Andy Scott tabbed to lead LaFayette football
LaFayette High School announced this past Wednesday morning that Andy Scott had been named as the school’s new head football coach. Scott is the 37th head coach of the Ramblers, dating back to 1923.
Scott replaces Paul Ellis, who stepped down this spring after three seasons and a 12-18 overall record. Ellis led LaFayette to the state playoffs this past fall, marking the program’s first playoff appearance in 27 seasons.
It’s the third head coaching job for Scott, who previously led the program at then-Class 3A Perry High School from the 2005 through the 2009 seasons. He also guided the program at Kennesaw Mountain High School from 2012 to 2017. The Mustangs were a Class 6A program for four of his seasons there and designated as Class 7A for two.
Mostly recently, Scott was a linebackers coach and the defensive coordinator at Class 5A Hiram High School in Paulding County.
“As principal of LaFayette High
School, it is an honor for my administrative team to bring Andy Scott on board as the new head football coach at LHS,” said Maggie Stultz. “He will be immediately joining a driven and competitive coaching staff already in place here. Our current coaching staff in place at LHS is truly committed to working to develop the ‘whole athlete’.
“That expectation starts in the classroom with academic excellence, is developed in the respective weight rooms, and finishes up with a committed focus and team drive for a tradition of winning on and off the field at Jack King Stadium.”
Scott said one of the main things that was attractive about the LaFayette job was the opportunity to coach in and be part of a city that loves and supports its local high school and its sports teams.
“I think everybody that knows me knows I’ve always wanted to be in this area,” he explained. “I think this is a gold mine job in relation to a small town where everything in the community focuses and centers around the school. Being a part of a community that cares about the school and cares about athletics has always been a big draw for me.”
While at Perry, Scott led the Panthers to the second round of the state playoffs in his first season as head coach. They were eliminated in the first round the following year, but his 2007 team finished 9-4 and reeled off seven straight wins before a two-point loss at North
Hall in the state quarterfinals. He also served for a time as Perry’s Athletic Director.
His coaching career began in 1993 and has also included stints as his alma mater, Warren County (Tenn.) High School in Tennessee (Class of 1988), Middle Tennessee State University, where he was a graduate assistant working with the defensive line, Troup County, Coffee County, Walnut Grove and Lee County.
“I’ve been very busy,” he said. “I’ve been a head coach and an athletic director. I’ve been an offensive coordinator, a defensive coordinator, a special teams coordinator, a weight room guy, a field maintenance guy, an equipment guy, and I even hold a CDL, so I can drive the bus, if needed.”
Scott said one of his goals was to build a communitywide program, from the recreation level to the middle school and up to the high school.
“I do believe that if we make a huge investment with our rec program and with our middle school program, we’ll be able to build our program from within,” he added. “If we can develop those kids, have a good weight program and practice in the right way, that will (give) us an opportunity on Friday nights to win more games. That’s my goal, that’s my vision and that’s what I told the kids.”
He said building relationships with players was another big priority for him as a coach because of his own upbringing.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for the coaches that coached me,” he recalled. “I was a guy that came from a single-parent home. My dad
wasn’t as involved as I would have liked, so my coaches were my dads. That’s the reason I do what I do, because of the people that coached me.
“I love developing kids physically, mentally, spiritually, socially and emotionally. I think that’s what our job entails and that’s what we’re supposed to do as coaches at the high school level. I’m excited about doing it in a place where, like I said, everything revolves around the school.”
He said he had done his homework about the personnel that LaFayette had coming back for the 2021 season and that while he certainly wants to see Rambler football succeed, he wants to see success on the football field spill over to all sports at LHS.
“I believe we have the players here to compete in the playoffs on a year-toyear basis, but obviously, we’ve got to get out of our own region first and that’s going to be something we have to really focus on from day one,” he said. “I want us to be really good at football, but I also want us to win at every other sport that we compete in.”
Scott added that he is a big proponent of multisport athletes that go from football into basketball or wrestling and on into spring sports, like baseball and track, over the course of a school year.
“I think the involvement in the athletic department is something that really excites me, trying to help everybody be successful,” he continued. “Obviously, we want to win football games and that’s very important and if I don’t win enough, I won’t be here very long. But at the end of the day,
it’s a holistic approach to help everybody succeed. That’s the key to what I’m trying to build.”
He said LaFayette fans can expect fast and aggressive play, but more than anything, he wants the Ramblers to be known as a team that gives full effort all the time.
“When people see us play, I want them to say ‘man, those kids really hustle, they’re disciplined and they don’t beat themselves’,” he said. “I want to be fun to watch on offense. We’re going to play up-tempo and no-huddle on offense so we can dictate the tempo of the game. We’re going to try to be aggressive on defense and on special teams, but we want people to come watch us and be excited about how hard our kids play and how disciplined and structured we are in what we do.”
Scott added that the immediate goal is to try to get some semblance of spring practice going before the end of the year to use as a springboard into the summer, but that it would boil down to how quickly he can move into and get settled into the LaFayette area.
A native of McMinnville, Tenn., Scott played both baseball and football at Warren County High and later attended Memphis State and MTSU, where he played football. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education, a Master’s degree in Exercise Science and taught Physical Education at Hiram and he and his wife of 27 years, Claudia, have one son, Justin, who graduated from Kennesaw Mountain High School.