Photo: Will Wolfe, recently named new football coach at DeSoto Central, meets parents and supporters of the Jags’ program during a Meet and Greet Wednesday night. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
A successful head coach in Tennessee and at Hernando, new DeSoto Central football coach Will Wolfe wants to bring the same success to Central Parkway.
Wolfe, who has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Lafayette High School in Oxford, recently returned to head coaching of the Jaguars. Wednesday night, he met with parents of his players for the first time, talking about his program and the off season ahead of the 2024 season.
His Hernando teams were 41-51 in eight seasons and made the 6A playoffs three times. The Tigers were 8-4 in 2016 and were 7-5 in 2020. But after Hernando made the playoffs for a second straight time in 2021, Wolfe stepped away from head coaching to assist head coach Michael Fair’s program at Lafayette. He remained on staff last season as an assistant when Anthony Hart returned to Lafayette to become the Commodores’ head coach.
Wolfe said he was excited to be back in DeSoto County.
“I enjoyed my time at Lafayette, but DeSoto County’s home to me now,” Wolfe said. “It was just an opportunity that was too good to pass up. I love the area and I love DeSoto County Schools. I felt like this was something I needed to do.”
The new Jaguars’ coach knows how to win. Prior to Hernando, Wolfe was the head coach at Brighton, Tennessee High School, where with the Cardinals he became the winningest coach in school history with a 62-27 record.
In 2011, the Cardinals were 9-1, undefeated in district play, and made the second round of the TSSAA 3A football playoffs. He was named Class 3A District 13 Coach of the Year three times and coached in five All-Star Games.
Now on the job in his first week at DeSoto Central, Wolfe is pleased with the progress the team has made in a short period of time.
Parents listen as new DeSoto Central football coach Will Wolfe introduces himself at a Meet and Greet Wednesday night. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
“We’re getting in the weight room and starting our off-season program,” he said. “The guys are doing great and working hard. We’re going to try and get better every day and that’s all you can ask them to do. I’ll be really excited to see what we look like in 3-4 months.”
Turning the Jaguars’ football team into a winning program and getting them past the first round of the postseason is now the task at hand for Wolfe and his coaching staff. Four DeSoto County schools made their respective playoffs in 6A and 7A last season, including DeSoto Central, but none of them made it past the first round. The Jags were 5-7 overall, but lost five of its last seven games, including a 34-14 playoff loss at Tupelo.
Wolfe believes he can push the Jaguars a little deeper into the postseason.
“DeSoto Central has been good in the past and those guys who were here before me did a good job,” Wolfe noted. “We’ve just gotta try to get over that hump. We’re going to try to do the little things right.”
He may know, after working on the staffs of Lafayette coach Fair and Hart, how to make that happen. Fair coached the Commodores for seven seasons and the Commodores reached the playoffs in six of the those years, including a 4A state title his first year in 2016.
Hart, who took over last season when Fair moved to Grenada, won back-to-back state titles when he coached Lafayette previously in 2010 and 2011.
“It was great to work for them, two guys who have won multiple state championships,” Wolfe said. “It was a blessing that with this little hiatus I took, I was able to look at and work with two guys who were as successful as they have been in high school football.”
