After a coachless stint, the football team has someone at the helm, and a familiar face at that.
Head coach Chris Cagle has brought his 25 years of coaching experience back “home,” as he calls it. Cagle is not new to the school’s football program and sees this as an asset in his endeavors for the football program.
“The first time I saw the Rocket was in 2006 when I interviewed for the offensive coordinator’s job [at Sparkman], so this is the only place in North Alabama that I’ve ever lived,” Cagle said.
Within his extensive coaching career, Cagle has been able to observe the “creme-de-la-creme” of football by working under offensive and defensive coordinators at successful high school programs throughout the state. He hopes to apply the tactics he learned to shape the Senators into a stronger team.
“[I have been able] to see how Hoover does it because Hoover sets the bar in the state of Alabama from everything: academics and athletics,” Cagle said.
As far as his coaching style goes, Cagle strives to coach players the way he would want his two daughters to be coached. He stresses fundamentals, hard work but he also realizes the necessity of giving credit where it is due. While Cagle has structurally altered the football program –types of plays, the way the teams practice and how players are disciplined have changed– there is only so much he can do as a coach. He pushes players to strengthen themselves not only physically, but mentally.
“What we have to get over is that when we have a bad play we recover from it. Like life…you have good days and bad days. You just have to overcome that and that’s what we have to do during the course of a ball game. We want the players to have fun. A lot of the time they think you have fun when you win. That’s not always the case. We don’t want it to be something the players dread to do every day they come out here,” Cagle said.
Cagle has observed an overall positive response from players to the reformation of the football program. Junior Jesse Beck agrees.
“He’s done a lot already and he’s already been here a little while. He’s awesome, he’s funny but at the same time does a good job,” Beck said.
Due to the football team’s past lackluster win streaks, some students have resorted to mocking the team’s abilities. Cagle sees this as a self-inflicted wound to the school’s reputation and notes that there is room for improvement in the student body’s school spirit.
“What I ask for the student body is to give us a chance. This is their team. This is the student body’s school. Know that they’re going to try hard to put themselves in a position to win. There’s going to be some nights we win and some nights we lose. So come out and support them. When you have your friends in the stands cheering for you, that’s like having a twelfth man on the field,” Cagle said.
Cagle does not take his job lightly. He wishes to remain an integral part of the school and the football program for years to come. He holds dear the sport that allows him to see the beaming faces of his daughters as they cheer on their dad from the sidelines.
“I’m not one of those coaches that come in, turn the program around and leave. I’m not looking at Sparkman as a stepping stone. This will be the last place I coach. I want to retire from Sparkman,” Cagle said.