Coach Petie Siler is a legend in Morristown and East Tennessee. He coached thirty years in TSSAA schools and served a two-year stint as University of Tennessee freshman coach in 1922-23. Before going to Morristown High School in 1925, he coached at Knoxville Central and Lafollette High one year each and at Knoxville High School three years. Siler coached twenty-five years at Morristown, where he became known as the “Dean of East Tennessee Coaches.” In 1943, Siler volunteered and served overseas with the American Red Cross during World War II. Upon his return, Siler continued coaching football, boys and girls basketball, track, baseball, tennis and golf. He taught physical education to every student that attended Morristown High School for twenty-five years. In football, Coach Siler compiled a total record of 200-111-13. He coached Knoxville High to a State Championship and East Tennessee Championship. In basketball, Coach Siler won a combined 514 wins for boys and girls. At Knoxville High, his boys’ basketball team won 63 consecutive games. His teams won four East Tennessee Championships, one big Six Championship and ten District Championships. In golf, Siler’s Morristown High team won the TSSAA Championship in 1938. Perhaps Coach Siler’s most celebrated accomplishments were in track where his Knoxville High team won a State Championship and two Class A Track and Fields University of Tennessee Championships. In 1928, Coach Siler’s Morristown High Two-Mile Relay team won the Vanderbilt Invitational Track Championship and also established a new national high school record of 8:25:7, which stood several years. He also coached several individual state track champions. He was known for his “toughness tempered with love” and for leaving a positive impact on his players. Coach Siler was inducted into the East Tennessee Chapter of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame, the Northeast Tennessee Hall of Fame, and was honored in 1966 with a “Petie Siler Day.” The Morristown gymnasium, football field and local park have been named in his honor. Each year, the “Petie Siler Memorial Scholarship” is awarded at Morristown East High School. Coach Siler died in 1972 at the age of 77.
