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Puckett heads to West Tennessee

By GARY JOHNSON ~ Sports Writer
Posted 6/18/22

Shelbyville Central head football coach Josh Puckett resigned earlier this week after taking over the program two years ago. He has been named the head baseball coach at Haywood County and will also …

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Puckett heads to West Tennessee

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Shelbyville Central head football coach Josh Puckett resigned earlier this week after taking over the program two years ago.
He has been named the head baseball coach at Haywood County and will also be an assistant football coach.
Puckett came to Shelbyville Central after winning the Class A state championship in 2019 at Lake County.
He posted a combined 12-9 record at Shelbyville Central.
His decision to leave the Golden Eagle football program was two-fold.
"Most importantly, my two boys (Campbell and Cayden) are back in west Tennessee going to UTM and this is an opportunity for the wife and I to be closer to them. We are empty-nesters for the first time and we've found that's not the easiest thing so being back closer to the boys will be great," Puckett said. "Secondly, I've coached at Haywood County before and it's a place that I really liked. I've always kind of envisioned myself going back there one day, truthfully in the role of the head football coach. I think this puts me a step closer to doing that one day in the future."
Shelbyville Central and this community will forever be a place Puckett and his family will cherish and he has developed lifelong friendships over the past two years but it's the memories of the student athletes he coached that he will treasure the most.
"The relationships with the kids I had here is what I'm gonna miss the most. We had some great kids in Shelbyville that I will never forget," Puckett
said.
"We've become close to several adults and families while we were here and Shelbyville has a lot of good people. We went through some tough times while we were here in Shelbyville, dealing with COVID and the illness of Cayden among other things, and I don't think we could have gotten through all of it if we had been anywhere else. The people were caring and supportive and that will never be forgotten."
"This football program has a great chance to win a state championship, especially if the numbers put them back in Class 5A," Puckett said.
Interviews are underway for his replacement.