From player to assistant to head coach: Henry Clay keeps coaching hire in-house
Henry Clay has looked inward to fill its football head coaching vacancy, selecting longtime assistant Demetrius Gay to lead the team he suited up for as a player himself more than two decades ago.
Henry Clay officially announced Gay Wednesday morning on his 42nd birthday.
“I’m very excited,” said Gay, who will continue as the school’s track and field coach, as well. “Of course, I had to talk it over with my family first, and they gave me the OK.”
A member of the football staff since 2001 and defensive coordinator and assistant head coach for the last few years, Gay takes over from Sam Simpson, who recently announced his retirement after 27 years at the helm.
“Back when I played in the mid-90s, we had a lot of excitement around here,” Gay said in a phone interview Tuesday. “We had more spirit at the school. I want to try to bring that back into the program and into the school.”
As a player, Gay was a part of one of the Blue Devils’ most successful runs under Simpson, which included a runner-up state finals finish in the state’s largest class in 1995.
“I think one thing (Coach Simpson) taught me was ‘be true to yourself,’” Gay said. “I’ve got to hire some new guys, and I want to get some younger guys to bring in some juice and keep these young kids interested in football.”
After his high school playing days, which ended in 1996, Gay returned to Henry Clay in 2001 as a teacher and coach, after a football and track career and degree at Kentucky State University. He joined the football staff as a defensive backs coach and later served as the junior varsity head coach. He has been the school’s behavior coach for the last several years. His official title is dean of students on the staff directory.
As a track coach, Gay has led the Blue Devils to two Class 3A team state titles (2015, 2016) and was named boys’ track coach of the year for 2015 by the sports’ coaches association. Henry Clay has produced 30 state individual and relay champions during his tenure.
“I’ve been around 18 years and I know a little bit about the ins and outs of how to run the program and what it takes,” Gay said.
Gay takes over after a difficult 0-11 season marred with injuries and one of Henry Clay’s most difficult schedules in years. It had to face the likes of Simon Kenton, St. Xavier, Frederick Douglass and Central Hardin all in the first five weeks. They also ran into city rivals Tates Creek and Paul Laurence Dunbar, who both fielded their best teams in more than a decade.
“There’s talent (at Henry Clay),” Gay said. “We’ve just got to get a lot of those kids to come back out, you know, wanting to play.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 9:11 AM.
