Lynn Camp High School names Mark Huddleston as new head football coach

The Lynn Camp High School Football Team now has a new head coach.

Mark Huddleston was named the new head football coach at Lynn Camp High School Friday afternoon. He is seen with his wife, LeAnne Huddleston, and his daughter, Maci.

“I am very excited today to announce our new head football coach, Mr. Mark Huddleston. He comes highly decorated,” Lynn Camp Athletic Director Rob Ledington said during a late afternoon press conference in the school library.

Huddleston said that the mission statement for the program is to build men of character that will compete on and off the field for life.

“A lot of people judge success by wins and losses. We all want to win. We wouldn’t play the game if we didn’t. True success in the program is the type of people that leave the program. I want to see great husbands, fathers, community leaders and business people come from here, and be really proud of them. When you get your culture in line with that, the wins follow really quickly,” Huddleston. “Make no mistake about it that is where we are headed that is what we are going to do.”

X’s and O’s wise, Huddleston said that he plans to spread the ball around and get as many people involved as possible on offense.

“It’s a multiple defense. It is simple to learn. It is an attacking style defense. I enjoy bringing heat, but not at the risk of giving up a big play. It is very sound,” he added.

Huddleston comes to Lynn Camp from Knox Central where he has been teaching social studies and coaching the secondary, but has been involved in coaching for several years.

Ledington noted that when the school first started looking through resumes and applications, there were several well qualified candidates for the position.

“I reached out to some friends of mine in the coaching business … Every coach that I talked to, who I respected on the football side, said Coach Huddleston was an excellent coach,” Ledington noted.

Ledington said more importantly than that, when he was a coach at Whitley County several years ago he had the opportunity to be a collaborative teacher with Huddleston, who he described as an excellent teacher.

“Not only did we get an excellent football coach, but we got an excellent teacher. Above all that, he is a great man. To me that is the most important thing,” Ledington added. “He will be a great role model for our kids. He will be a great role model for our school and our program. He is going to give us a level of prestige that we like. I am excited to work with him.”

Principal Anthony Pennington noted that there was a great deal of interest in the job, and school officials talked with people in several states, including, Arizona, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

“When hiring a new coach, it isn’t always an easy task. You want to make sure you get the absolute best person for the job. In this case, I think we got the best man for the job,” Pennington said. “First and foremost, I wanted someone with great character, and someone, who was going to teach young men to be men. I wanted someone that had great character traits, and that came out in conversations that we had and in his interview what he wanted to do and he wanted to transform young men’s lives.”

“I think he is going to take us to the next level. I think he is going to maintain the pride and traditions we have here at Lynn Camp schools,” Pennington added.