Josh Jones, the former Bearden High School head football coach, has settled into his new digs this spring.

Jones was officially hired as an assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach for Knoxville Catholic High School, which just recently concluded its spring practice time.

Head coach Philip Shadowens confirmed the hire of Jones, who was able to coach the Irish this spring.

This will be Jones’ first go around in Division II-AAA football, where programs like McCallie and Baylor have reigned of late.

“Some coaches may run from competition. I don’t know no better. I like running to competition,” Jones said. “Everywhere I’ve ever been, I’ve always been about competition.

“I’m super excited. I know it’s a huge challenge. There are some really good coaches and football players in that league. But I’m fired up. Excited to see this league from a front-row seat and go against some of the best in the state and see how it goes.”

Jones will work with new offensive coordinator Rusty Bradley, who led CAK to state titles in 2011 and 2012 and coached Grace Christian (2017-20). Bradley had been coaching as head coach at Asheville Christian Academy since 2022. He took the job at Catholic in mid-December.

Catholic returns Mack Bartholomew as its starting quarterback. He threw for 1,580 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore this past fall. He also ran for four touchdowns and roughly 200 yards.

The Irish are led by Tennessee wide receiver commit Tyreek King, who’s compiled consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and is ranked as one of the top players in the nation.

Jones and Bearden parted ways unexpectedly in early 2025. He had led the Bulldogs to consecutive Class 6A state quarterfinal appearances, and his Bearden squad for this upcoming season appeared to be loaded for another successful run.

A state comptroller report that was published in January, however, brought Bearden’s program under scrutiny for its ways of paying assistant coaches.

A couple of weeks later, Bearden announced they would be searching for new leadership of the football program.

Jones was adamant he did nothing wrong, saying so in a statement published on social media.

“When you get blindsided like that, it kind of flips your world upside down,” Jones told 5Star Preps on May 16. “For me, I knew I would be fine. I’m an adult. I can handle adversity. The ones that concerned me the most: I was worried about the kids. Those are the ones most affected in something like that.”

Despite it all, Jones received support and job offers.

He contemplated taking this fall off from coaching, adding he was going to be very selective about his next coaching stop and that he wasn’t going to rush into a decision.

“But ball is in my blood,” said Jones.

He picked Catholic, he said, because of the administration’s commitment to football.

“And to me, in my next stop, that was an important factor,” Jones said.

“I had several opportunities, and that was flattering and all that, that some people thought enough of me to bring me on their staffs. But what led me to Catholic is: it’s a special place. Coach Shadowens recruited me. But even more than that, their head of schools, Dickie Sompayrac, he was very heavily involved. He and I go way back, about 15 years.”

Article written by Jesse Smithey/5Star Preps To read more on area high school sports or to see photo galleries, videos, stat leaders, etc. visit 5StarPreps.com — and use promo code New2024 for 30% off your first year or month subscription.

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