state championship, losing to Marion County 17-7 in the title game. After losing to Jackson Central-Merry in Week 5, Milan rattled off 10 straight wins to reach the title game, going 13-2 on the season. Milan avenged that loss to JCM with a 14-7 overtime win in the Class 2A second round. Running back Jaydon Peete won the Tennessee Titans Mr. Football award for Class 2A and was the 2024 All-Gibson County Football player of the year.

2. Lynn Doles (Milan softball) – In his first season in charge of the Lady Bulldogs, Doles led Milan to the Class 2A state tournament. Milan went 25-13 with five of those losses coming against Westview. They were the District 14-2A and Region 7-2A runners-up to Westview. Milan went on the road and beat Lakeland Prep 15-0 to advance to the state tournament.

3. Drew Pirtle (South Gibson boys basketball) – The Hornets lost some key players from the 2023-24 season, but in his first year, Pirtle had the team tie for the District 13-3A regular season championship. South Gibson went 19-13 after finishing third in District 13-3A but losing to Haywood in the Region 7-3A quarterfinals.

4. Phillip Tyler (Bradford baseball) – For the third time in four years, Tyler led the Red Devils to the Class 1A baseball state tournament, and they finished in the top six. Not many expected this to be the year for Bradford to make a run, but the team finished as the District 13-1A runner-up and Region 7-1A runner-up.

5. Catie Embrey (South Gibson girls basketball) – Embrey led the Lady Hornets to the Class 3A state semifinals for the third straight season. South Gibson went 28-9 and finished as the District 13-3A and Region 7-3A runner-up. The Lady Hornets were the only team to beat Westview – the Class 2A state champions – this season. South Gibson beat Munford 59-6 in sectionals and beat Cocke County 43-39 in the state quarterfinals.

6. Ethan Ellis (South GIbson girls soccer) – Ellis helped lead the Lady Hornets to the Class 2A state tournament for the seventh straight season. South Gibson won the District 13-AA and Region 7-AA championships before beating Munford 6-1 to head back to the state tournament. The Lady Hornets won 11 straight matches before the loss in the state quarterfinals to Signal Mountain.

7. Todd Sheppard (Gibson County volleyball) – In his final season in charge before stepping down, Sheppard led the Lady Pioneers to the Class A state tournament for the third straight season. Gibson County finished with a 33-9 record, winning the District 13-A and Region 7-A championships before beating Middle College 3-0 in sectionals. Hannah Prestininzi was named the 2024 All-Gibson County volleyball player of the year.

8. Ron Abernathy (Humboldt boys basketball) – Abernathy helped lead the Vikings back to the Class 1A state semifinals before losing to the defending state champions Chattanooga Prep. But Humboldt fought hard in those semifinals. Humboldt won the District 13-1A and Region 7-1A championships and finished 29-6 overall. Kendrick Taylor hit a put back at the buzzer to beat Memphis Academy of Science & Engineering 51-49 in sectionals and beat North Greene 54-35 in the state quarterfinals.

9. Lin Cates (South Gibson baseball) – Cates led the Hornets to the Class 3A state tournament for the fourth straight season, and they managed to get back into the top six. The Hornets went 34-11 and finished in the Class 3A semifinals. South Gibson was put on the same half of the bracket as eventual champion Greeneville. The Hornets beat them to force a second semifinal game but couldn’t get the second win to get to the championship game. South Gibson was the District 13-3A runner-up but won the Region 7-3A championship over Dyer County before sweeping Covington in two games in the Class 3A sectionals.

10. Michael Hart (Peabody boys basketball) – Hart helped the Golden Tide return to the Class 2A sectionals, but they fell one win short of a spot in the Class 2A state tournament. Peabody finished as the District 14-2A runner-up to Westview and the Region 7-2A runner-up to Jackson Central-Merry. The team lost to Memphis Business 69-61 in sectionals to end the season with a 24-8 record.

11. Taylor Paterson (Milan baseball) – In his first season as a head coach, Paterson kept the Bulldogs competitive with Class 2A teams across the area. Milan finished the season 18-18 as the team got hot at district play. Paterson led Milan to a runner-up finish in District 14-2A and Region 7-2A runner-up.

12. Mitch Wilkins (Gibson County girls basketball) – Wilkins continued to show the Lady Pioneers as one of the premier programs in West Tennessee. The Lady Pioneers made a postseason run to the Class 2A sectionals before losing to Memphis Business. The loss left Gibson County one win short of a sixth straight state tournament appearance. Gibson County went 24-11 as the team finished as the District 14-2A and Region 7-2A runner-up behind Westview.

13. Tyler Barber (Bradford girls basketball) – In his first season in charge of the Lady Red Devils, Barber got the most out of his young team as they finished fourth in District 13-1A and finished the season with an 8-20 record. Bradford returns most of last year’s team that will try to get to the region tournament.

14. Ryan Mansfield (West Carroll girls basketball) – In his first year in charge of the Lady War Eagles, Mansfield got the team back to the Region 7-1A quarterfinals. West Carroll won two games on the season, but the second came in the district quarterfinals to put the team into the region tournament.

15. Terrell Green (Humboldt girls basketball) – For the second straight season, Green got the Lady Vikings back to the Region 7-1A quarterfinals. Humboldt played a tough early-season schedule, but finished runner-up in District 13-1A in the regular season and in the tournament to earn a home game in the region quarterfinals.

Michael Odom is the sports editor for the Mirror-Exchange, Weakley County Press, Brownsville States-Graphic and Fayette Falcon. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @GCSportsWriter. Reach him by email at michaelodom@milanmirrorexchange.com.