Scott Hughes has stepped down as Cooper High School’s girls soccer coach after 10 seasons, closing out the longest and most successful run in the program’s 19-year history.
For Hughes, a soccer lifer, the decision was more than a year in the making and anything but easy.
“I had been thinking about it, and I was really torn last fall,” said Hughes, who stayed on for the 2025 season before making his decision. “A lot went into it.”
The 2017 Ninth Region Coach of the Year made clear his choice isn’t tied to the wave of changes inside the Cooper athletic department, including the resignation of athletic director and football coach Randy Borchers.
“I talked to Mr. Borchers about how I was feeling. He told me to take as much time as I needed, and I recently told him what I decided,” said Hughes, who stepped down a month before Borchers resigned. “It just so happened that I met with him and then the team right before the avalanche of changes at Cooper. My decision is wholly independent of those changes.”
The timing reflects the weight of the past few years. Hughes made his final call in late February. That’s the point on the calendar when he’d normally be gearing up for another year. Instead, he was navigating grief. His father died suddenly during the 2025 season following unexpected complications from back surgery. That came just a year after the death of Taylor Neltner. She was one of Hughes’ former players who had returned to help him coach the Jaguars and his club team. She collapsed at a club practice in 2024.
“Her passing was really difficult, and I am still learning how to cope with it today,” Hughes said. “As I was finding my footing, my dad died. Those very grief-stricken moments have put me into a position where I think I need to get away from coaching for a bit.”
Even then, stepping away was excruciating for the former 16-year trial attorney and current compliance officer with Huntington National Bank. He’s been in coaching for 20 years, half that at Cooper. He played at Simon Kenton. He attended Thomas More with the intent to continue playing in college but decided instead to focus on academics. As life sometimes dictates, he’s once again refocusing.
“If I’m not 100% healthy, I can’t be the best coach I can be,” he said. “If I can’t put the team in the best position to succeed, then I need to step aside. These girls deserve a coach who has the full energy and mental health to serve all their needs. And I am just not there right now.”
Hughes, 52, leaves behind a run unmatched at Cooper. When he took over in 2016, he became the program’s fifth head coach in nine seasons. He immediately steadied the job. His first team posted the school’s second-highest win total at the time. He led the Jaguars to their first winning season. From there, Cooper won at least 11 games in every season but one.
He exits with a 121-69-16 record and 206 games coached. His résumé includes two 33rd District championships. It also includes five district final appearances and five Ninth Region tournament berths. There are also two regional semifinal trips and one appearance in the regional final. All are program records. The Jaguars were unbeaten during the 2020 regular season before finishing 13-1-2 and won their first-ever Ninth Region tournament game. They won a program-best 15 games in 2018.
Hughes also coached players who combined for 36 Cooper selections on all-region soccer teams. He sent a long list of players to college programs and built relationships he says will last.
“I’ve been coaching a while so it’s a big change,” he said. “I have loved coaching and love my players and will miss all of it. But I decided that this is the right time to do this.”
While Hughes hasn’t ruled out coaching again someday, he has ruled it out for now.
Bryan Stevenson Tournament starts Friday
The Bryan Stevenson Memorial Tournament returns Friday and Saturday across three locations: Dixie Heights, Scott and Simon Kenton. At least nine high school baseball teams compete in the annual event where there is no champion.
When scholarships were discontinued when the Bryan Stevenson Family Fund met its original goals of helping college‑bound students in financial need, the event became more about preserving a legacy. The tournament is in its 15th year. “We kept it going to keep his name alive,” said Simon Kenton athletic director Troy Roberts. He coached Stevenson on the baseball team at Scott.
Games begin Friday at 5 p.m. Opening matchups include Conner at Simon Kenton and Highlands at Scott. Batesville (Ind.) plays at Dixie Heights at 5:30. Scott upset Highlands 12-9 on April 14, so the Bluebirds are looking for revenge.
Among Saturday’s top matchups are Covington Catholic at Simon Kenton, Campbell County at Dixie Heights and Highlands vs. Cooper at Scott, all at 10 a.m. Cooper plays at Scott on Saturday at noon. CovCath plays Conner later that day at Simon Kenton at 12:30 p.m.
Conner, Simon Kenton, Highlands, Dixie Heights, Covington Catholic, Campbell County and Cooper all were in the local baseball coaches association preseason top 10.
Stevenson died after a fight in Louisville during Memorial Day weekend 2010. The 26-year-old was beaten during an attack by a group of men in a parking lot. He was in Louisville playing for the Good Guys softball team at the Lou Turner Tournament when the incident occurred. Reports show he came to the aid of teammates during a dispute outside a restaurant before the fatal assault.
From Independence, Stevenson was a multi-sport high school athlete at Scott. He later pitched at Eastern Kentucky University where he earned first-team all-Ohio Valley Conference honors in 2005.
Birthday bash?
In his 17 years as coach at Campbell County, Scott Schweitzer has played on May 4 as little as possible. “Over the years, my kids haven’t exactly been crazy about it. So, I haven’t played around my birthday a lot,” said the 45-year-old baseball coach.
He’s doing it this year. Campbell County hosts 37th District rival Bishop Brossart Monday May 4 at 5 p.m. The 11-7 Camels have seven games between now and then, beginning with Saturday’s action at the Bryan Stevenson Memorial Tournament. But Schweitzer said it will eventually get on his radar because the well-coached Mustangs field another quality ballclub. Plus, it’s a district game between teams that have played for the district crown four of the last eight years.
Brossart started the season 11-5 with a win over a Conner team that started 10-5 with wins over Beechwood and Covington Catholic. Brossart tagged Campbell County for 10 runs in the Camels’ second game of the season. Luckily for the Camels, they scored 22.
In what he admits is a statistical oddity, Schweitzer is 2-2 on his birthday with both wins against Bishop Brossart. The Camels beat the Mustangs 3-2 in 2023 on his 43rd birthday and 8-0 in 2013 on his 33rd. They lost to Montgomery County and Harrison County on other birthdays. Schweitzer was 3-0 the day before his birthday until losing to Dixie Heights two years ago on May 3.