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With the football season right around the corner, we decided to take a look throughout our coverage area and decide what teams entering the new season we’d consider the best of the best.
Given how big our area is, we’re lucky enough to have a ton of great programs year in and year out. However, with over 80 different schools to choose from, not every single school in the area is bound to have a great year.
Instead of ranking every single program in the area, we decided to narrow down our 20 best. Over the next week and a half, we’ll highlight our top-10 programs entering the year in a feature of some sort.
Here’s a look at the 10 programs who just missed out on making the top-10.
20. East Nashville
2024 Record: 11-3 (Semifinal loss to Westview)
Summary: Class 2A has a new favorite as the Eagles make the move down a class and they are loaded. Players like Kinnie Fuller and rising junior quarterback Dallas Covington shined last season and are only going to get better in 2025.
What makes the Eagles an even bigger threat this year is the return of standout running back KJ Johnson. An ankle injury suffered early in the year cut his junior season short. Now paired alongside Fuller, the Eagles have one of the best running back tandems in the state regardless of class.
19. Franklin
2024 Record: 6-6 (Second Round loss to Ravenwood)
Summary: After multiple down years in the gutter, the first year of the Josh Adkins era at Franklin was an overall success. The Admirals finished the year with their most wins since 2020 and that included a playoff win over Antioch.
While several key members of that resurgent group have graduated, the Admirals bring back plenty of young talent that shined at times in 2024. Tennessee commitment Luke Thompson will be a major factor in the Admirals competing with the likes of Brentwood and Ravenwood for the top spot in Region 6-6A.
18. Brentwood
2024 Record: 9-3 (Second Round loss to Stewarts Creek)
Summary: Several key figures from Brentwood’s runs the last two seasons have now graduated meaning we’ll see plenty of new figures on the field this season for the Bruins.
JC White’s departure to Lipscomb Academy ahead of the season may hurt a bit but Clint Finch and his staff are some of the best around when it comes to elevating young talent. Don’t be shocked if the Bruins are making a run at Ravenwood for the top spot in their region once again.
17. MBA
2024 Record: 4-8 (Second Round loss to Ensworth)
Summary: It’s hard to put a figure on just how good the Big Red will be in 2025. It’s the first year of Chris Chauvin era and they also have their starting quarterback healthy and under center.
Southern Miss commitment Hugh Price missed most of last season after suffering an injury early in the year. However, he’s back and looks primed to prove that he and the Big Red will be a factor in the DII-AAA race this reason.
16. Father Ryan
2024 Record: 7-4 (Second Round loss to Brentwood Academy)
Summary: It’s a new era for the Fighting Irish as former Tennessee Titans quarterback Zach Mettenberger was named as the program’s new head coach.
With a staff built up of former NFL players and good, core group returning, Father Ryan is a team in DII-AAA that could be a force in the near future with a solid start this season.
15. Pearl-Cohn
2024 Record: 11-3 (Semifinal loss to Melrose)
Summary: Pearl-Cohn doesn’t rebuild, they reload. That will be the case in 2025 as a fairly new cast of standouts will be forced to take the stage and try to lead Pearl-Cohn back to the Class 4A championship game.
While they’ll be young in several spots, where the Firebirds won’t be young is at the quarterback spot and at running back. LJ Funk and Omarion Starnes will be relied upon heavily to lead a Pearl squad that plays one of the hardest schedules in the state.
14. Beech
2024 Record: 11-2 (Quarterfinals loss to Springfield)
Summary: Buccaneers fans aren’t going to like seeing Springfield ahead of them and that’s understandable. However, that 47-14 loss still stands out and if they were to play again this year, we’d expect a close game between the two.
That game won’t happen though and Beech will focus on getting over the hump and getting back to a championship appearance. With one of the best offensive lines around blocking for two of the area’s best backs in Chelton Swafford and DK Williams, look for the Bucs to punish every opposing defense they square off against this year.
13. Springfield
2024 Record: 8-6 (Semifinal loss to Page)
Summary: Last season was a weird one to say the least for the Yellow Jackets. In the regular season they didn’t look a game by more than seven points and then embarked on an unpredictable postseason run that included narrow wins over Munford, Henry County before crushing Beech in the quarterfinals.
Last season may be gone but the momentum built from that run could very well carry on into 2025. Springfield brings back plenty of key pieces from that group and now down in Class 4A, there’s a shot we see the Yellow Jackets make another deep postseason run.
12. Green Hill
2024 Record: 10-1 (First Round loss to Blackman)
Summary: A historic 2024 season came to an abrupt halt in the first round for the Hawks as their season came to an end with a 45-14 loss to Blackman.
That loss has only seemingly motivated a group that brings back nearly every starter on both sides of the ball in 2025. Kannon Burroughs will look to take that next step as one of the area’s top quarterbacks but don’t sleep on a Hawks defense that could be one of the best around.
11. Blackman
2024 Record: 6-6 (Quarterfinals loss to Riverdale)
Summary: Don’t let the Blaze’s 2024 record fool you. Blackman was a force full of talent last season and they showed that multiple times especially in their first round playoff win at Green Hill.
Blackman should only build off of that success in 2025 with several pieces of that core returning for another year. Wide receiver Brylan Odour could develop into one of the area’s best receivers following a breakout sophomore year.
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