After five years of leading the Vernon Lions football team and the Vernon Independent School District athletic program, Kevin Sherrill announced today he will be leaving the school later this semester, as he has accepted the athletic director and head football coach position at Blooming Grove Independent School District.
In a statement he released this afternoon, Sherrill stated he wished to thank the Vernon community, and the VISD faculty and staff for all they have done for him and his family over these past five years.
“Vernon will always have a special place in our hearts,” the coach wrote. “I have accepted the position as AD/Head Football Coach within the Blooming Grove Independent School District. This move is mainly for family reasons, but I also feel it is just time. All of you welcomed our family to Vernon five years ago, and for that we will be forever grateful. I was allowed to do things my own way with the athletic program and, for an athletic director and head football coach, that means so much. We wish only the best for this community and school district. This is an exceptional place, and we were proud to be a part of it for five years. TPL.”
TPL stands for “Tough People Last,” the Lions motto over the last three years.
In a message to his team, Sherrill included, “I appreciate all that you guys have done for the football program and Vernon Athletics as a whole.”
During his five years as the head coach of the Lions, the team had a record of 34-24, with four playoff appearances and four playoff victories. Vernon made the playoffs in 2022, Sherrill’s second season, for the first time since 2018, and returned to the playoffs the following year, however they lost in the bi-district round both seasons.
In 2024, the Lions claimed their first playoff victory since 2018 with a 28-9 victory over Sweetwater. Vernon went on to capture an area playoff crown before falling in the third round of the playoffs. It was the first time the Lions had won two playoff games since 2014. This past season they duplicated that feat, collecting bi-district and area titles before falling in the regional quarterfinals. Vernon finished with a record of 10-3, the first time the Lions had won 10 games since 2013.
Sherrill and his wife Kassidy, who is in VISD’s Curriculum and Instructional Department, has a son, Kale, who is a sophomore at Midwestern State University, and a daughter, Klancy, who is a senior at Vernon High School.
Vernon ISD Interim Supt. Dr. Blaise Boswell said the district will miss Sherrill and his leadership.
“We appreciate the job Coach Sherrill did here over the last five seasons, and we thank him for helping us revive the proud football playoff tradition we have in Vernon,” Boswell stated. “We wish him and his family nothing but the best.”
Boswell said the search for a new AD/head coach to lead the Lions and VISD Athletic Program will begin in the near future.