Brad’s Back! Honeycutt is now head coach of the Cougars. 

Honeycutt and his patented powder-blue button-up shirt making a return to Brown Gym

By Clayton Carroll

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – It was announced on Tuesday afternoon that Brad Honeycutt would become the eighth head coach in the history of Campbell County High School Cougar Basketball.  

Honeycutt, head coach of the Lady Cougars from 2014 to 2021, has coached some of the legends in Lady Cougar Basketball, including Skylar Boshears, Madison Brady, and Haley Comer. Honeycutt is a legend of the CC girls’ program in his own right, finishing with a 132-76 record, four 20+ win seasons, three district titles, and two district coach-of-the-year awards. Also, he now joins Rick Hunley as the only CC head coach to lead both the Lady Cougar and Cougar programs.

“It’s still surreal,” Coach Honeycutt mentioned. “Coaching is one of those things where it’s in your blood…it’s hard to get out of your system. I got out due to life changes, which were having young children at the house, and now they are grown more…my family wanted me to get back in it, and so I did. It was a great opportunity, and the timing was right,” Honeycutt continued. 

Lady Cougars listen as Coach Honeycutt instructs his 2019-2020 team pre-practice

Honeycutt will take the reins from Ernie Mac and Brandon Clawson, who resigned at the end of the 2025-2026 campaign. “I just want to build on the character that they instilled, and they ran this program with integrity,” said Coach Honeycutt. “My prayer is that my children and others have godly coaches, and they were just that.”

This isn’t Brad’s first rodeo coaching boys’ high school basketball. Honeycutt spent four years at Grace Christian Academy in Knoxville as an assistant under Matt Mercer. The Lions made two substate games and one state tournament appearance during those four years. “At the end of the day, basketball is basketball. There will be some strategic Xs and Os that are different from the boys’ game, and you also must learn how to motivate differently. At the end of the day, you are still learning how to get high schoolers bought in and believe in you and perform, and that’s what we have to do,” said Honeycutt. 

“We want and need to keep kids in this community,” Honeycutt declared. “Being in high school is fun, and we want these kids to do it where they have grown up and do it with their lifelong friends. We want to show up to these middle school, elementary, and even junior pro games,” Honeycutt elaborated. Brad went on to praise the middle school basketball landscape in Campbell County. “The Smiths and Coach Weaver do such a great job at JMS and LMS, respectively, and that makes for a great feeder program to us. They have also been such a big help to me in this transition process.”

Voice of the Cougars Josh Parker (left) speaks with Brad Honeycutt after one of his 200+ postgame interviews.

Honeycutt alluded to the 2026-2027 schedule and the rest of the schedules being rather difficult. “Jason (Kitts, Head Coach of the Lady Cougars) and I have sat down and discussed scheduling. You need to have February in the back of your mind. Plus, we believe that we can hang with these tougher teams. When you do that, that builds your confidence. We just need to get better each game to peak in February, not December.”

When it comes to Honeycutt’s assistant staff, that is still in the works. Honeycutt did say that ‘I’m not smart enough to not have an extremely knowledgeable and educated staff, and I’m not going to change that now.” Honeycutt went on to say that when he and his staff are confident, that rubs off on the players and makes them confident as well. “My staff will be airtight.”

Brad Honeycutt for the Cougars and Jason Kitts for the Lady Cougars will usher in the 52nd season of Cougar Basketball later this fall. For complete coverage of the Cougars, stay connected to WLAF, Campbell County’s Only Daily News Source. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 4-9-2026 6AM)