Kevin Pettis Named Head Football Coach, Athletic Director at Marianna High School

By: Shelia Mader

Marianna High School has hired veteran coach Kevin Pettis as its new head football coach and athletic director, bringing more than three decades of experience and an extensive record of success to the program.

Pettis officially began his role on February 23. He comes to Marianna after coaching at Bozeman and said he is eager to get started.

“I coached at Bozeman last year, yes ma’am,” Pettis said. “Now I’ll be head football coach and teacher.” In addition to leading the football program, Pettis confirmed he will also serve as athletic director and will teach in the weight room. “I’ll be in the weight room all day,” he said.

With spring football approaching, Pettis said it is too early to determine exactly what kind of offense Marianna will run next season.

“It’s way too early. I haven’t even got a chance to look at all my players yet,” he said.

Over the years, Pettis has coached a variety of offensive systems, from the Air Raid to the Wing-T to the midline option. His philosophy centers on adapting to personnel rather than forcing players into a rigid scheme.

“You never try to force the players into a system. You try to make the system fit the players,” he said. “Once we get a chance to look at them in the spring, it’ll evolve throughout spring football and through the summer, and we’ll kind of figure out our identity on offense.”

Defensively, Pettis emphasized a consistent standard. “Our philosophy is this. We can always play great defense. Always play great defense,” he said. “When you’re looking at defense, you’re looking at how many D-linemen do I have, whether I’m going to run a hot front or even front, how many true linebackers do we have. There’s a lot that goes into it. We’ll evolve it to what best suits our talent.”

Pettis began coaching in 1994 and brings 32 years of experience to Marianna.

He and his family are in the process of relocating. One child will graduate this spring from Chiles High School in Tallahassee and head to college in the fall. Another daughter is set to graduate from Florida State University on May 2. Pettis also has a grown daughter with two grandchildren and a son who is also a football coach.

His son previously served as his offensive coordinator at Bozeman and has coached the offensive line. He played for Pettis at Deland and later played at Florida State on a national championship team.

“So proud of him,” Pettis said. Pettis said he hopes to bring his son to Marianna but noted nothing has been finalized.

Several coaching staff changes are already underway. Pettis said Kelvin Dean is joining the staff from Holmes County, and Jarrett Segers is coming from Cottondale. The school will retain several current coaches, including Ray Lawson, Coach Olds, Qualie Roulhac, Greg Weston and Drew Mayo.

“We’re keeping a lot of the coaches and then bringing in three or four new guys,” Pettis said.

As for summer plans, Pettis said the program will emphasize strength training and flexibility for student-athletes with jobs. “We work out in the mornings, and whenever we can, if kids have summer jobs, we try to work around it,” he said. “We’ll have somebody open up an evening for those guys that may have summer jobs. We do a lot of seven-on-sevens during the summer, and we try to let kids go to a lot of football camps.”

The weight room will be open daily throughout the summer. “We’ll have the weight room open every day during the summer and just kind of working on that grind a little bit,” he said.

While he was unsure whether Marianna will host an FCA camp this year, he confirmed the team plans to participate in FCA events over the summer.

Pettis arrives at Marianna with an extensive résumé of accomplishments over 28 years as a head coach.

His career includes: Two state championships, one state runner-up finish, five state semifinal appearances (Final Four), 13 state quarterfinal appearances, two region championships, 12 district championships, and 12 district runner-up finishes.

His impact extends beyond wins and losses. Over his career: 220 players have signed college scholarships. Those players have signed with 116 colleges across America 24 former players have advanced to professional organizations, with 13 players have made NFL rosters. One player was an Outland Trophy finalist, 27 former players have served in the United States military. One former player, PFC John Henderson, Ranger, was killed in action.

Pettis himself is a United States Army combat veteran who served in Iraq and Somalia.

Now, Pettis said, the focus turns to building relationships and evaluating talent in Marianna. The system will come later. First, he wants to see the players.