| Notes |
- Science Hill Sports Hall of Fame
Cot Presnell played for Mule Brown on Elizabethton's 1938 state championship team -- they beat Jackson 26-13 in Jackson -- and played for Steve Lacy at Milligan. Like Kermit Tipton, he ended up getting his degree from Ole Miss.
Presnell came to Science Hill when Brown arrived in '48. He was an assistant for parts of four decades.
Presnell also started Science Hill's golf program in 1952. Led by state runner-up John Abernath, his Hilltoppers won a state title in 1959. He was the athletic director for two years between Sid Smallwood and Elvin Little.
Bob Taylor said Presnell was an excellent football scout. He said he intercepted a pitch and took it for a TD against Elizabethton in 1953 after Presnell predicted he would earlier in the week if he read the key correctly on a certain play-call.
"Cot said, 'They've got this play where I think you can intercept the lateral and score,'" Taylor said. "And I did. I took off and the ball was right there. Cot went crazy when I got that ball."
Most remember Presnell as keeping a lot of young lives from going south.
"Cot Presnell sure helped me," Bob May said. "You could tell he cared about you, he and his brother Zeb."
May and Bo Austin were teammates in the early '50s when Presnell was an assistant.
"Cot thought the world of Bob May and (vice-versa)," Bo Austin said. "Cot meant a lot to all of us. And he was a darn good football coach."
Johnson City Press, 10 May 2012
Cot R. Presnell, of 1306 Iris Avenue, Johnson City, passed away on May 8, 2012, at the Johnson City Medical Center.
A native of Carter County, he was the son of the late Robert Julius and Lillian (Blair) Presnell. He was a former teacher and coach at Science Hill High School and served as Director of Athletics at Science Hill High School during the 1970s.
Cot was a lover of life, people and sports. He began playing sports at a young age and was the captain and quarterback of the football team at Elizabethton High School when they won the State Football Championship in 1938.
He was also a WWII veteran, having served in both the Army and the Air Force. After his service to his country was completed, he attended Milligan College, where he received his BS degree, and later completed his MA degree at Ole Miss.
Cot often reminisced about his coaching days at Science Hill High School, where he coached the golf team to the state championship in 1959. He is a member of the Science Hill Sports Hall of Fame, the Johnson City Parks and Recreation Wall of Fame and the Elizabethton High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Cot was a member of Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church and was a loving and giving Christian who loved everyone and helped as many people as he could. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
He was preceded in death by brothers: Blair Presnell, Joe Presnell, Fred Presnell, Zeb Presnell and Bruce Presnell; as well as by sisters: Hattie Bell Presnell and Wanda Presnell Hahn.
He is survived by his loving wife, Mary Presnell, of the home.
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Abt 1919 - 2012 (~ 93 years)
