Josh Gray Named Head Football Coach at Smith-Cotton High School

Josh Gray, Head Football Coach, Smith-Cotton HS

The Sedalia School District 200 Board of Education approved the hiring of Josh Gray as head coach for the Smith-Cotton Tigers football program on Monday.

Gray replaces Charlie McFail, who announced his retirement from the position at the end of the 2021 season. Gray, who will teach at the high school, has 25 years of coaching experience. For the past 16 years, he has been at Kearney High School – 11 years as the defensive coordinator and the past five years as head coach. He also served as Kearney’s head strength and conditioning coach.

Smith-Cotton Athletic Director Rob Davis said the search committee was immediately impressed with Gray’s “passion, energy, knowledge and detailed plan for building our program. As one of our adult committee members said immediately after his interview, ‘Wow. He makes me want to suit up and go play for him right now.’”

Davis added: "Coach Gray is a tremendous coach who I expect to make an immediate positive impact on not just our football team, but our entire athletic department. He has the 'it' factor you associate with transformational leadership. He has a clear vision for the future of our program and has the ability to communicate that vision to our stakeholders and motivate them to buy in."

Gray and his wife, Mindy, who was also hired as a Project Lead the Way teacher at Smith-Cotton Junior High, have two sons: Hunter, 22, who attends UMKC studying mechanical engineering, and Beau, 15, who will be a sophomore at S-C High. Gray is looking forward to meeting the football team and coaching staff to begin building relationships.

“I am excited to work with the athletes and coaches and lead the program to a new level, to begin our journey in getting better,” he said. “We will give 100 percent effort in making the school and community proud of what we do on the field and off the field. We will use football as a way to help develop the athletes and prepare them for their future after high school. We will play sound special teams with attention to detail; we will play a physical, attack-style defense; and the offense will make opposing defenses defend the entire field.”