It’s no longer a secret: former Madison Central coach Kenny Turner has been selected to take over as head coach for the Defenders. Apparently the only thing that stands in the way from making it official is a signature from downtown.

Turner, who coached the Indians for seven seasons, enjoyed a favorable 51-30 overall record during his tenure. His successes at Central include trips to the regional playoffs in 2003 and 2004 and winning records for each consecutive season prior to 2009 (7-4 in 2005; 6-5 in 2006; 7-5 in 2007; 9-3 in 2008).

However, after suffering a blistering 42-0 loss to Bryan Station in the opening round of the 2009 playoffs and finishing the season 0-9, Turner was asked to move on. This move brought Turner to Bryan Station. Like the old saying goes: “If you can’t beat’em … join’em!”

It certainly is a tremendous opportunity for Turner, but he will have some big shoes to fill that were left by Station’s last head coach, Dr. Oliver Lucas, who is taking over the reins at 6A rival DuPont Manual. Lucas resurrected the Defenders football program and brought pride back to the North side of town. Not only did the Defenders enjoy winning seasons in the past couple years and were able to end long skids against city rivals, but each season Lucas provided consistent opportunities for eight or more of his student-athletes to sign scholarships with various colleges and universities.

Turner will need to find a way to built onto this success on and off the field. Although at least recruiting wise this should not be an impossible task for him: during his time as Central’s head coach Turner coached 22 student-athletes who received scholarships – most notably Paul Warford (UK), Larry Warford (UK), Ryan Barnes (Harvard) and Keshawn Simpson (WKU). To see what else Turner has up his sleeve to guarantee continued success for Defenders Football, we will have to wait until everything has been signed and sealed.

Background: Kenny Turner is a Richmond native and played halfback/defensive back at Madison High School from 1972-1975. He received a scholarship from Morehead State, where he played receiver from 1976-1980. Turner coaching experience includes four years as assistant coach (1989-1993) and two years as head coach (1994-1996) at Holmes High School. He then returned to his Alma Mater Madison Central as an assistant (1996-1997 and 1999-2002). Turner took over the MC head coaching position from Paul Rains in 2003.