Former UT Vols standout Scott Galyon takes over as Seymour football coach

Seymour’s favorite son is coming home.

Seymour athletic director Gary Householder confirmed on Wednesday that former Tennessee and NFL linebacker Scott Galyon will return to his alma mater as football coach.

“He’s just a great guy,” said Householder. “There are a lot of coaches that win football games, but some coaches change lives. Scott is one of those guys. I think he’ll be a great role model for the kids.”

Galyon replaces Jerry Cooper, who resigned earlier this month after a four-year run that included an 0-10 finish last season.

“We had between 50 and 60 applicants, including two or three that have won state championships,” said Householder.

People in town made it clear that Galyon was the person they wanted, according to Householder.

“About 90 percent of the calls I got were in favor of Scott. Walking through Food City, people came up to me and wanted to know if we could hire Scott Galyon. He just seemed like a can’t-miss (candidate).”

The 43-year-old Galyon said he can’t wait to get to work and rebuild the program.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I’m from here, grew up here and played here. It’s a great opportunity for me. Seymour is sort of UT right now. They’ve had some down years, but there’s a ton of tradition and it’s a great community.”

After earning all-state honors at Seymour, Galyon played for Tennessee and was named a team captain his senior year. He was picked in the sixth round of the 1996 NFL draft by the New York Giants. He played four years with the Giants and spent the last three years of his NFL career in Miami.

Galyon served as a volunteer assistant coach for Householder at Seymour in 2003-04 before working in pharmaceutical sales for three years. He has spent the last 10 years with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Householder said the appointment of Galyon has already generated much-needed excitement back in the program.

Seymour hasn’t won a playoff game since 2004.

“The kids are excited about it,” said Householder. “Our numbers have fallen off. We only had five seniors last year and only 38 players in grades 10 through 12.”

Galyon said a big part of his decision to get into coaching was his desire to influence the lives of young men.

“Every year we’ll have the opportunity to invest in these young men and hopefully we’ll have a huge impact. We’re going to coach them hard, but we’re going to love them, too.”

Mike Blackerby is a freelance contributor.