Dyess brings coaching experience to CCA

By Danny C. Davis

 

New Clinton Christian Academy head football coach Teddy Dyess brings a lot of coaching experience to Clinton Christian Academy (CCA).

Dyess was named the new head coach at CCA back in February. As a player, assistant coach, and head football coach in the Mississippi High School Activities Association, he has been part of six state championships, two as a player at Bassfield, one as an assistant coach at Madison Central in 1999, two as the head coach of Lumberton, and one as the head coach of Class 3A Magee in 2020 with a 12-0 record.

Dyess has coached for thirty years and has never had a losing season as a head football coach. After going to Pearl River Community College for two years and then graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, Dyess has coached at Columbia (MS) Academy, Forest County Agricultural High School, Byram (now Terry), Mt. Olive, Madison Central, Lumberton and Magee. His longest head coaching job was eleven years at Philadelphia (MS). Most recently, he coached at Class 5A Ridgeland, with a 6-5 record in 2021 and a 7-4 mark in 2022.
“We’ve been very blessed to coach at a lot of schools at a good time in their football programs,” said Dyess, 54.

Dyess is hoping for a quick turnaround for the Warriors, who have only had two winning football seasons since 2015. He hopes to bring championships to football like the Warriors have won in recent years in both boys basketball and baseball at the school on Northside Drive.

CCA had a winning season at 6-5 in 2022, but went 2-9 in 2021, and 0-9 in the COVID-shortened season of 2020. The team went 5-6 in 2019. The best previous record was 8-4 in 2018. CCA went 4-7 in 2017, 3-7 in 2016, and 1-9 in 2015.

Dyess is excited about the commitment the school administration of CCA has towards building the program and improving the facilities.

“The biggest change coming to a smaller program is the number of players on the team,” said Dyess. “I have been used to having fifty to sixty players or have had seventy-five to eighty players that just play one way, either on offense or defense or special teams.”

“We will have a lot of players playing both ways on offense and defense and also on special teams and do more conditioning to get ready,” he said. “But our numbers are steadily growing. We are going to try to platoon as much as possible and move players around on both sides of the ball as much as possible. Right now, we have between forty and forty-five players out in grades nine through twelve, and hope to have about forty-seven out this year.”

Dyess said he was very interested in the position when it became available at CCA.

“I knew at some point I wanted to retire but wanted to keep coaching,” said Dyess. “I felt like I could have stayed a Ridgeland High School for a long time as the head coach and athletic director, but, when this job came open, it just seemed like the perfect fit.”