'We’re doing it for a purpose'. Pearl-Cohn football's success tied to assistants
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The fraternity of former Pearl-Cohn football players runs deep on the Firebirds sideline.
Making up Pearl-Cohn coach Tony Brunetti’s staff are some of the most respected players to have walked the school’s halls, many of whom suited up under Brunetti during his now two-decade tenure leading the program.
Nine of his eleven assistant coaches once dawned the red and black uniform, and it’s their deep roots within the program that have perpetuated the winning standard at Pearl-Cohn.
“The difference when you've got people hired here that've been through the program and have pride in the program, they lead by example," Brunetti said. "These guys have been through the process, so they can push our philosophy and the direction of the program, because they've been through it. They know it."
Defensive coordinator Andre Davis was among the first former players Brunetti brought to his staff, joining shortly after Damien Harris, who was later hired as East Nashville’s coach in 2023. Davis graduated in 2003, with his senior season marking Brunetti’s first as an assistant under former coach Maurice Fitzgerald.
Now Davis takes on many of the duties Brunetti once spearheaded, running practices day-to-day on a strictly regimented schedule. Pearl-Cohn enters Week 3 with a 1-1 record, after beating CPA, 18-13, on Aug. 27.
In a solution to the consistent coaching turnover in his earliest days as an assistant, Davis and Brunetti drew up a plan to round out the staff with coaches who connected with the program beyond the football field.
“Do we just go out here and get anybody? Or do we go bring back guys that understand Pearl-Cohn?” Davis said. “Because it’s a little different in the sense that it’s very family oriented. There’s a culture and an understanding that you have to have a relationship with the kids and with the parents …
“So what better people to bring in than former players? And all of us played college football. So what better place to bring them than back home? Because it’s more than a job … we’re doing it for a purpose.”
For the Pearl-Cohn assistants that have returned to their alma mater, they do so for the players whose cleats they once occupied. They walked those same streets, suffered through the same summer workouts and heard the same hoarse screams from Brunetti on Friday nights.
They carry the Pearl-Cohn standard, embedded from their own years on the field. And with that comes respect from the players who strive to reach similar heights.
“We tell the guys, we were once here. We were in your shoes. We did it before,” said co-offensive coordinator Jimmy Ferrell, a 2016 graduate. “Then also, you can look it up and see it for yourself. I was the quarterback that led us to the state championship … I lost it as a quarterback, so I tell (LJ Funk), ‘What are you going to do differently to win it?’"
The trust and respect between today’s Pearl-Cohn players and their coaches extends beyond the field. Brunetti's assistants navigated similar struggles off the field.
There are plenty of obstacles standing in the way of success. The former Firebirds on staff overcame those outside pressures and now use their experiences to shepherd players along the same path.
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy to spot those types of kids, (but for us) it’s easy to spot those types of kids because you were once them,” said Nickson Pierre, strong safeties coach and 2018 graduate. “So you kind of pull them to the side. We talk to them, we mentor them."
With the help of the Firebirds staff, those obstacles have done little to slow the program's continued dominance on the field. Pearl-Cohn has recorded five straight 10-win seasons, reaching the state quarterfinals or better in each of those seasons, including a Class 4A state championship win in 2023 and title game appearance last season. In total, Brunetti has been to five state title games.
“Sometimes being in that environment at this young age, it can cause some mental health issues. There are distractions, things of that nature … it’s not the kids, it’s the environment,” said Eric Knight, co-offensive coordinator with Ferrell and 2014 graduate. “There are some things that are out of our control, but we have to deal with those things and adapt and overcome.
“That’s where we chime in as coaches and mentors to help our guys adapt and overcome and be successful in an environment with less resources.”
Harrison Campbell covers high school sports for The Daily Herald and The Tennessean. Email him at hcampbell@usatodayco.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'We’re doing it for a purpose'. Pearl-Cohn football's success tied to assistants
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