La Vergne hires Nick Porter as boys basketball coach, Bobby Farley to lead softball

La Vergne has hired TSSAA boys basketball and softball coaches for the 2026-27 seasons.

Former Motlow State men’s basketball assistant Nick Porter has been named the Wolverines’ boys basketball coach and Bobby Farley has been named the school’s softball coach.

Porter will be the third official La Vergne boys basketball coach in three seasons after Tony Rutland left to take a position at Oakland following the 2025 season. Mychal Greenwood coached the team this past season and Anthony Griggs was named his successor in April, but has since been replaced, a situation that LHS principal Theowauna Hatchett said “didn’t work out.”

Porter, a Kentucky native, spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Motlow, where he was also an assistant from 2017-22. He has also coached at Tusculum University (2022-24). His first coaching stint was right out of college as an assistant at Daviess County (Kentucky) in 2016.

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Siegel soccer player Uzias Martinez holds The Daily News Journal All Sport Award 2026 trophy as he is interviewed after the trophy was presented to the school at Siegel on Thursday, June 11, 2026.

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“There’s not much difference (transitioning from college back to high school),” Porter said. “They’re basically one or two years removed from high school, so it’s the same things you focus on. It may just be a little slower, a little more patience (at the high school level).”

Porter played basketball at Apollo High in Daviess County, graduating in 2012 before playing at St. Catharine College in Springfield, Kentucky.

“Coach Porter brings valuable experience from both the collegiate and high school levels, having coached at Motlow State, Tusculum University, and Daviess County High School,” Hatchett said. “His knowledge of the game, passion for developing young men, and understanding of what it takes to compete at the next level will be a tremendous asset to our student-athletes.”

La Vergne reached three consecutive sectional appearances from 2023-25, including the program’s first TSSAA state tournament berth in 2024. However, the team won just one game last season.

“They’ve had success … I recruited some of those guys,” Porter said. “That’s what made this a very enticing job to apply for. You know you’re going to have athletes.”

Farley, who is also the school’s wrestling coach, is no stranger to success on the diamond.

He was a three-time all-district baseball player and four-year starter at Riverdale from 1993-97. He believes a lot of his baseball knowledge will translate to the softball field.

“The hardest part (about coaching softball vs. baseball) would be pitching,” said Farley, who replaces Megan Mihaliak. “But I’ve already started assembling a staff, which includes a pitching coach. Situational wise, it can be similar. I’ve done baseball long enough to make that situational change and bring it into softball and to this team.”

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Farley spent more than 22 years working for the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department before landing a job teaching criminal justice at La Vergne in 2021. He became a wrestling assistant the following season and took over as head coach last season, a position he will continue.

La Vergne’s softball program has had its struggles over recent years, winning three games in 2026.

“We’ve got to build a culture of commitment, No. 1,” said Farley, who will be the program’s fourth coach in six years. “We want to start from the ground up and make it to where they feel like they can win.”

Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at cjoyce@dnj.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: La Vergne hires new coaches in TSSAA boys basketball, softball