SWEETWATER, Tenn. (WATE) — The Sweetwater Wildcats are coming off a 10-3 season and a quarterfinals appearance, but a new man will be hoping to exceed that in 2023.
“Sweetwater is very much like my hometown,” said new Sweetwater football head coach Caleb Slover. “I’m from Anderson County. It’s very much like that. It’s a tight nit community and very supportive of their football program, their school and their kids. It was just a great opportunity for me to be able to transfer. I got a son in high school. Just bringing him into a community that was kind of like what we grew up in, me and my wife. Always a huge interest there.”
Slover coached at Morristown East for four seasons before taking the job with Sweetwater.
“At first it was shaky just trying to learn all the new plays and everything,” said Sweetwater senior linebacker/running back Jayven Melton. “Now, it’s really starting to fall in as we get everybody back from other sports. It’s starting to snowball effect. It’s starting to come together.”
“It’s been pretty easy,” said Sweetwater senior linebacker/receiver Kai Correll. “It’s not been too bad. Most of the defensive plays have been the same, but offensive has changed, but it’s not too bad.”
The Wildcats expect to have a strong defense with a lot of talent returning. The offense will have some new faces at quarterback and running.
“Our new quarterback is our coach’s son, and he’s been pretty good,” said Correll. “(He’s) learned the playbook pretty good. We’ve been picking it up pretty good.”
Sweetwater starts its season on Aug. 18 at 7:30 against Sequoyah.
