BRISTOL, Tenn. — Tennessee High interim football coach Matt Chandler has Bristol running through his veins.
A graduate of Virginia High, Chandler never would have believed that he would be coaching across the state line one day at his archrival.
“If you would have asked me back in the late 1980s, I would have never dreamed this would be what happened in my life,” Chandler said. “God had a plan and it’s been 20 years here now for me. The V-T game will not be played this year and that was something that was always hard for me.”
Chandler is in his 20th season of coaching for the Vikings and 30th overall. He’s also had coaching stints at John Battle in Virginia and at Sullivan East.
But Tennessee High has always had a special place in his heart.
“I’ve been a Viking so long now that when we played the V-T game, I wanted to put it on them,” he said. “My dad was a Tennessee High grad and coached here while my mom was a Virginia High grad. Growing up, I used to come to games with my dad here and driving by (the Stone Castle), I was always in awe of it and how cool of a place it was.”
Taking over for Mike Mays is no easy task, but Chandler and his staff have been together for so long that the cohesion is already well-established. Mays is now the strength and conditioning coach for the entire school system and still provides plenty of help to his old friend.
“I thought I knew a lot about football in my 10 years prior to coming here, but when I was under Greg Stubbs, I learned so much,” Chandler said. “Mike is really one of the best friends I have and to get to be his defensive coordinator for eight years was great.
“In the 20 years I’ve worked here, I’ve worked with a lot of quality people that love helping young people become men.”
The Vikings finished last season 5-6 and lost in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs at home to Knox Halls. The schedule is no easier this year, starting off the season with Dobyns-Bennett and Pulaski County (Va.) in the Stone Castle.
The new league also presents some challenges as Region 1-5A has five times and that means the Vikings have had to find a plethora of non-region games.
In addition to D-B and Pulaski, Tennessee High will be hosting Karns and Abingdon (Va.). The road games include trips to Volunteer and the new West Ridge.
“It’s a weird alignment because there’s five teams and the top four go to the playoffs,” he said. “We are playing teams that we typically don’t play in order to play the other six games.”
