Coaches and the hot seat
By Staff
Jason Cannon, FCT Publisher
I come from a small town, much the size and shape of Russellville.
At the center of my hometown, – Pleasant Grove, Alabama – were two things: Pleasant Grove First Baptist Church and Pleasant Grove High School. Ask anyone who's from there and they'll list them in that order.
The two most important people in that community are the pastor of the church and the head football coach. Ask anyone who's from there and it's a toss up who they'll list first.
In Alabama football is king. We talk about our coaches like we know them on a personal level and the daily lives of the players and administrators play out like a soap opera we're all invited to watch.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard people refer to Alabama's new coach as Nick. No Mr. Saban, no Coach Saban, just Nick.
He's already rooted himself in the hearts of the Alabama faithful.
I'm also fond of how fans refer to their favorite team and the happenings around them as if they were in some way involved.
"We didn't play defense very well," or "We need to fire that guy and hire us a real coach."
I catch myself doing that, so I can't really point the finger without pointing the thumb at myself.
The fact is, being involved in Tier One school athletics is a high pressure job. I don't care if you're talking about Russellville High School, Crimson Tide football or the Dallas Cowboys.
If you're the coach at a Tier One school, you can most assuredly feel the heat from the eyes of countless fans burning holes in the back of your head.
In the grand scheme of Alabama High School football, Russellville is certainly a Tier One school.
It's built a winning tradition and it's a foregone conclusion that the Golden Tigers will find their way into the state playoffs. It's not a matter of will they get there, it's a matter of how far will they go?
Now, they're charged with playing that extra game, playing that extra week, getting to Legion Field and bringing back some hardware with a new coach.
I expect with an attractive package like Russellville's winning tradition and supportive administration, the list of interested applicants will be long and star-studded.
However, I don't expect that fans' expectations will be relaxed for a coach going into the equivalent of a rookie year.
It's football in Alabama. You don't get the luxury of a learning curve.
