Richmond, homegrown Hawk, takes flight
‘I grew up in Clinton, and I’m a Clinton guy through and through. ’ Nick Richmond CMS Hawks Head Coach
Nick Richmond is no stranger to the returning players on the Hawks’ roster. He served as an assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity coach under former Head Coach Matt McGhee during the 2025-26 season.
By nature, middle school basketball in East Tennessee is fluid, with most varsity teams throughout the region dominated by eighth-graders.
“That’s the thing; I had all the guys on this year’s varsity team on the JV team last year,” Richmond said.
“Middle school was my first taste of coaching, and I was thankful that (Principal Jason) Chambers gave me the opportunity to coach the JV team last year.”
Richmond is a Clinton native. He played football and basketball while growing up.
“I was probably better at football,” Richmond said. “I just always liked basketball better.
“I grew up in Clinton, and I’m a Clinton guy through and through,” he said. I went to Clinton Elementary, Clinton Middle and Clinton High School.
“And it’s always special to come back to where you went to school and be on the same floor that you played on and teach a new generation of kids the things that you learned,” he said.
Richmond began coaching on the AAU circuit with Clinton Elite.
It was there that he met Carson Richardson, a recent Clinton High School graduate who will be on his coaching staff with the Hawks.
The other assistant will be former CHS standout Trace Thackerson, who previously served as an assistant coach to Lee Henson, the longtime assistant coach at Karns High School in Knoxville.
“I would go to games at Karns, and I would see Trace, and I reached out to him first,” Richmond said. “Then Carson graduated, and he’s come aboard, and you have a perfect situation.”
That perfect situation has placed three Clinton High School graduates, all former Dragons under longtime Head Coach Chris Lockard, on the Hawks’ bench.
“I want the kids to have the experience in Clinton that we all had,” said Richmond, who graduated from Clinton High in 2013.
“I want us to build a program so that when they get to the high school, they’re ready to hit the ground running, and a big thing for me is keeping the kids in Clinton,” he said.
Away from basketball, Richmond is an avid University of Tennessee football and basketball fan.
He also follows other Vols and Lady Vols sports during the postseason. He is a golfer and a fan of the PGA Tour.
“I’m a big college basketball fan, and my favorite team is the Volunteers,” he said. “I follow Tennessee football, and I like to watch women’s soccer, the World Cup and the World Series. Those aren’t my favorite sports, but I like to watch them.
“In the NBA, I was a Kobe Bryant fan, so I like the Lakers, and when LeBron (James) came, I stayed with them,” he said. “I don’t follow the NFL quite as much as I used to. I liked Peyton Manning, so I followed him with the Colts and the Broncos. I still watch the Titans.”
Richmond values his time to relax and hang out, but there has not been much time for that since taking the Hawks’ job.
“Since I’ve gotten the job, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the gym,” Richmond said.
“I’m here practicing with my guys, or I’m here for AAU, and I’m starting to get involved with our girls team. They have a new coach, Jessica Harrell.
