Warren East has found both its new football and girls’ basketball head coaches.
The school announced Tuesday afternoon at a press conference the hiring of Jeff Griffith as the coach of the Raider football team and Orlando Hayden as the coach of the Lady Raider basketball program.
Griffith spent the last two seasons as the head coach at Barren County, where the Trojans went 5-17. Prior to being at Barren, Griffith was the head coach for two seasons at Boone County and went 1-21. Before those two jobs, he was Bowling Green’s defensive coordinator from 2002-12 and a part of back-to-back Class 5A state championships in 2011 and 2012.
“(Warren East) is a school that has a lot of tradition in many sports,” Griffith said. “Over the years, it’s been very successful in football and a lot of good players have come out of here – and we hope to continue that tradition. There’s some expectations this year, and I’ve already talked to the players before this press conference about those expectations and what we’re gonna do to try and meet them.”
Griffith replaces Justin Chaffin, who resigned on April 17 and was at the helm of the Warren East program for two seasons. The Raiders went 2-8 last season and beat Griffth’s Trojans club 49-12 on Sept. 23 at BCHS. Under Chaffin’s direction, WE posted a 3-17 overall mark.
“We’ve got to put in a lot of work, but I’m excited about it,” noted Griffith. “I’m really excited to be the head football coach here at Warren East.”
Hayden becomes the coach of the Lady Raiders after serving as an assistant for the Warren East boys’ basketball team the past two years. Prior to joining the East family, he was an assistant for both Glasgow and Caverna’s boys’ programs, leading it to a 21-6 record and District 18 championship as the interim head coach in 2014-15.
“My main goal is to do what’s best for the girls’ program and building it back up,” Hayden said. “When I was in school, the Lady Raiders were a team you had to come through in the Region. They were pretty tough. The main thing is that we just have to get the numbers up here and get the kids interested in playing. We just all need to be on the same page and work together.”
Hayden replaces Andrew Peters, who stepped down after three seasons. The Lady Raiders went 14-65 under Peters and went 4-24 overall in 2015-16.
“We’re going to be successful here,” added Hayden. “I just want to thank everyone for the opportunity to be the coach here.”
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