{"id":41789,"date":"2022-02-01T16:08:41","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T22:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/?p=41789"},"modified":"2022-01-28T10:09:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T16:09:16","slug":"new-documentary-shows-athletic-success-kingdom-impact-of-carson-newman-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/2022\/02\/01\/new-documentary-shows-athletic-success-kingdom-impact-of-carson-newman-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"New documentary shows athletic success, kingdom impact of Carson-Newman coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (BP) \u2013<\/b> For 40 years, Ken Sparks coached and led thousands of young men on football fields in east Tennessee. Over that time his impact led to wins and championships, but also innumerable lives changed for the Gospel through the man referred to as \u201cthe Billy Graham of coaches.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSparks \u2013 The Ken Sparks Story\u201d continued in theaters a week after its debut, telling of the longtime Carson-Newman University coach who died in 2017. For 37 years, Sparks led the Eagles to five national championships and a 338-99-2 record, retiring fifth in all-time NCAA wins. In that time, he was also highly involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and an active member of Manley Baptist Church in Morristown.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carson-Newman is a private Baptist university in Jefferson City and affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe inspired me. He gave me that role model of how to coach,\u201d said Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy, one of several testimonials in the documentary spearheaded by actor\/filmmaker Jeff Joslin, who quarterbacked for Sparks at Farragut High in Knoxville and later at Carson-Newman.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alan Duncan, associate pastor at Manley Baptist, was a kicker in the late 1970s for the University of Tennessee who also preached throughout the state (One such trip to Chattanooga so impressed a highly regarded recruit that it led Reggie White to sign with the Volunteers.). At one point, Sparks, then head coach at Farragut, asked Duncan to speak to the school\u2019s FCA group.<\/span><\/p>\n

It began a lifelong friendship between the two.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve met a lot of wonderful Christian men throughout the years, but he\u2019s the most amazing I\u2019ve seen,\u201d Duncan told Baptist Press. \u201cKen was a competitor like no one I\u2019ve ever known and had high expectations on the football field, but he was always about sharing the Gospel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Duncan would go on to NFL training camp stints with the Eagles and Broncos. Eventually, he signed alongside White, his former UT teammate, with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL. The league\u2019s spring schedule allowed him to work in the fall as a volunteer coach with Carson-Newman kickers and learn from Sparks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring two-a-day practices he would have me and others come in and speak to the guys,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cHe became a great friend, and we saw each other often since he was a member at Manley for at least 30 years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly before his death, Sparks was inducted into the FCA Hall of Champions at the C-N Championship Coaching Clinic, which he founded in the mid-1980s. Weakened by cancer at the time, Sparks was unable to attend in person. However, several in his coaching brotherhood spoke of his influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI could tell there was something <\/span>unique about him,\u201d said then-Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze, currently head coach at Liberty University. \u201cI was drawn to that. He\u2019s an incredible role model. I followed the wins, but the things that you hear that really stand out are the players who come back and say such great things about him after 20 years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was nearly that long ago when Joey King, coach at Carrollton (Ga.) High, was soaking up those lessons as a quarterback for the Eagles. Six seasons as a high school coach have led to a 79-6 record, two state championships and a No. 1 NFL draft pick. That has provided a significant platform with athletes and their families, one that King doesn\u2019t waste.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Sparks] always insisted on making an eternal impact [on players],\u201d King told BP. \u201cHe focused on the scoreboard in your heart more than the one on the field. It showed me that you can glorify God as a football coach in how you treat people through how you work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an honor to play for him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another former player, Brandon Haywood, is literally days into his first role as a head coach. A quarterback for the Eagles from 2009-12, Haywood was named to the top position Monday (Jan. 10) at Woodland High in Cartersville, Ga. In the local paper, The Daily Tribune News, the 31-year-old spoke on behalf of King and others who point to Sparks\u2019 influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like in this position and with this platform that we can impact people like he did,\u201d Haywood told the Tribune News. \u201c\u2026 The impact he and the rest of the coaching staff made on us pulled something out of us to make us want to do the same thing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For 40 years, Ken Sparks coached and led thousands of young men on football fields in east Tennessee. Over that time his impact led to wins and championships, but also innumerable lives changed for the Gospel through the man referred to as \u201cthe Billy Graham of coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9192407,"featured_media":41790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[8,293],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew documentary shows athletic success, kingdom impact of Carson-Newman coach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For 40 years, Ken Sparks coached and led thousands of young men on football fields in east Tennessee. 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