Jay Graham Era Begins at Centennial

The Jay Graham Era at Centennial began with a heartbreaking loss.

Stewarts Creek’s Landon Warf kicked a 24-yard field goal with 1.4 seconds left, handing the visiting Cougars a 39-36 defeat in their season opener last week.

“I asked the guys in the room the next day to raise their hand if they’d been a part of a game like that, and there were three or four guys that did,” says Graham, the former star running back at Tennessee who was hired as the Cougars' coach in March. “It was a back-and-forth battle, exciting. It breaks your heart, but not in the way you think.”

Graham said the close loss taught his team an important lesson: work harder.

“But for the most part, we were able to put ourselves in a position to win, but we also didn’t at times,” Graham tells the Williamson Scene. “I was happy with the overall effort.”

Centennial’s defense was unable to contain Stewarts Creek running back Jamarcus Brown, a junior workhorse who rushed for 258 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries.

“A running back, when he bounces off tacklers — some guys make you pay for it, right, and he was able to make us pay for it, so I have a lot of respect for him and his team and what they did,” Graham says. “They won 11 games last year. You could tell.”

Stewarts Creek beat Independence and Brentwood in the first two rounds of the Class 6A state playoffs before falling to Ravenwood 38-14 in a quarterfinal last season.

The Cougars defeated Lincoln County 34-7 in the first round of the 2024 Class 5A state playoffs before running up against a stifling Page defense in a second-round loss.  

Centennial’s defense will get another strong test Friday in the Cougars’ home opener against Fairview (1-0), which scored 49 points in a win over East Hickman last week.

“They can run the ball, they can put the ball in the air,” Graham says.

Graham replaces Jamaal Stewart, who went 17-8 the past two seasons, including a 7-5 record last year. The former Vol is happy to start a new chapter in his coaching career.

“I enjoy it every day,” Graham says. “I get to go in there and spend time with students, so it’s been a blast.”

Graham, 50, wouldn’t label himself as an offensive-minded coach just because he played running back at Tennessee and in the NFL and the Canadian Football League.

“I’ve been around a long time,” Graham says. “I just coach football: offense, defense, special teams. I’ve always thought, from a long time ago, that you’ve got to learn it all to be a head coach.”

Graham played at Tennessee from 1993-96, rushing for 2,609 yards. He scored 25 touchdowns and ranks sixth in career rushing yards at UT.

“We had a synergy, and it made a difference that Peyton Manning was our quarterback,” Graham says. “It made me a better player, and Joey Kent was out there at receiver.”

Graham played in the NFL for four seasons with Baltimore, Seattle and Green Bay.

He was an assistant coach at Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee-Martin, Miami (Ohio), South Carolina, Florida State, Texas A&M, Alabama and East Tennessee State from 2005 through 2024 before switching to the high school ranks.

Graham and his wife, Michelle, have nine children.

He got an important addition at Centennial when quarterback Mitchell Grandjean transferred to the Cougars from Page, where he passed for 1,041 yards and rushed for 418 last season for the 5A runner-up.

“There’s a lot of potential here, championship potential,” Graham says. “But any team is developed over time. It’s developed weekly.”