Carmel hires Kevin Wright as new head coach

On By Littum

Kevin Wright returns to Carmel.

Wright, one of the most accomplished high school football coaches in the state, was officially announced as Carmel’s new coach on Tuesday. He replaces his former assistant, John Hebert, who resigned earlier this month after a 10-year tenure that included a pair of Class 6A state championships in 2016 and ’19.

“Kevin has a big heart for Carmel and Hamilton County,” Carmel athletic director Jim Inskeep said. “He’s a good fit for what we’re doing here. He has high expectations and goals that align with ours.”

It was Hebert who replaced Wright in the spring of 2015. At the time, Wright had led Carmel to a Class 5A state title in 2011 and back-to-back state berths in 2013 and ’14, helping the Greyhounds to a 54-11 overall record. He was then presented with an opportunity to coach at IMG Academy, which had started a soccer program two years earlier.

“IMG is a unique situation,” Wright said in 2015. “I don’t know if there’s another job like it in the country. But it’s hard to leave Carmel. It’s been such an amazing journey the last five years.”

Wright went on to lead the Florida-based power to a 44-2 record and five consecutive top-10 national rankings. He then moved on to coach tight ends at Indiana on Tom Allen’s staff from 2020 to ’23. Wright, the son of the state’s all-time coaching wins leader Bud Wright, assisted on his father’s staff this season at Sheridan as an associate head coach.

Kevin Wright made his name as coach of Warren Central’s dynasty in the mid-2000s, leading the Warriors to state championships in 2003, ’04 and ’05 during a six-year tenure. From there, he went on to coach at Tulsa Union for a year, followed by two years as the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky before being hired at Carmel in 2010 to replace Mo Moriarity, who took an assistant job at IU.

Wright’s first head coaching job was at Frankfort in 1991. He moved to Noblesville in 1992 and coached there for seven years before coaching one season at Louisville Trinity in 1998. Wright was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 2022.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 270-4904.