Longtime Plant City Raiders fans will remember 1998, when the football team went undefeated throughout the regular season under head coach Todd Long. That team was loaded with talent, such as then-junior running back Chad Scott.
These days, Scott is still heavily involved with football’s ground game and couldn’t be happier with the way things have turned out.
He’s about to enter his third season coaching running backs at the University of Kentucky, where he played college football, and will be coordinating the running game for the second year. Scott’s expectations for his group are higher than they may have ever been, but he believes the players are up to the task.
“We had a pretty decent year running last year, but we’re much more talented with the group I have now than last year,” Scott says. “Potentially, the best group I’ve ever had as a coach.”
CARRYING FOR THE ‘CATS
Scott graduated from Plant City High in 2000, enrolling at Kentucky in the fall and playing for the Wildcats for two years. His 611-yard performance as a freshman earned him All-SEC Freshman honors, as well as third-team All-America Freshman honors, but those aren’t the accomplishments he’ll reflect on first.
“It was the first game that I rushed for 100 yards,” Scott says. “Second game of the season we played South Florida. I was thrown into the fire. I rushed for 106 yards on 14 carries. I remember it like it was yesterday.”
After dealing with an injury in his second year, Scott transferred to North Carolina in 2002 for his final two years of eligibility. His best campaign was his 2004 senior season, when Scott ran for 796 yards and eight touchdowns — good for seventh among all ACC running backs.
Scott spent some time with the Pittsburgh Steelers (not to be confused with former cornerback Chad Scott), New York Giants and Cleveland Browns before joining Kentucky’s staff as a video assistant in 2006.
He joined the Troy Trojans in 2007 as an assistant running backs coach. In one year, he helped improve the rushing attack from 66th to 35th in the nation. In his final season, Troy boasted the third-best offense in the nation.
In 2010, he moved on to Texas Tech and also improved their running game, going from 115th in 2009 to 75th in 2010. The Red Raiders improved each year he was there, and Scott ended his time there with a win over Minnesota in the 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Scott then joined the Kentucky staff in the same role and has built a group that he says is his best yet. Preseason All-SEC back Stanley “Boom” Williams and Mikel Horton, true sophomores, will work with 2013 rushing leader and DeLand native JoJo Kemp in the backfield to help erase the perceptions of Kentucky football.
“That’s one of the biggest things we talk about — we’re not a typical Kentucky football team,” Scott says. “We’ve got talent offensively and defensively, and a great staff. It’s not the same team as in the past, even when I was a player here.”
AT PLANT CITY
Scott gets just as excited talking about the Wildcats’ potential as he does remembering his playing days at Plant City. This is, after all, a guy who knows a talented backfield when he sees one.
From the 1996-97 to 1999-2000 seasons, Scott played with notable backs like Wayne Ward and Eric Washington, a fullback who rushed for around 1,000 yards in 1998. That year, the year of the undefeated regular season, is Scott’s fondest memory as a Raider.
“We had a great offensive line with Randall Derrick, Brett Mueller, Shane Strawn, Alvin Rupp and Brett Zaccor,” Scott says. “Those guys played with great chemistry. It was amazing. They’re the reason we went undefeated. It was unusual to have that kind of size and talent up front, but we had talent on both sides of the ball. Eric Washington had more rushing yards than I did that year.”
Scott still keeps tabs on the Raiders’ program and is excited for what it may achieve this season. Since Scott’s primary recruiting area is Central Florida, it’s easy for him to come back to his hometown — which happens often — and see how things are going at PCHS, while also spending quality time with his family.
In his opinion, things couldn’t be better right now.
“I really am happy,” he says. “Absolutely. I couldn’t have dreamt to be in a better situation than I’m in right now. I never would have guessed that, 10 years later, the school I got a scholarship from would offer me a position as a coach.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
CHAD SCOTT’S RESUME
Playing career: Plant City High (1996-99); University of Kentucky (2000-01); University of North Carolina (2003-04); Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns (2005-06)
Coaching career: University of Kentucky, video coordinator (2006-07); Troy University, assistant running backs coach (2007-10); Texas Tech University, running backs coach (2010-12); University of Kentucky, running backs coach (2012-present), running game coordinator (2013-present).
Coaching notables: Three consecutive Sun Belt championships, two New Orleans Bowl appearances (Troy); TicketCity Bowl (2010) and Meineke Car Care Bowl (2012) wins (Texas Tech). Coached NFL players DuJuan Harris (Troy) and Baron Batch (Texas Tech).