Ken Colquette talks to players in this file photo.
Ken Colquette, one of the area's prep football coaching legends, has agreed to come out of retirement and take over the Sequatchie County High School program.
Colquette, 65, was among more than 40 applicants and will begin overseeing offseason workouts immediately. Although he had hip replacement surgery in late December, he is already ahead of schedule in his recovery and will begin installing his offensive and defensive sets this spring along with Indians' assistants Sam Montgomery and Curt Jones, both also former head coaches.
"Ken's coaching ability is beyond question," Sequatchie County principal Tommy Layne said. "Anyone who has spent any time at all in this area knows about his knowledge of the game and his success, so all of that really just made him stand out among a really good group of coaches who had applied.
"His age, or the fact that he hasn't been a head coach for a few years was not a concern at all. He's got a lot of energy to get back into it, he's excited and so are we."
Colquette was first a successful head coach at Bridgeport (Ala.) before taking over at Marion in 1980 and guiding that program to unparalleled success. The Warriors won four state championships, were state runners-up twice and had just one losing season in his term. During one stretch in the mid-1990s, they went 56-1.
After resigning from Marion in 1996, Colquette coached at Vidalia (Ga.) and Grundy County before ending his head coaching career with a 249-81 overall record. He also worked as an assistant at Soddy-Daisy and Marion County and was an assistant at Ooltewah last season.
Colquette, replaces Chad Barger, who stepped down shortly after last season.