Gaddis
will speak at banquet
By TOMMY PRIDDY, P-I Sports Editor
After three straight trips to the TSSAA Class 4A semifinals,
Henry County High School football coach Joe Gaddis has shown local sports
fans how to win a football game.
Gaddis will share his thoughts on winning football, great athletes and life
as the guest speaker for the 6:30 p.m. April 14 Paris-Henry County Sports
Hall of Fame banquet at the Paris Convention Center on East Wood Street.
The banquet is being held to induct five Henry County athletic greats into
the local Hall of Fame. The new inductees are Paula Carter Bell, Billy Lee
Howard Jr., Chris Hudgins, Lance Smith and the late Dan Robison Jr.
Tickets for the banquet cost $25. They are available at the law office of
William T. Looney at 127 N. Poplar St., Paris Insurance Agency at 203 W.
Wood St. and at Medical Center Pharmacy at 234 Tyson Ave.
A native of Jackson, Gaddis has been coaching high school football since
1983. He has made stops at Tullahoma, Oak Ridge, Pascagoula, Miss., and
Decatur, Ala., before coming to Henry County.
His 1991 Oak Ridge High School team was the 1991 TSSAA State champions. He
has received a dozen region Coach of the Year awards and was named the Coach
of Year in all three regions of Tennessee at different times during his
career.
Gaddis calls himself a program builder. He likes the challenge of taking
over a struggling program and building it into a winner.
He has done that in Henry County in building a combined 43-21 record in five
seasons. The Patriots had made one playoff appearance in the previous five
years before Gaddis arrived prior to the 2004 season.
In 2004, the Patriots went 2-8 before starting a run of four straight
playoff appearances. The playoff runs have ended in the semifinals the past
three seasons.
Last fall, the Patriots rolled to an undefeated 10-0 regular season, the
second in HCHS history. The Patriots would win three straight playoff games
before losing to eventual state champion Hillsboro 31-24 in Nashville.
Current Patriot seniors Marsalis Teague and Dominique Allen were recruited
nationally. Teague signed with the University of Tennessee and Allen chose
another Southeastern Conference powerhouse at Louisiana State University.
Gaddis’ wife, Donna, also teaches at HCHS. The 56-year-old Gaddis has an
adult daughter, Carrie, and a son, Joe. He has twin stepsons, Jacob and
Samuel Sutton. |