Hayden High School has selected Steve Kerby, currently the offensive coordinator at Austin High School in Decatur, as the Wildcats’ new head football coach.

“He will be voted on at the [Blount County] Board of Education meeting on March 2, or sooner if they meet before that,” Hayden principal Alan Hargett confirmed Thursday night during the Wildcat girls basketball sub-regional playoff game.

Kerby’s choice had previously been made public by an assistant principal on a popular Internet message board.

Kerby was with Austin for two years. Last year, the Black Bears finished their regular season at 5-5. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to Hewitt-Trussville, in a game that ended in controversy — the Bears kicked a game-winning field goal that was nullified by a penalty, and the subsequent attempt was blocked.

Kerby, 44, has been coaching for 15 years. Before his stint at Austin, he was an offensive assistant at Russellville. Hayden will be his first head coaching position.



Robert Carter