Top 15 Gibson County high school coaching jobs for 2025-26 season

By Michael Odom | June 16, 2026 |

Milan baseball coach Taylor Paterson led the Bulldogs to the Class 2A state championship, the program’s first state title in 22 years.

Last week, we looked at the top 15 most memorable high school games from the 2025-26 season in Gibson County. This week, we will look at the top 15 coaching jobs in Gibson County.

This is a look at the coaches that reached new heights, or maybe they got the most out of their platers.

1. Taylor Paterson (Milan baseball) – Paterson led the Bulldogs to the Class 2A state championship, the program’s first state championship in 22 years. After finishing as the District 12-2A runner-up, Milan won the Region 7-2A championship and swept Riverside in a Class 2A sectional series to advance to the state tournament. The Bulldogs then went 4-0 in the state tournament, ending with a 3-0 win over White House-Heritage in the title game. Milan went 29-10-1.

2. Drew Pirtle (South Gibson boys basketball) – Pirtle led the Hornets to the program’s first-ever Class 3A state tournament berth. South Gibson made three previous trips to the Class 3A sectionals but couldn’t make the trip to state, but a District 13-3A championship and Region 7-3A championship helped lead the team to a 23-10 record.

3. Ben Johnson (South Gibson football) – Johnson helped lead the Hornets to the Class 4A state semifinals for the first time in program history. After three trips to the state quarterfinals previously, South Gibson beat Springfield 27-21 in overtime this year to advance to the state semifinals. The Hornets finished with a 10-4 record.

4. Ethan Ellis (South Gibson boys soccer) – Ellis led the Hornets to the Class AA state semifinals for the first time in program history. South Gibson scored its first goal in the state tournament in the Class AA quarterfinals when the Hornets beat Signal Mountain 2-1 to advance to the state semifinals. South Gibson went 17-4-2, finishing runner-up in District 13-AA and Region 7-AA.

5. Marcus Butler (Humboldt boys basketball) – Butler with the guidance of Ron Abernathy led the Vikings to the Class 1A state championship game. The Vikings won the District 13-1A and Region 7-1A championships on the way to qualifying for the state tournament. Humboldt beat Unaka in the quarterfinals before Jakevious Graves hit a 3-pointer to beat previously unbeaten Eagleville in the semifinals. Humboldt finished with a 23-7 record.

6. Perry Page (Bradford softball) – Page helped lead the Lady Red Devils to the program’s first Region 7-1A championship and the first-ever berth into the Class 1A state tournament. Bradford beat Dresden 5-3 to win the first region title, and the team went on to finish with a 15-14 record in his first season in charge.

7. Ethan Ellis (South Gibson girls soccer) – Ellis led the Lady Hornets to the Class AA state quarterfinals for the eighth straight season. After graduating a strong senior class, South Gibson fought this past season to a 13-7 and finished as the District 13-AA and Region 7-AA runner-up before beating Millington to advance to the state tournament.

8. Lin Cates (South Gibson baseball) – After advancing to the Class 3A state tournament for four straight seasons, the Hornets were hit hard by injuries. Three key pitchers went down with season-ending injuries during the regular season. South Gibson still went 21-12 and finished as the No. 2 seed going into the District 13-3A tournament, where the Hornets finished third.

9. Molly Anderson (Milan girls soccer) – Anderson led the Lady Bulldogs to the first winning season in program history. Milan won seven matches last season, which was the most wins in program history. The Lady Bulldogs won four straight matches early in the season and then won three straight late to reach the District 14-A semifinals.

10. Wade Comer (Milan football) – Comer led the Bulldogs to the Class 2A semifinals. Milan won the first 12 games of the season, including an undefeated regular season. The Bulldogs beat Memphis Academy of Science & Engineering, Mt. Pleasant, and East Nashville to reach the state semifinals before losing to Huntingdon 35-34. Milan finished with a 12-1 record.

11. Mitch Wilkins (Gibson County girls basketball) – Wilkins helped lead the Lady Pioneers back to the Class 2A state tournament in his final season as head coach, as he retired at the end of the season. Gibson County finished as the District 14-2A runner-up but fought back to win the Region 7-2A championship. Gibson County finished with a 25-10 record.

12. Jason James (Milan boys basketball) – James helped lead the Bulldogs to the Class 2A sectionals for the third time in five years. Milan won the District 12-2A and Region 6-2A championships, earning the right to host a sectional for the second time in those five years. Milan finished the season with a 17-11 record.

13. Phillip Tyler (Bradford baseball) – After graduating a strong senior class, Tyler helped lead the Red Devils to the Region 7-1A semifinals. Bradford finished as the District 13-1A runner-up, but the team did force a second championship game in the district tournament against Halls. Bradford finished with a 14-24 record.

14. Michael Hart (Peabody boys basketball) – Hart led the Golden Tide back to the Class 2A state tournament for the first time since 2022. Peabody finished as the District 14-2A and Region 7-2A runner-up behind Westview, but the team went on the road to beat Memphis East in a Class 2A sectional. Peabody finished the season with a 25-7 record.

15. Katie Lucas (Gibson County volleyball) – Lucas led the Lady Pioneers back to the Class A state tournament for the fourth straight season. Gibson County won the District 13-1A and Region 7-1A championships on the way to finishing the season with a 27-12 record.

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.