Smoky Mountain names coaches for three sports

Tom Sargent will head up the Mustang wrestling team this winter. In the spring, Pam Hyatt will coach softball with Jeff Brannigan taking over the women's soccer program.

It was announced in May that Melissa Hill and Carla Phillips were stepping down as softball and soccer coach, respectively. Todd Odom resigned last month after one year as wrestling coach to return to his alma mater, Robbinsville.

"We lost some good people in these positions but feel very fortunate to get the replacements we did," Athletic Director Si Simmons said.

Sargent will also be coach for the JV football team. He has coached football for 35 years, including the last 28 as a head coach. He has 15 years experience coaching high school wrestling.

"I have heard nothing but good things about Smoky Mountain High School," Sargent said. "This is the place we wanted to be. It's amazing how it worked out."

Sargent is a native of Bellville, Ohio, and graduated from Ashland University in Ohio. He has coached in Ohio and Florida before coming to North Carolina as football coach at Beaver Creek (now Ashe County) in 1994. He coached football at Andrews the past three seasons.

"I'm really enthusiastic about the sports program here and the educational opportunities here," he said. "I'm used to bigger schools, but Andrews was wonderful for our children."

He said his sons were ages 12 and 9 when they moved from Florida to Ashe County. His youngest son, Nick, will be a senior for the Mustangs.

"Nick wanted a challenge and wanted to play for a little bit bigger school," Sargent said. "He has a goal of playing college sports."

Sargent will teach social studies in addition to his coaching duties.

"With Tom you've got a proven teacher and coach with a lot of experience," Simmons said. "He's a person who enjoys working with kids."

Hyatt is a Jackson County native who has taught in the local school system since the early 1990s after teaching eight years in Haywood County. She and Mark Taylor took over the JV softball team midway through last season, and Taylor will serve as her assistant on the varsity next year. "I'm excited about the opportunity," she said. "It's a challenge, but I got my feet wet when we took over halfway through the year last season. I've seen some improvement on the field the past couple of years. We hope to keep improving and be able to compete with the Enkas and North Buncombes."

Hyatt played softball, basketball and volleyball at Sylva-Webster High, where she graduated in 1978. She played basketball briefly at North Greenville Junior College before transferring to Western Carolina where she played three years of softball. She graduated from WCU in 1982. Hyatt will have the opportunity to coach her daughter, Jennifer, a senior at SM.

"I've done that once before in basketball at Scotts Creek," she said. "When Jennifer was in the eighth grade we went 13-0 and won the county championship."

She plans to start conditioning work in January.

"Pam is someone who has coached for us before and has been on our faculty for several years," Simmons said. "We're glad she approached us and showed an interest."

Brannigan has been playing indoor soccer for some 10 years and coached the Lady Mustang JVs year before last.

"I'm real excited about it," he said. "We have a lot of seniors and juniors returning, and we have a lot of good young players coming up. I think we're going to have a successful season. I'm looking forward to working with the girls."

Brannigan graduated from Harris High (now Mitchell) in Spruce Pine and participated in football, wrestling and baseball. He went on to Fork Union Military Academy and has worked the past 20 years for IBM.

He has two daughters who he expects to be in the soccer program. Bridget is a sophomore at SM, and Kelly is an eighth-grader at Cullowhee Valley.

"I'm looking forward to staying with the program and coaching them throughout their high school careers and hopefully continue coaching after that," he said.

Brannigan is a non-faculty coach.

"Jeff has been active in our program for a number of years," Simmons said. "He works very well with kids and has also worked well with our administration."

Back to Sports: 08/08/02.