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The Claiborne Bulldogs have a new head football coach. Dalton Lee was officially introduced on Friday. A 2015 graduate of Claiborne, Lee returns to CHS after spending last season as an offensive assistant at Cumberland Gap.

He sat down with The Claiborne County Sports Zone’s Allen Earl for an interview that was shared on Facebook and here are some of the highlights.

“I played football here under Barry Liles from 2011 to 2014. There’s a lot of rich history here from the Devils all the way up to the Bulldogs. I’m super excited to be here at Claiborne, to be back home,” Lee said. “I’ve always personally been tied to Claiborne. I played here for four years and loved it. There’s great people here, I’m excited to work with Andrew McGinnis and Mason Goad in the athletic department. (Principal) Craig Ivey is a good friend of mine, there’s a lot of good people here at the school.”

Lee oversaw the offense for Coach Nick Nash at Cumberland Gap and plans to bring a similar scheme to the Bulldogs next season.

“We ran a pistol-power spread scheme. Offensively, our offensive line is going to be the root of what we do. We’re going to run a power scheme that may look like a spread at times, we may jump into the ‘I’ but the vertical run game is the best way to establish a football game. If you can’t run the ball there’s not much passing you can do,” he said. “Obviously, if we have a kid that plays quarterback who can throw the ball, we’ll lean more on him and the receivers. But fundamentally our offensive line is going to understand the gap scheme and zone scheme we’re going to try and do. We’re going to push forward with that and see how far they can take us.”

He also has some plans for the defensive side of the ball.

“I’ve been studying over the past few years what kind of defense I’d like to run. I’m pushing more towards a 4-4 with cover 3 and then rolling one of those outside linebackers to a 4-2-5 and playing cover 2,” Lee said. “We probably won’t play too much man, probably won’t be as aggressive as Coach Nash who plays an extremely aggressive 3-4 defense. I’ll probably sit back a little bit more and let the kids react and then play.”

Lee said he’s already been talking to some people who might be joining his staff.

“I really want to make sure I get the right people around the kids. People who not only want to make them better, but also to push me to be a better man, a better football coach, and I hope I can do the same for them,” he said. “I really want there to be a Claiborne imprint on our coaching staff. So people that are in the community, obviously the people who are in the youth league did really well with that and I’d love to get some of them. Wesley Nance is one that’s been thrown out and the kids like him, I’ve met with him some. I played against him when he was at Cumberland Gap but he’s been a great guy every time I’ve talked to him and he’s a great football coach too.”

Lee stopped short of stating a goal for the number of wins he wants to see next year, but acknowledged that expectations the team is expected to improve from last year’s 4-6 record.

“It will be a learning process — it doesn’t help when your schedule gets a little bit harder due to realignment. But that doesn’t mean anything, it just means we have to get better. I know this senior group really well, we connect very well. They know me as a track coach and an assistant football coach but that’s going to change quickly. We’ve got expectations and we’re going to live up to them,” he said. “So anytime we’re doing anything football related they’re going to be giving 100-percent. There’s no goofing off. We’re still going to have fun and I’m there for them more than just a coach, I’m a mentor, but we’re going to work.”

Coach Lee said he was excited to get started and that it was important for his Bulldogs to represent their community well.

“These kids are going to be loved, they’re going to love each other, we’re going to play hard, we’re going to play for not only Claiborne High School but our community as well,” he said. “I want everybody that is involved or knows Claiborne football to come out and support these kids. They’re going to work really hard all year and Friday night is not just a celebration of their hard work, it’s them representing us as a whole.”