DCHS Football Program Gets Two New Assistant Coaches

The DCHS Tiger Football program will have two new assistant coaches on the sidelines this fall helping head Coach Steve Trapp.
Thomas Cagle and Brad Trapp will be joining the staff.
Cagle of Cookeville has been hired by the school system as a world history and geography teacher at DCHS. He comes to DeKalb County from Jackson County High School in Gainesboro where he served one year as head football coach and U.S. History teacher. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in 2012 from Tennessee Tech.
Cagle and his wife Melanie are the parents of two sons, 5 year old Rylan and 1 year old Evan.
“I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to come to DeKalb County. Its a place after my own heart. The more I talked to Coach Trapp about the experience on Friday nights it kind of reminds me of back home. I’m originally from Bledsoe County. I grew up and went to school in Pikeville. From there I went to Cookeville. I got my degree at Tennessee Tech in Education. I met my wife while I was in Cookeville. We then moved to Nashville for a couple of years. That’s where I started my coaching career with Brian Wait at East Nashville Magnet High School. I coached there for two years and then we moved back to Cookeville where my wife got a job opportunity. I got on with Sean Loftis in Jackson County. I coached under him as an assistant coach for one year and then I was the head coach last year for Jackson County High School before I decided to make the move to DeKalb County as an assistant again,” Coach Cagle told WJLE.
Coach Trapp said he is thankful to the administration for the extra help and looks forward to Coach Cagle joining the program. “I want to say thank you to our administration. It’s going to fill a big need in the football program. Coach Cagle is very good in special teams so we’re pretty much going to turn over our special teams responsibilities to him. He’ll have the opportunity to build and design what he thinks will fit our program special teams wise. He has a lot of great kids in that area to work with including Matthew Poss who has been kicking for us for four years. We’ve really got some good players in that regard. We’ll come in and help him with that but he’ll have the opportunity to lead that direction. He will also help Coach Clarence (Trapp) with the offensive linemen and the defensive linemen and with the outside linebackers as well,” Coach Trapp told WJLE.
Brad Trapp has been hired by the school system as a teacher aid at DeKalb Middle School. For the last four years, Brad has been a coach in the Junior Pro Football Program. He is a DCHS graduate and received a Business Administration Degree from Colorado Tech in 2008. Trapp and his wife Kim have three children, 18 year old Liz, 15 year old Cailin, and 10 year old Briz.
“My cousin Brad Trapp will be coming up to help us coach as well this fall. He has taken the same path I did in coaching. He has been in the Junior Pro level for a few years coaching. That’s where I got my start in coaching. Brad now has an employee position at the middle school so he is in the school system,” said Coach Trapp.
In addition to head Coach Trapp and the new assistants Cagle and Brad Trapp, longtime assistants Michael Shaw and Clarence Trapp will be returning for another season. “Going into my 12th year its only been two years where we have returned the same coaching staff. That has definitely been a challenge for our program since we’ve been here but it has been one we have always faced and worked through and the guys who have helped me have done a wonderful job. My uncle Clarence Trapp is back. If I’m not mistaken this will be his 25th year of coaching in DeKalb County if you add Junior Pro and Middle School and all the experience he has on the high school level. Michael Shaw has been here six or seven years and is our defensive coordinator,” said Coach Steve Trapp.
Coach Trapp said he is looking forward to another great season. “I’m proud of all the guys. We’ve had a great off season in the weight room. We’ve had some guys get a whole lot bigger, faster, and stronger. We had a good spring. We were very successful in both of our spring games and we’re looking forward to a great fall. We’re very excited. We’ve got a big senior group. A lot of those guys have been playing for three and four years out there on the field. They have a lot of experience and are just really hungry to be the most successful team they can be,” Coach Trapp concluded.