LEXINGTON, Tenn. — It has been over a week since West Tennessee learned that Derek Carr was leaving Milan to become the next head football coach at Lexington. In that time, Carr has been busy transitioning into his new role, getting to know his new team, and preparing for the spring and summer months on the gridiron. But what exactly prompted Coach Carr to make such a weighted decision? Ironically, pursuing the Lexington job wasn’t even on his radar at the start of this process.
“Coach Hollingsworth reached out, talked to me about the situation, and told me he really wanted to get me up there to show me what they had going on at Lexington,” said Carr. “Talks continued, and we went back and forth. My wife and I prayed about it, talked to a few coaches that were on staff at Milan about the potential of going to Lexington, and after talking we came to the consensus that this was something we wanted to pursue.”
One of the more successful young coaches in the area, Carr recorded 18 wins and 2 playoff appearances in his two seasons with the Bulldogs. Similar to Milan, Lexington is filled with rich tradition within their football program. Over the past 60 years, the Tigers have only had a total of three head coaches. Stepping into this particular role in Big Red Country, Carr recognizes the history that comes with Lexington football, however, he embraces the expectations and standards.
“The ultimate goal is to get somewhere and to be planted,” said Carr. “I don’t see this as pressure. I see this as an opportunity more or less to get somewhere, get rooted in the local community, get involved somewhere where my family can grow up and it be around family at the same time.”
The Tigers have been a run-heavy football team over the past several years, known for their toughness in the trenches. According to Carr, football fans can expect a slightly different approach in the overall schematics this fall, while still staying true to the Lexington way of playing the game.
“I want people to see a physical football team that is disciplined,” said Carr. “I will say that we will throw the ball more than Lexington has traditionally in the past. We were 40% through the air my first year at Milan and then 30% this last year. At the end of the day, we want to be able to run the football and control the clock on offense. On defense, we want to fly to the football, be able to tackle extremely well, and have fun through the process.”
