Josh Jones out as Bearden football coach after three TSSAA seasons

Posted by author February 18, 2025 Football

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Josh Jones is out as the Bearden football coach after three seasons, the school confirmed to Knox News on Tuesday.

Athletic director Morgan Shinlever said Jones was no longer the coach as of 2 p.m. Tuesday. Shinlever would not say if Jones was fired but confirmed Jones did not resign.

Jones and Knox County Schools chief of communications Carly Harrington did not immediately respond to text messages from Knox News.

Jones went 25-13 in three seasons with Bearden after becoming the coach before the 2022 season.

Jones was previously the offensive coordinator at Powell, where he helped lead the program to the Class 5A state title in 2021.

The change comes weeks after it was discovered that the Bearden High School Football Booster Club improperly paid two coaches at least $60,000 over two years, according to an investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. No Bearden coaches were named in the investigation.

Booster club officers wrote 23 checks to football coaches without the Knox County School System’s approval, according to the report. Knox County Schools administrators said they were not aware of the payments and did not authorize them. The school system then asked the comptroller to investigate.

The report says the club also charged fees to players and then deposited the money into the booster club account instead of accounts belonging to the school. Some of the fees were used to pay for player insurance and other expenses.

In addition to the $60,000 or more improper payments to coaches, the report said the Bearden High School Football Booster Club made other questionable disbursements totaling over $13,000 for food, gift cards and supplies that were not supported with receipts.

The comptroller’s office sent its findings to the state attorney general’s office and the Knox County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether a crime was committed.