If you were inside of a packed Burley Stadium a week ago as Greeneville took down Anderson County 28-21 in the Class 4A state quarterfinals you might have been asking, who is this guy that just keeps picking up first downs for the Greene Devils?
Tegan Begley has not been around Greeneville long, but in a short time he has made his presence felt on the football field and is a big reason the Devils are one game away from playing for a state championship.
“With Tegan we have added a good kid who has bought into everything we do as program. He’s a heck of a ball player for sure, Greeneville coach Eddie Spradlen said. “He as added depth at both linebacker and running back, and at the biggest part of season you are seeing the best from him. He battled for his spot, and eventually took over as the best fit to make us the best football team.”
In the quarterfinal win over Anderson County Begley gave Greeneville a boost it had to have in the running game, eventually scoring the game-clinching touchdown with 1:05 left to play.
If you rewind the clock to the start of August there are a lot of names that Greene Devil fans would have thrown out as potential heroes in playoffs, and many of those were integral in Friday’s win, but not one person would have thought that Begley was among them.
The 6’3” 205 lb. running back and linebacker was preparing for his senior season at Dobyns-Bennett. But sometimes things don’t work out as planned and Begley needed a change of scenery to get what he wanted out of his final season on the gridiron.
Greeneville provided just what he was looking for and ahead of the Devils’ week-three game against Northview he made the move to Title Town.
Begley entered the lineup for the first time in week seven against Cherokee and his impact has been felt in a big way on defense ever since.
“Some things didn’t go right at my old school and I needed to start fresh. In the moment I thought everything was over. It was hard to leave those people that I’ve been with for 12 years,” Begley said. “But Greeneville and coach Spradlen gave me an opportunity. This team has treated me like family and I’ve just tried to come in and work hard.”
In week two against Upperman the Greene Devils lost one of their top linebackers in Cole Smith to a knee injury. The loss left Greeneville with little size in its linebacking corps and forced guys more suited to play on the outside to move inside. Begley proved to be the piece they were missing, and he has immediately become one of the team’s top defenders.
“Sometimes at linebacker you have to play like its life or death. I try to play very physical, and physicality is something I want to bring to the team. I like hitting people and that’s what I love about linebacker,” Begley said.
Despite playing in only seven of 13 game Begley is second on the team in tackles with 60. He is third on the team in tackles for loss with eight, and has two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.
It has not been easy to join a team midseason and get into the mix, but Begley was quick to credit junior linebacker Jack Lister for helping him study the scheme and get comfortable with the game plan despite no offseason work.
“I’ve just tried to work hard every day. The Greeneville standard is a tough one to meet and I’ve never worked this hard in my life,” Begley said. “Jack has helped me so much. He’s such a smart guy at linebacker. For my first two weeks I was just following him and asking questions all the time. Just getting the reps in practice helped me along, and now I’ve been here long enough that I should have everything down.”
While the defensive role seemed to be a natural fit that he transitioned into seamlessly, on offense the Devils had not asked Begley to do a ton, that was until the Mavericks came to town.
Entering last week’s game with Anderson County Begley had carried the ball 12 times for 102 yard, mostly coming into the game in short yardage situations. But after a few series on Friday it became clear that Greeneville needed a little more power in its run game as the Mavericks were coming down hill hard to stop quarterback Caden Baugh.
They called Begley’s number and he answered in a big way, running for 114 yards on 21 carries. His last touch was the biggest as he covered 26 yards while shaking off would-be tacklers to give Greeneville the lead with 1:05 left to play.
“We rotate our running backs, and I didn’t expect to get that many carries,” Begley said. “I was getting yards, so they kept putting me in. I was still playing defense too and at the end I was getting a little gassed. But I would do anything to help this team win. It felt great to see that coach trusted me on that last drive. Before that drive he told me ‘go win this game’, and that’s what we did. Nothing was going to stop me on that last run.”
Whether or not the game plan this week against Alcoa in the state semifinals calls for him to carry such a big load Begley is excited for the opportunity to get the Devils back to the state title game for the first time since 2018.
“I love playing football and to get this opportunity means a ton to me,” Begley said. “I don’t want it to be over. I’m grateful that we have made it this far. It would mean everything to get to play for a state championship. If we are in the locker room Monday game planning for a state championship that would be amazing. We know that Alcoa is a good team, but if we work a little bit harder than them it will show on Friday.”
While Begley has arrived at Greeneville and looked like a natural on the football field, his first sport is baseball and he is committed to the United States Military Academy as an outfielder. The decision to head to West Point was a big one, but Begley aspires to make an impact and felt joining the Army was a way for him to be that.
“I felt like that commitment was bigger than sports,” Begley said. “I still want to pursue playing professional baseball, but I want to have career after sports. Having a goal in place after sports are done was really important to me.”
He is also excited about the prospect of joining the Greene Devils’ state champion baseball team in the spring and is hopeful he can help the Diamond Devils return to Murfreesboro in May.
“It’s great to join to a team that has a legacy of winning and I want to add to that,” Begley said. “I’ll do whatever I can to get another state championship back to Greeneville.”
