After nearly three months and several rounds of interviews the Sheridan School District named Tyler Turner as their next head football coach at Monday night’s school board meeting. Turner will replace Larry McBroom, who resigned earlier this year. His resignation was accepted on February 23, 2022 by the school board.
Since that time a search for the next head coach has been ongoing with many in the community getting frustrated at the length of time it took to name a head coach. Others have been frustrated that their favorite candidate wasn’t selected.
Many rumors made their way around regarding several top-tier head coaches that were allegedly tied to the search, in addition to rumors of coaches being seen on campus and in the locker room. Depending on who you talk to depends on the answer you get regarding those coaches and whether or not they were ever actually in consideration for the job or on campus at some point in time or not.
As the process entered Monday night’s regularly scheduled meeting frustration had sat in with many of the Yellowjacket faithful. They wanted a football coach. This reporter had parents of student-athletes contact him saying the program was “being held hostage” with the search approaching its third month.
Friday afternoon I began to hear word that Superintendent Karla Neathery was allegedly narrowing her list down to a final candidate. Monday morning multiple sources informed me that it was very likely that a coach would be hired at Monday night’s meeting.
Those sources were accurate.
Following a short executive session during Monday night’s meeting Turner was announced as the next head football coach of the Sheridan Yellowjackets.
Neathery spoke to Deltaplex News and said he is a player’s coach, and “the perfect person” to take the program to a new level.
Turner certainly comes to Sheridan with an impressive record. He has compiled a 75-20 record, averaging 10.7 wins per year. He has a 15-7 record in the playoffs and has led to teams to either the state championship game or semi-finals six of his seven years as a head coach. His teams have a 37-7 conference record. He has had 33 players sign to play college football, including 13 Division I signees.
Turner also has a history of turning around football programs that have had losing records, which is a quality that several board members told Deltaplex News they were looking for in their next head coach, and two of his most impressive jobs include Olive Branch, Mississippi and Goodpasture Christian School in Madison, Tennessee.
At Olive Branch, Turner inherited a team with a 14-game losing streak and orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in the history of Mississippi high school football. In his first year at Olive Branch, his team went 12-2, was ranked No. 3 in the state, and its only two losses were both to the eventual Class 5A state champion. Olive Branch outscored opponents 463-199 compared to the previous year when they were outscored 177-381. In three years at Olive Branch, his teams were 33-8 compared to 11-23 in the three years prior to his arrival.
In one year at Goodpasture Christian School in Madison, Tenn., he went 9-3. Goodpasture had gone 7-26 in the three years before he arrived. In one year at Jackson Prep in Flowood, Miss., he took a team with three returning starters and went 8-5 and advanced to the state semifinals, setting numerous school offensive records in the process.
For a program like Sheridan that has only had four winning seasons in the past 40 years hiring a head coach that has turned two programs around certainly looks like a move in the right direction.
Turner will have his work cut out for him, but it is a job that can be done. There is talent at Sheridan. There is a desire to win at Sheridan, and there is a community that supports football at Sheridan.
That support will be needed moving forward as upgraded facilities – to include an indoor facility – are severely needed at Sheridan. Coaches that have spoken with Deltaplex News regarding this search have all stated that the lack of an indoor facility was a major concern for them, and is something they feel is needed as soon as possible.
Despite the lack of an indoor facility at Sheridan there is a team full of players that have shown great work ethic during the offseason by putting up record numbers in the weight room.
Now, it is time to allow Tyler Turner to take advantage of that work ethic as he prepares to go to work to show what he can do in YJNation, and hopefully those much needed upgraded facilities will come soon!
