Coach Honeycutt

James Honeycutt

Defensive Coordinator, Split Ends and Defensive Ends

James Honeycutt serves as the defensive coordinator for the Blue Devils, returning to his alma mater in 1990 after graduating WHHS in 1979. He is one of three former White House players on the current full-time staff, joining Mark Lamberth and Ryan Hamilton.

Coach Honeycutt coaches the defensive ends and split ends, and behind the scenes works extensively with game breakdown and opponent scouting through film. He took on his current role of defensive coordinator in 1997 and that Blue Devils defense was most famous for shutting down the vaunted Memphis Melrose Golden Wildcats to win the 1997 Class 3-A Clinic Bowl state championship.

He teaches strength and conditioning at WHHS, and is a graduate of Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in health and physical education, after transferring from Volunteer State. He accepted his first assistant coaching job at Westmoreland in 1985, and in five years with the Eagles participated in two playoff seasons and three bowl games with a record of 41-18.

Honeycutt is a former baseball coach for both Westmoreland and White House, and has twice been named the Sumner County Co-Coach of the Year on the diamond by The News Examiner in Gallatin. He coached both football and baseball until 1997 and now coaches only football.

He and his wife, Dawn, are residents of White House.

Q: What is the best part about coaching at White House and teaching at this school and in this community?

A: “I think the best part is the fact that we have long-time people in our community that have been around the school and the program for so long. From year to year, they know what we need and we know what they want and that makes it easier on both sides. I see people coming back that I went to school with to be a part of the school and community and that what makes it a good place.”

Q: When you are not specifically coaching your players on Friday night, what types of things catch your attention during the game?

A: “When we’re not on defense and I am focusing more on making the call or watching the opponent, I like to watch our players offensively and on kicking game, that gives me one opportunity to watch our kids play, not just on film. If there is another aspect of it, I like talking to the kids when they come off the field because they offer us things we don’t catch on film that can help us.”

Q: The staff at White House has been together as a whole for a long time. What are some of the things you notice that the general fan does not get to see about this staff and this program?

A: “The one thing that I see out of them is their constant care about the other members of the staff and the care for our players as far as their well being is concerned, offseason things, family-related things and grades; I see a constant care for what each of our players are doing off the field as well as on the field. I think that goes beyond our players and into the regular population of the student body. We all sit up front in the mornings and it’s kid of become like a greeting committee. You try to get them off to a good day.”

Q: What is the biggest thing you notice about incoming freshmen when they are first exposed to the program?

A: “Sometimes I see how big their eyes get as soon as they get here. They have been a part of a community and middle school program that has been successful, but being able to walk in our dressing room and indoor facility and practice field – I like to watch the expression on their faces for the first time.”

Q: What is the biggest change in kids from the time they arrive in the program until they graduate?

A: “Besides the growth in size, every kid grows mentally. It’s like when they first get here they are little boys and they don’t know how to act and be serious, but by the time they are seniors we see that process of growing into a young man. That’s what our program does best more than anything. We teach them more than football, how to be good citizens and men.”

Q: There is a hallway in the fieldhouse with pictures of past players, teams and their accomplishments. Do you ever stop and take a glimpse of the past?

A: “From the time the day starts, getting ready for class and teaching and then getting ready for practices; time kind of gets away from you. You notice things that happen in the hallway and it takes you back. It’s not something you ever forget, but you can’t take it for granted. I don’t take my time here for granted, but sometimes you get so busy that you’re pushing forward into the next day. My grandfather once said ‘you need to sit down and take time.’ I never understood what he meant by that, but I do now.”

Coaching profiles by Kris Freeman are the property of White House High School football. For more on the coaching staff, visit www.whitehousefootball.com .