Jamie Graham hired as Nashville Collegiate Prep's first TSSAA football coach

Jamie Graham hired as Nashville Collegiate Prep's first TSSAA football coach

Jamie Graham’s next step is about new beginnings.

The former Lipscomb Academy coach was announced as the first TSSAA football coach at Nashville Collegiate Prep, the charter school announced on April 13.

Nashville Collegiate Prep, located in Antioch, opened in 2021 and will play its first Tennessee high school football season in the fall of 2026 as part of a co-op with fellow south Nashville charter school Valor Prep.

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Devin Arnold, an Antioch graduate who worked with Graham as his former director of operations at Lipscomb Academy, was also announced as Nashville Collegiate Prep’s athletic director in 2026.

Graham went 6-15 in two seasons at Lipscomb. He confirmed that Lipscomb Academy dismissed him as head coach in January, shortly before announcing the school had brought back former Mustangs coach Trent Dilfer. Lipscomb offered Graham an assistant coaching position, but he declined to seek something different.

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That led the former Whites Creek and Vanderbilt two-sport standout to Nashville Collegiate Prep, which opened its upper school this past August. The school began in 2021 for grades kindergarten through fifth grade. It includes ninth and 10th graders this year and will graduate its first senior class in 2028.

The TSSAA approved Nashville Collegiate Prep for membership in February 2026. Graham didn’t estimate how big the football program is currently but said there are opportunities to grow.

The program is expected to compete in Class 1A or 2A.

“I think we’re in a good location for people who might be open to a charter school. I think they do things in a way that’s positive,” Graham said. “The campus is amazing. The football field sits down in a valley and already has turf. They have a turf baseball field. It sits on about 82 acres. I mean it’s a beautiful school.”

Arnold was Antioch’s athletic director and football coach from 2022-23, helping pull the program out of a 22-game losing streak and reach the TSSAA football playoffs for the first time since 2016.

“It’s super exciting to be able to come back to the community of Antioch and build something special for the kids in this community,” Arnold said. “They need another program that can be elite athletically, and we have an opportunity to do that with coach Graham.”

Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.

He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jamie Graham hired as Nashville Collegiate Prep's TSSAA football coach