The fairytale ending. The Hallmark movie moment. All’s well that ends well.

Knowing that her husband, Ralph, would no longer be the head coach of the McCallie School football team during their final season, Jennifer Potter would reference the inevitable feel-good ending every time she watched a Hallmark or Disney movie in his presence and tell him, “That could be you someday.”

Potter, known for his gruff manner, replied almost immediately: “This is not real life.”

In real life, the coach loses the big game and gets fired. That’s the life of a coach.”

Then came November 30, 2023. McCallie faced archrival Baylor at Finley Stadium for the second time in two months, and this time it was for the TSSAA Division II Class AAA state title. The Blue Tornados beat the defending champion Red Raiders 34-28 to claim their fourth state title in five years and complete their first sweep of Baylor.

Less than two weeks later, Potter resigned as head coach, turning those duties over to longtime offensive coordinator Joel Bradford. Potter remains with the team as defensive coordinator, a role he has essentially held for five years.

A beaming Jennifer said the night the transition was announced: “I had my Hallmark moment, I had my fairytale ending.”

It may have been the best-kept secret in McCallie School history, this long-planned changing of the guard from Potter to fellow former star receiver Bradford. Executive athletic director Kenny Sholl will tell you he knew nearly two years before the public did. Headmaster Lee Burns will say much the same. To quickly disprove a widespread rumor from last season: Had McCallie lost that title game to Baylor, Potter would have retired anyway, with or without the fairytale ending.

But as he said that night on Davenport Field at Finley Stadium, a rare smile spread across his face as he recalled sweeping Baylor in front of the largest crowd in a championship game in TSSAA history: “This is the pinnacle. This is No. 1.”

But when they play Chattanooga Christian tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Spears Stadium, Bradford will be on top and McCallie football will be in largely uncharted territory. It will be only the ninth time in the last 51 years that someone not named Potter will be the head coach of the Blue Tornados. Ralph’s father, Pete, became coach at McCallie in 1973 and held the job for 21 consistently solid, often outstanding seasons before health problems forced him to resign at the end of the 1993 season.

In 1997, Ralph took over the program he once played quarterback for, left in 2006 to take a job at Brentwood Academy, returned in 2012 and resigned 12 years later after a historic run that included four state titles in the last five years after winning his first in 2001.

So for 43 of the last 51 years, Potter has won football. And what a streak. Pete went 155-67 during his tenure, with multiple playoff appearances and a spot in the 1983 state championship semifinals. Ralph went 181-77 and won five state championships in total. A few years ago, the field at Spears Stadium was renamed Pete Potter Field. Ralph will surely receive a similar honor soon.

A single quote from long ago illustrates the kind of hands McCallie’s football team is in today: When Ralph told former quarterback BJ Coleman that he needed to throw the passes to someone other than the long-fingered Bradford, Coleman replied, “But Coach, when I throw the pass to Joel, he always catches it.”

When the two reunited at UT-Chattanooga, Bradford caught enough passes from Coleman to become a two-time All-Southern Conference receiver and FCS All-American.

Bradford’s wife Courtney said earlier this week of his taking over the program: “This is his dream. He lives and breathes football.”

They started dating when her brother-in-law, Brad Roberts, who had known Bradford since they were children in East Ridge, told him, “I’ve got a girl for you.” Since Courtney lived in Nashville, they arranged to meet in the Music City after a McCallie-Father Ryan football game. Luckily, the Blue Tornado won. Bradford was soon driving to Nashville every weekend to see her.

Unlike Jennifer Potter, who almost never talked about football with Ralph except to ask about an injury or the progress of one of her McCallie math students, Courtney and Joel often talk about the intricacies of his job.

“He discusses ideas with me, maybe a speech he’s going to give to the team or something like that,” said Courtney, who spends much of her time raising her two children — 6-year-old Dekian and 3-year-old Loxton — in McCallie’s new Peak View townhomes near the top of Missionary Ridge.

“I tell him I’ll give him ten minutes. Then I say, ‘Maybe you can skip that.'”

She also says of Joel’s adjustment to the job since he took over as head of the program in December: “He’s handled it with a lot less stress and a lot more grace than I would have thought.”

She thanks Jennifer Potter for showing her how to be the First Lady of McCallie football.

“Oh, she’s been great,” Courtney said. “It’s very reassuring that they’re still here. She’s so positive. She’s there for me every day. One thing she told me is, ‘Not everyone is going to like you.’ I’m OK with that. I’m focused on my kids. We’ll be at the game. We’ll go down the hill like we always do, see Joel warm up, and the kids will be running around and playing. I’m excited.”

Jennifer fondly remembers how it all started for her and Ralph. They were taking a business class together at UTC. She made sure to sit directly in front of him every day so she could see him as she checked off the attendance sheet and handed it back to him.

“I didn’t know he was the quarterback,” she recalls. “But I was a flag girl in the marching band. At one game, I saw him on the sidelines. He seemed a little upset that I didn’t know he was the quarterback.”

However, they stayed together. They got married. They had children. A grandson was born last autumn.

She says the job change was both difficult and good for her husband.

“He was really sick for two months in the winter,” she said. “Flu, really bad flu, and COVID. In all those years, Ralph never got sick, no matter how hard he worked and how little he slept. Then the adrenaline went away and it seemed like he caught it all.”

But after this phase was over, she experienced a pleasant change.

“He helps around the house,” she said. “Not a lot, but more than I thought he would. He comes home from practice, eats a small meal, watches a movie for an hour, and then goes to bed. He never used to go to bed. He would watch movies until two or three in the morning. During football season, I never saw him. Now, when Joel calls with a question, Ralph listens, gives his opinion, and then hangs up. It’s over. Don’t worry. It’s Joel’s decision.”

She paused for a moment. “I actually saw Ralph smile this summer. Others have told me they saw him smile too. His stress levels are much better.”

Something has also changed for Jennifer. “I’ll be there for the game against Chattanooga Christian. Ralph is still the coach, after all. I hope I enjoy it more. I haven’t enjoyed it for the last 15 years or so. Too much pressure.”

The stress of that pressure came out at the end of Baylor’s state championship game. “It wasn’t what I expected,” she said. “It was very emotional. Both the lowest and highest emotions. I thought back on all the lives we’ve touched over the last 40 years. So many players, parents, teachers. We got a letter from Betty Latham (wife of recently retired teacher Cleve Latham) telling us how she watches the state championship game every day and how much joy it brings her. You don’t always realize how many lives you touch.”

Both Sholl and senior defensive back Carson Lawrence, who has committed to the Vanderbilt football team, are already seeing subtle changes.

“It’s not that different because Coach Potter is still there,” Lawrence said. “But the head coach’s office has been renovated. There’s a TV in there now. And Joel is obviously younger. He’s closer in age to us, so he does things a little differently.”

Sholl added: “The message is not different, but maybe the voice. It is assertive, but in a different way. The way I see it, this is how Ralph would do things if he was 37 years old.”

Tonight we’ll find out what the Bradford era will look like, and at some point Courtney Bradford may play a much bigger role than just a supportive coach’s wife.

It seems like Courtney will text Joel every now and then during the first half of a game and ask why he doesn’t call this pass or that run.

“Often he calls this play right after halftime,” she said. “And it almost always works.”

If one of those plays one day leads to a win over Baylor or a state title or both, we know Jennifer Potter isn’t the only McCallie football coach’s wife who can experience a Hallmark movie moment or a fairytale ending.

(Mark Wiedmer can be reached at [email protected])