Coach Taylor Harvey with wife Katelyn, and daughter Addilyn at RCHS Football Media Day 2024.(Photo:GaryBolden)

August 2024 -- Evensville, TN

Recently had an opportunity to ask a few questions of Taylor Harvey, the new Rhea County High School football coach, hired in February 2024. Taylor has 13 years experience coaching. He began coaching at Seqquatchie County High School in 2012 and coached there through 2018. He moved to Walker Valley High School in 2019 and coached until leaving to come to Rhea County. Taylor Harvey has a wife Katelyn Harvey , Daughter Addilyn Harvey (18 months old), and a black lab “Knox”.

Harvey graduated from Sequatchie County in 2009. He graduated from UT-Chattanooga in 2016 after spending some time at Chattanooga State before moving to UTC. He has a Bachelors degree from UTC in Health and Exercise Science. Harvey has a Masters degree from the University of the Cumberlands in Health and Physical Education in 2022.

Taylor played all 4 years of high school football, where he played as an OL / DL during high school from 2005 - 2009/

Taylor was over In School Suspension (ISS) since getting hired this offseason , but this year he has moved into the weight room teaching PE Weight Training.

After six months on the job, it would be a good time to look back on his first six months and forward to the upcoming 2024 season. Season begins at Soddy Daisy on August 23rd with a 7 pm kickoff. Soddy is coming off a 3-7 season in 23-24 and lost to the Eagles 34-0 last season.

Taylor was hired after 11-year head coach Mark Pemberton left Rhea County for a job at Campbell County High School. Taylor was previously the defensive-coordinator for Walker Valley High School. Taylor came in and inherited a roster of around 30 players and a subdued atmosphere with the football team after a rough last couple of years.

Over the last 6 months, Taylor built the roster to over 80, hired new coaches, kept a good portion of the previous staff and worked on building a relationship with the community. Eagles began with spring and summer workouts, then 7 on 7 scrimmages, followed by full scrimmages. The Eagles finished their scrimmage schedule on Friday, August 16th vs Lakeway in a home scrimmage that simulated game conditions, all the way down to a band in the stands, plenty of fans in the stands and a full squad of cheerleaders. The Eagles won the scrimmage 28-18. Eagles looked good on the ground and in the air against Lakeway. Nice movement on defense with players flying to the ball and ready or not, it is time to play for real.

Taylor represented Rhea County at the recent 104.1 Mix Media Day, along with coaches and players from several other area high schools. Also appearing with coach Harvey were Defensive Coordinator Brandon Ashby, quarterback Caleb Carr and wide receiver Keshawn Smith.

Coach Harvey answered questions about the upcoming season.

When asked about this year's team vs previous years, Harvey said, "We are going to look a lot different. I am going to rely on this guy on my right a lot(Caleb Carr- Rhea County quarterback), executing our offense. He is taking snaps from the spread now."

"We are still going to be run focused offense. This is the strongest team I have ever been around. We have a lot of good strong linemen."

For a full interview click on the link below.

RCHS Coach Taylor Harvey Interview Media Day 2024

Coach Harvey was kind enough to answer a few questions for Rhea County Magazine.

Talk a little about your background with coaching?

"I have coached every position of offense, defense, and special teams since I began my career. I was the Special teams coordinator at Sequatchie from 2015-2018 , Defensive coordinator at Sequatchie 2015 - 2017 , and Defensive coordinator at Walker Valley 2019-2023 prior to taking the Head coaching position here at Rhea County."

Did you set any goals as a coach for this team for the first 6 months?

• Our goal since I have got with the guys is to learn to play the game faster and more confident. That typically comes from having the discipline to do the right things without hesitation. We have challenged our guys to put a disciplined, high energy, and confident product on the field when we make our debut.

What are some things you have learned over the last 6 months during spring and summer practices?

• We have some habits that we need to address and change. We rarely will be able to just roll the ball out and out athlete our opponents, so we have to get back to the hard hat mentality that Rhea County has been known for. We also need to be able to feature some of our athletes in our building in different ways.

What has been the biggest challenge for you moving from assistant to head coach?

• I have been involved in a ton of head coach duties at both Walker Valley and Sequatchie during my time there, but there are still tons of things behind the scenes that others do not see. All of the extra stuff that does not have a ton to do with the game of football seems to pile up if you are not careful. I have a very good set of assistant coaches that help take things off of my plate.

