Northwest football promotes Mark Hall as coach after serving as assistant past three seasons
Northwest didn't have to look far to find its next football coach.
Assistant athletic director Mark Hall has been named the Vikings' coach, the school announced Friday. Hall has been at Northwest for the last three years and was the defensive coordinator for two seasons under previous coach Reynaldo Pena.
Pena was let go in December after going 4-26 in three seasons, including an 0-10 record in 2023.
This will be Hall's second high school head coaching job. He coached Sycamore in 2020, but was fired after going 1-8 in his lone season with the War Eagles.
"I am grateful to the Northwest administration for giving me this opportunity," Hall said in a school release. "I am excited to work with the team and continue developing athletes into successful young adults."
Hall, a graduate of Harding University in Arkansas, began his coaching career as an assistant at West Memphis Christian before moving to Tennessee. He was an assistant coach at Ezell-Harding, Middle Tennessee Christian and La Vergne and spent three seasons as the coach at Christiana Middle School in Rutherford County.
In 2015, Hall was hired as Rossview's special teams coordinator. He moved to defensive coordinator in 2016, a position he'd hold for three seasons, and helped the Hawks reach the TSSAA playoffs in each season. In 2019, Hall served as the Rossview's assistant athletic director and facility/athletic field maintenance coordinator.
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"There was a lot of interest in the position, and it wasn't an easy decision," Northwest athletic director Ashley McDonald said in a release. "But the administrative team truly feels that Coach Hall has what it takes to bring our program to the next level on the field and in the classroom."
Northwest has made just five playoff appearances since the school opened in 1970. The Vikings' last playoff berth, and their last winning record, came in 2016 under coach Vernon Wright.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: TSSAA football: Mark Hall hired as next Northwest coach
