Jeremy Vaught said he has learned a lot from new Danville coach Clay Clevenger over the years.
Vaught, a Danville alum and assistant football coach, went to the University of the Cumberlands because of Clevenger.
“He was the mian one whop recruited me down there,” said Vaught, who played receiver at Cumberlands. “I probably attribute him being the main reason I went down there.”
Clevenger, also a Danville graduate, was an assistant coach at Cumberlands during Vaught’s playing days there. Vaught later coached with Clevenger during the 2006 season at Lincoln County under Larry French.
“I was graduating from Cumberlands when he was taking the offensive coordinator job at Lincoln, and he knew I was going to be moving back to town and said he was going to run the same offense as Cumberlands. He asked me if I was interested in coming out and helping him install that offense (from Cumberlands), so I thought about it and took him up on it,” said Vaught, who was also roommates with Clevenger that year. “He took me under his wing and showed me the ropes, how to be a good coach, and the rest is history.
“He talked to me about a lot of things I never really thought about for a coach when I was a player. That first year, being young, I didn’t know to go about doing certain things. It was good to be able to talk to him. It was great for me to just sit and talk and listen and get answers on offense and defensive drills to do, and how to watch film and get what I needed out of film.”
Vaught said plans on being part of Clevenger’s staff at Danville, and said fans will like what they see. Vaught said Clevenger’s offense will resemble what they ran at Cumberlands.
“They will have a really good tempo. Nothing is going to be done in slow motion. He is going to want them to be a physical football team that wants to run the ball and get after people defensively,”¿Vaught said. “He kind of lets that start in the eight room. He will bring a different breed of weight program that a lot of these kids probably have not seen.
“That’s where his on the field stuff starts, in the weight room. He is high tempo and high intensity in the weight room.”
Vaught said Danville will primarily be a running team, but will throw the ball.
“He’s not afraid to throw it, but his bread and butter is running the ball, running the triple option,”¿Vaught said. “As he’s evolved as a coach, I”m sure his offense has evolved, but it still hinges out of the triple option, eight out of split backs for the I-(formation).
“He was also defensive coordinator at Cumberlands, so he is knowledgeable on the defensive side of the ball, too.”
It’s the first time in a long time Danville has had a Danville man at the helm, and Vaught said that is a good thing.
“He understands the pressure is going to be there as far as winning and winning now, and the ultimate goal of a state championship,”¿he said. “He was part of those early 90s teams that were dominant, and that’s what his goal is, to get us back to that dominance. We were close the past couple of years to being that team, we just came up a little short.”
Vaught, a Danville alum and assistant football coach, went to the University of the Cumberlands because of Clevenger.
“He was the mian one whop recruited me down there,” said Vaught, who played receiver at Cumberlands. “I probably attribute him being the main reason I went down there.”
Clevenger, also a Danville graduate, was an assistant coach at Cumberlands during Vaught’s playing days there. Vaught later coached with Clevenger during the 2006 season at Lincoln County under Larry French.
“I was graduating from Cumberlands when he was taking the offensive coordinator job at Lincoln, and he knew I was going to be moving back to town and said he was going to run the same offense as Cumberlands. He asked me if I was interested in coming out and helping him install that offense (from Cumberlands), so I thought about it and took him up on it,” said Vaught, who was also roommates with Clevenger that year. “He took me under his wing and showed me the ropes, how to be a good coach, and the rest is history.
“He talked to me about a lot of things I never really thought about for a coach when I was a player. That first year, being young, I didn’t know to go about doing certain things. It was good to be able to talk to him. It was great for me to just sit and talk and listen and get answers on offense and defensive drills to do, and how to watch film and get what I needed out of film.”
Vaught said plans on being part of Clevenger’s staff at Danville, and said fans will like what they see. Vaught said Clevenger’s offense will resemble what they ran at Cumberlands.
“They will have a really good tempo. Nothing is going to be done in slow motion. He is going to want them to be a physical football team that wants to run the ball and get after people defensively,”¿Vaught said. “He kind of lets that start in the eight room. He will bring a different breed of weight program that a lot of these kids probably have not seen.
“That’s where his on the field stuff starts, in the weight room. He is high tempo and high intensity in the weight room.”
Vaught said Danville will primarily be a running team, but will throw the ball.
“He’s not afraid to throw it, but his bread and butter is running the ball, running the triple option,”¿Vaught said. “As he’s evolved as a coach, I”m sure his offense has evolved, but it still hinges out of the triple option, eight out of split backs for the I-(formation).
“He was also defensive coordinator at Cumberlands, so he is knowledgeable on the defensive side of the ball, too.”
It’s the first time in a long time Danville has had a Danville man at the helm, and Vaught said that is a good thing.
“He understands the pressure is going to be there as far as winning and winning now, and the ultimate goal of a state championship,”¿he said. “He was part of those early 90s teams that were dominant, and that’s what his goal is, to get us back to that dominance. We were close the past couple of years to being that team, we just came up a little short.”