Will the fans see anything drastically different on the field than they have been used to seeing over the last few years at Rhea County?

• We will be in the shotgun for the most part of our season. You will still see a run focused attack , but we will get the ball out on the perimeter with our skill guys and set up our shots offensively. Defensively we hope people notice a group of guys flying around and playing faster than their opponents. We stress to get everyone running to the ball each and every snap.

Looking at your schedule, there are no easy games on it. Other than wins or losses, how will you and the staff gauge the success of the team this year?  Have you set a goal for wins and Losses for the season and how hard is that to do with so little film to Go on and with the normal turnover from last year?

• Success can come in many ways. The program had just over 30 players working out when I got hired and we entered summer workouts with 82 on roster. We have pulled several guys back out that had contributed to years past. Our goal is obviously to win every game that we play, but we have a long way to go as a program to get back to those deep playoff runs that Rhea County football is accustomed to.

I have seen several changes around the locker room and facilities. Have the changes helped create a better team attitude and atmosphere?

• Absolutely! We ask a lot out of a player for the game of football. I firmly believe in pouring back into our athletes and giving them a first-class experience for playing football at Rhea County High School. All of our fundraisers, season tickets, or sponsorships go straight back to our team. They have enjoyed seeing the upgrades and we will always work for them each year.

Excited to see we will have a Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity team and you have games schedules for each.  Talk about the added value that comes from Freshman and Junior Varsity games.

• We are excited to get back to having the numbers to do a Freshman and JV season. Our guys will develop and gain confidence from being able to go get game reps vs others instead of being limited to just a few practice reps. We try to structure our practice where each level of our team gets the same instruction as our Varsity guys get.

What area have you been most pleasantly pleased with so far as you approach the season opener in less than 7 days?

• It has to be our QB Caleb Carr. We as a team will go as he goes. He has grown more than any player on our team. We have spent countless hours throwing, catching, and taking snaps that he is not accustomed to. He for sure has taken the biggest strides and will continue to get better as we get into season.

What is the roster size as of today and how set are the starting and the first Sub rotation for the team?

• Today we are operating with 82 players. We have not released any type of depth chart and probably will continue to work different guys in different spots trying to finalize where they fit best as we close in on game 1.

How would you describe your coaching style and what are some of the tools you Like to use to prepare for games and to help improve your players.  Are you a big Analytics guy and how much do you like to use film study as a tool?

• My coaching style is to hold our players to a high standard, create a disciplined team, and build relationships with my players, coaches, and community. The biggest tool we use is video. We film each practice, we grade each practice, and we have position meetings the next day going through those reps at practice. Film is huge to use and we evaluate ourselves daily on trying to work our techniques and schemes.

Talk about the community, administration and parent's interaction?

• The community has been great. This place loves its football and is passionate about Friday nights. They have been very welcoming to me and my family. Our administration and parents have been great to work with. Everyone has been supportive to this point and seem to all be pulling the same direction for the kids and the program.

How do you handle academics with the team and how do you emphasize the importance of performing well in the classroom?

• We hold our student athletes to a standard and they know the importance of having good grades and test scores. We work as coaches on checking in with our students and their teachers for them to stay on top of things in the classroom. This is their gateway to college, and we take giving them an opportunity to take the next step very seriously.

What are some of the tools you use to help the coaching staff be more effective?

• Our coaches use film as our biggest teaching tool. They are constantly working with our players, showing them things, and helping direct the player the correct way. We have great resources here with the indoor facility, very nice weight rooms, and now our new film room that we installed after I got hired.

Do you have any long-term goals that you are looking to accomplish in your first year?

• We play in a very competitive and well coached region. One of our goals has to be to go host a playoff game here again.

Could you list your coaches and positions they coach?

• Brandon Ashby – Defensive Coordinator
• Kevin Whitson – Inside Linebackers
• Ted Lockerby – Defensive Line
• Clark Lockerby – Outside Linebackers
• Eli Evans – Defensive Backs
• Roy Guthrie – Running Backs
• Zack Davis – Offensive Line
• Anthony Loden – Y backs / TE
• Dimitrius Patterson – Wide Receivers