After 672 days, Gibbs High football is back on its home field
On Aug. 25, the Gibbs High School Eagles played their first game in the brand-new Ernest Whited Stadium, against the Halls Red Devils.
And Gibbs High School head football coach Brad Turner knew exactly how long the young players have gone without a home field.
“It was our first game in 672 days,” said Turner. “They completed (the stadium) in the spring, around the first of April, and there was some soccer. But this was our first football game.”
Construction began in November of 2021, but supply chain issues caused significant delay in the stadium’s completion, causing the Eagles to go a whole season without a home field. Instead, they played “home games” in three venues: Central High School, the Webb School of Knoxville and Carson-Newman University. And their loyal fans followed them wherever they went.
Speaking last year to Knox News reporter Toyloy Brown III about the fans’ impressive attendance, Turner said, “It's great. To see this turnout to come to an opposing school for a game, it's very encouraging and the support we get from our community and school is seen.” At Central, the team showed their appreciation for use of the field by cleaning up the trash left in the stands after the game.
But it’s great to be “back home.”
The stadium is named after avid University of Tennessee sports fan and 1963 Gibbs High graduate Warren Ernest Whited, who died this past April, four days after his 78th birthday.
Whited was a member of the First Families of Tennessee and a direct descendant of Nicholas Gibbs. During his career he worked in management at Standard Knitting Mill, Signal Apparel, and DeRoyal Industries. In retirement he dedicated much of his time to rescuing Golden Retrievers with his wife, Libby, and researching family and Tennessee history with his sister Lynn.
Turner is also a Gibbs alumnus – Class of 1996 – and has been with the school for 19 years, six of them as head football coach.
As for that first game on the new home turf, well, a win would have been nice. But Halls’ 24-13 victory did little to dim the excitement of finally having a new, roomier, much improved stadium.
“(The players have) been a part of the whole process,” said Turner. “They’ve seen everything that’s gone on during construction; obviously there was excitement. But by the time they played, once they saw fans sitting in the seats and that Friday night atmosphere, it was pretty cool for them. It really brought it to life.
“With a bigger stadium, the older people feel like they have a place to sit. There’s room to spread out a bit. And before, the home side sat in the sun; now we’re in the shade. I think it encourages a lot of our community to come out and see the game, which is ultimately very cool for our student athletes to see.”
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Gibbs football has a home field again at Ernest Whited Stadium
