Sammons Named Coach
By JARRID McCORMICK
Williamson Daily News
RED JACKET — The administration at Mingo Central High School announced on Thursday evening that they had found their choice to fill the vacant position of head football coach at the school and it is a familiar face. The committee chose to promote defensive coordinator Josh Sammons to succeed previous head coaches Joey Fields and Yogi Kinder. The hiring is still pending the approval of the Mingo County Board of Education and that will take place on Tuesday, May 15.
Sammons, who is a 2009 graduate of Matewan High School and played for Coach Kinder, has been on the coaching staff as defensive coordinator since 2014. He played one year of football at Marshall University and spent his last three years roaming the sidelines at the University of Pikeville where he got his degree in 2014. For Sammons, being the Head Coach at Mingo Central is a dream come true.
"It's the opportunity of a lifetime for me, this is something I've always wanted to do is be a head coach and to get to do it here in Mingo County means so much," Sammons said. "Being around Coach Kinder and Joey (Fields) here the past few years I've learned a lot, and we've laid a good foundation here and I'm just really excited and looking forward to the opportunity ahead of me."
Mingo Central is coming off of back to back undefeated regular seasons as they finished 14-0 in 2016 and claimed the class AA state championship over Fairmont Senior and fell to Fairmont in a rematch in the 2017 class AA semifinals. The Miners lost a lot of upperclassmen, including 2016 Kennedy Award Winner Jeremy Dillon, over the past two years, but Sammons says his staff will preach that next man up mentality.
"We're going to be really young; we'll probably start about eight sophomores on both sides of the ball," Sammons said. "That's something we haven't had to do here in four or five years, but I got confidence in these guys and we're going to continue the tradition that we've built here and I'll think we'll be okay."
Since Sammons joined the staff in 2014 the Miners have won no less than 10 games every season. They have won the Cardinal Conference crown the last two seasons after going undefeated in conference play in 2016 and 2017. Since 2015, they have been to at least the semifinals in the class AA playoffs every year. The Miners were undefeated in the regular season the past two years.
With the success the program has seen in recent years, MCHS athletic director Teddy Kinder elected to hire his new head coach from within the program. Kinder released this statement about Sammons:
"I am pleased to announce that we have selected Josh Sammons to be our next football coach, subject to BOE approval. Josh will provide continuity and stability to Miner football since he has been a major part of our success the last several years; he is also a fine young man and will be a positive role model for our athletes."
Sammons will be able to work with his team during the upcoming three-week practice period in June. The Miners will kick the season off at home on Friday, August 24 at "Buck" Harless Stadium as they host perennial West Virginia power the Point Pleasant Big Blacks.
Jarrid McCormick is a Sports Reporter for the Williamson Daily News. He can be reached by email at jmccormick@HDMediaLLC.com.