Being a football coach is not a task done by the faint of heart, or those not willing to get their hands dirty.
It is usually a thankless job that comes with much responsibility from, “Are the jerseys washed for tomorrow’s practice or game?” to making sure 90-plus players are fed on game day. Being a head football coach is not just about X’s and O’s, it is about being a leader for future husbands, fathers and community leaders and no one takes that more seriously than newly appointed Kosciusko Whippet head football coach Chad Peterson.
He not only wants to lead the Whippets to new heights on the grid iron, but also he wants the young men who come through the program to be better men.
“We want to make this program a really good, well-rounded program from academics to what we put on the field,” Peterson said. “Coach (Trac) Baughn had the program rolling really good and I just want to be able to continue that. There is a tradition of winning here and hopefully we can continue anfigure out how to get past that third round in the playoffs.”
Coach Peterson, who is a third cousin to former Whippet and current Brandon High School head football coach Tyler Peterson, graduated from Starkville Academy in 1994. He went to Delta State on a football scholarship in 1994 where he played center for one year before transferring to East Mississippi Community College in 1995.
After his sophomore year at EMCC he transferred to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he finished out his final two years of eligibility by playing center for the Ragin’ Cajuns’. Peterson didn’t quite finish his degree and went into the private sector for a few years before earning his degree from Mississippi State University in 2009.
He coached for four years at Starkville Academy under then head coach Jeff Terrill, who was the head coach at Kosciusko from the late 80s until the mid 90s. From there he became the offensive line/defensive line coach at Noxapater in 2013 before coming on board with Baughn at Kosciusko in 2014 as the offensive coordinator.
“I learned so much about life and how to be a better man under (Jeff) Terrill”, Peterson added. “He taught me so much about many other things outside of football that I am so thankful for. I learned so much under coach (Trac) Baughn as well with his knowledge of the game and I am thankful for the opportunity I had to coach with him, he was a heck of a coach.”
Peterson, 40, has four children in the Kosciusko Separate School District; Manly who is a senior, Madelynn who is a junior and Ella and Camp, who are in the seventh and fifth grades respectively.
“It’s quite an honor to get to coach my oldest son Manly in his senior year,” he said. “I am glad this happened like it did so I would be able to do that.”
Manly is a key component on the Whippet offensive line for 2016, as he was in 2015, and will be counted on to make all the line calls and alignments when he is on the field.
After winning at least 10 games a year for the last two years under Baughn, Peterson understands that the community will be looking for more of the same when the Whippets suit up for the 2016 season.
“I understand and know what the community expects from the football team and we are going to do everything we can to ensure that we continue to be a winner while teaching these young men how to be leaders as well,” Peterson said.
