By By Tim Cottrell
With the resignations of Jason Allen and Mike Harrell prior to the start of the 2005-06 school year, Escambia Academy was left in need of a few assistant football coaches.
While Jason Barnett stepped in to fill the shoes of Allen, the Cougars were still two assistants short two weeks into practice.
After a fairly long search, Cougar head coach Heath Gibson found he didn't have to look very far, after all.
Hughes, who played four years of high school football at Escambia County High School from 1995-98, and then went on to East Tennessee State where he played another four years of football, said he was ready to get back in the game.
Hughes began the job Thursday. He will teach P.E. at the academy, and will coach the offensive and defensive lines. He has big expectations for his linemen, as well.
Gibson was also expecting big things from his new hire.
Another factor of the job that was attractive to Hughes was the chance to get more time with his youth group.