Gillespie fills opening as Sparkman’s new football coach

It took longer than the administrators at Sparkman High School expected, but the school finally has a football coach.

Tim Gillespie was recommended by Principal Manuel Wallace and approved at the Madison County Board of Education meeting last week.

Gillespie

Gillespie comes to Sparkman from Holt High School in Tuscaloosa, but he is familiar with north Alabama high school football having previously been the head coach at Lawrence County.

Athletic Director Maurice Jones said it was worth the wait.

“With us getting a really late start, it was important that we get someone with previous head coaching experience,” Jones said. “I think he will be a good fit here. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. He has been a head coach for 12 years and been in coaching 27 years total.”

“Hopefully, we can build this program back up to where it once was; a very prominent football school.”

Gillespie was a part of the staff scheduled to come in with Ahmad Galloway who was previously recommended for the job, but that action was put on hold until the school year was out.

Former head coach Roger Haynes stepped down in April and after the school year ended he accepted a position with the Scottsboro City Schools, freeing up a teaching slot.

Gillespie emerged as the leading candidate when it didn’t work out with Galloway.

“He interviewed with Mr. Wallace and he was our recommendation to the board,” Jones said. “He was a head coach at Susan Moore High School and Lawrence County, both north Alabama teams, so he knows north Alabama and knows a lot of people in the community.”

His staff will include William Thomas who was the interim coach and is now the line coach.

“These two weeks of conditioning the players have worked hard,” Jones said. “Coach Thomas, who was named interim coach, did a great job and I see that same enthusiasm carrying over now with Coach Gillespie.”

“I’m excited about this year. The kids are excited and the fans are excited,” Jones added.

Gillespie said that he interviewed for the Sparkman job back in 2002 and knew it would be a great job.

“I was a younger guy then. I don’t really know how hard I went after it. I wanted it but I was at Lawrence County then and we were very good at that time,” he stated.

Gillespie was head coach at Lawrence County from 1996 until 2002 and his final team advanced to the third round of the state playoffs. He then returned to coach Susan Moore High School where he graduated from.

“I’ve always thought that the Sparkman job was a good job,” Gillespie said. “With the growth that they have experienced here, there is going to be numbers and numbers mean a lot of kids and you can find some players that can do what you need to do to compete at the 6A level.”

Sparkman is currently the second largest high school in the state of Alabama.

“We have a solid base of about 90 kids in the program,” Gillespie said. “Right now, we’re working with them. They are getting to know me and I’m getting to know them. We just want to make sure that every step we do, we do it the right way because you can’t ever go back and start over.”

Though he has been on the job less than a week, Gillespie is already putting his touch on the players. He is getting them ready for their first 7-on-7 competition this Friday at Johnson High School.

Gillespie will be on staff atSparkmanHigh School. He is a graduate of theUniversityofNorth Alabamawhere he earned a double major in Biology and Physical Education and a masters degree in education.