Orange & Blue

Issue date: 1/26/07 Section: Sports

Head Football Coach Ken Sparks

Head Football Coach Ken Sparks will serve as the 2007 American Football Coaches Association president, becoming the 83rd coach to lead the organization, and the first from Carson-Newman College.

Sparks, who was the 2006 first vice president of the Association, was elected president at the AFCA's 2007 convention in San Antonio, succeeding outgoing president Mel Tjeerdsma of Northwest Missouri State University. The AFCA, which was founded in 1922, has over 10,000 members from all levels of the coaching profession, from all across the globe, whose top priority is the constant improvement of both the coaching profession and the sport of football.

Sparks said that he "got in the coaching profession to touch lives. The sport of football does so much for the youth of America and I want to make it a responsibility to enhance all of the possibilities this profession has to offer. If not us coaches, then who?"

According to the AFCA, "those who have served as president of the American Football Coaches Association have shown the highest dedication and devotion to the coaching profession. They are held in high self esteem by the membership for the valuable contributions they have made in the best interests of the coaching profession." Sparks has contributed to both the sport and profession, since becoming head coach at Carson-Newman in 1980. In 27 years, Sparks has racked up five NAIA national titles, four national runner-up finishes, 18 South Atlantic Conference championships and 20 NAIA or NCAA Division II play-off appearances.

Sparks's coaching record of 259 victories to only 62 losses puts him first in overall victories in Division II and fourth in all divisions among active coaches, trailing only John Gagliardi of St. Johns with 443 total wins, Bobby Bowden of Florida State with 366, and Joe Paterno of Penn State with 363 wins

Coach Sparks was named NAIA Coach of the Year in 1984, AFCA Regional Coach of the Year in 1997, Tennessee Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year in 1999, American Football Coach Magazine Division II Coach of the Year and Fellowship of Christian Athletes National Coach of the Year during his collegiate coaching career. He was also voted the South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year a staggering 11 times.

All of the victories and all of the awards have allowed Sparks to be included in the Carson-Newman College Athletic Hall of Fame, inducted into the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and named to the Tennessee Sports Hall of fame in 2004. Even with the honors, a successful history behind him and a bright future ahead of him, Sparks still sees his profession and his new presidency as a privilege. He simply calls himself a "guardian of the game" and wants to "encourage coaches to the best of my ability, because we each have an awesome responsibility to affect the lives of many young people."

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