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TUSCOLA MOUNTAINEER
COACH POSTELL
J.T. Postell, Tuscola’s second-year head football coach, was
born to coach high school football. He is the son of former
Murphy head coach Terry Postell who guided the Bulldogs to
a state championship in 1974, which may explain his wealth of
football knowledge, his passion for coaching the game and his
bold confidence.
His dad later coached at Andrews in the late 70s and early 80s.
That’s where Postell played football, at Andrews High School
for legendary head coach Donnie Kiefer and also worked on
his staff as an assistant at Tuscola High School. Prior to his
arrival in Waynesville, he had coached at Robbinsville. The
second-year coach of the Mountaineers went 8-5 in his first
season. Moxxie magazine sat down with the head Mountaineer
to find out what’s in the mind of Tuscola’s successful
head coach.
MOXXIE: As a football player. Was there any coach that ever
had an influence on you? If so, who was he and how?
POSTELL: Donnie Kiefer and Richard Bailey. I played for coach
Kiefer and joined his staff at Tuscola several
years ago. He taught me a lot. Not only just
the X’s and O’s of football, but everything
else that goes with it. Coach Bailey did the
same thing. Coach Kiefer’s now the head
coach at Green Sea Floyd High School (South Carolina)
and when he took over that program a couple of years
ago, it had won something like four games in the
previous four years. Last year, he led them to a state
championship. Coach Bailey is currently the head
coach at Scotland County. I look up to both coaches.
Interviewed by Nikki White
photo by LifeTouch
MOXXIE: What makes you a successful coach?
POSTELL: I think it’s all in preparation. Also, I’m all about these young men. I love teaching them
lessons on the field and life lessons off the field. That’s what they carry with them through life once they
leave the program. As for the football side, I have a mission to teach each one of them about winning
and to be competitive in life. I want my players to go after what they want and to work hard for it. And
I think those are all things that these guys need, especially these days.
MOXXIE: What are some of the best things that you love about coaching high school football?
POSTELL: The relationships for me. The relationships that I build with these young men and
relationships with my coaches. I love the fact that I can come to work every day and get to work
alongside the men that I do, my assistant coaches, and then I get to be around these young men that
play football. And it’s just really neat to see them grow, from young freshman to graduating seniors.
Yeah, it’s the relationships that I value the most. Continued on page 15