COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Fipps named new UPIKE head coach

University of Pikeville Director of Athletics Kelly Wells has announced the hiring of Corey Fipps as head coach of the UPIKE football program.

Fipps, who spent the past four seasons at Kentucky Christian University, becomes the school’s seventh head coach in program history.

He led the Knights to the highest single season winning percentage (75 percent) in program history in 2020-21, wrapping up at 6-2. The Knights boasted a top-10 rushing offense nationwide a season ago, a testament to the progress of the program at the hands of Fipps.

Fipps has carved a path through many levels of college football, beginning with his Alma Mater NCAA Division II Harding University where he played offensive tackle for the Bison.

Fipps has served as the offensive coordinator at NCAA Division II Missouri Southern State University, NAIA Montana Tech, Sacramento City College, as well as at Faulkner University where he piloted an offense that ranked first in the country with 520 yards total offense per game in 2011, concluding with a win over rival Union College 95-89.

He inherits a program with a young core which showed promise in several areas over the course of the previous season and finished 3-4 in the shortened schedule.

One of the highlights of 2021 came as the Bears knocked off No. 25 Bethel on the road, piecing together the team’s best overall effort of the season with 488 yards of total offense while holding the Wildcats to 239 total yards.