Chuck Smith makes a return to CCHS

March 21, 2013

By ROBERT LEE NEELY, IV – Contributing Writer

Clarke Central Class of 1988 graduate Chuck Smith paid a visit to the New Gym on March 21 to speak with freshmen health and physical education classes about personal success.

Class of 1989 Clarke Central graduate Chuck Smith gave a talk to freshmen physical education and health classes during fourth block on March 21. Photo by Porter McLeod.

While at CCHS, Chuck Smith was a member of the varsity football team, playing during the 1985 state championship season. Photo courtesy of the Gladius yearbook.

While attending CCHS, Chuck Smith was a member of the varsity football team, playing during the 1985 state championship season. Photo courtesy of the Gladius yearbook.

“I’m not coming here to tell you guys about any kind of dream you can’t reach, but if you don’t have self-discipline, you don’t show up, give effort and be compliant,” Smith said, “Guys, you’ll wake up, God willing, and you’ll be average.”

Rather than seeking life as average, Smith encouraged students to find personal success using a simple mantra.

“You have the opportunity to live the life of your dreams, but you gotta show up, give effort and be compliant,” Smith said.

Smith, who played nine NFL seasons, was a captain on the Atlanta Falcons only Super Bowl-bound team following the 1998 season. He finished his pro career with the Carolina Panthers in 2000.

Since that time, he has worked with V103, an Atlanta radio station, been a coach at his college alma mater, the University of Tennessee, and has coached in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens and NY Jets.

While he made a name for himself on the football field as an All SEC defensive lineman in 1991 and as an NFL All-Pro selection in 1997, Smith focused his talk not on sports, but on personal connections and integrity.

“Success doesn’t always have a football in your hand,” Smith said. “Clarke Central is a great high school, and it ain’t about the walls (with awards and trophies). It’s not about these (athletic) stands, it’s people who have made Clarke Central great.”

[pullquote]”You have the opportunity to live the life of your dreams, but you gotta show up, give effort and be compliant.” – Chuck Smith, 1989 CCHS graduate[/pullquote]

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David Ragsdale

David A. Ragsdale (UGA B.S.Ed. ’01, M.Ed. ’03, Ed.S. '09), CJE, has advised student publications since 2001 at Clarke Central H.S. in Athens, Ga., where his duties include advising the ODYSSEY Media Group and Iliad literary-art magazine. Additionally, he serves as Co-Department Chair of the English department at CCHS, coordinates student internships with the University of Georgia, serves as Gifted Coordinator and teaches English at the Title I school. He spends summers teaching at the Georgia Governor's Honors Program for the state's top gifted and talented students or on the faculty of journalism workshops across the Southeast. Ragsdale received the Crystal Apple Award, an honor given to University of Georgia alumni in K-12 education who have made a significant impact on student, school or school district performance in 2007. Ragsdale was the GSPA Adviser of the Year in 2007 and 2020. He was named an ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Fellow in 2014, an Elizabeth Dickey Distinguished Service Award recipient by the Southern Interscholastic Press Association in 2015, named a Columbia Scholastic Press Association Distinguished Adviser in 2019 and the Journalism Teacher of the Year in 2022. Ragsdale and his staff have twice been recognized for their commitment to Diversity by the Journalism Education Association (2020-21 and 2021-22). He received the Leslie Dennis Heart for Diversity Award from SIPA in 2024 and he’s been commended by the JEA Board of Directors for his work for the organization. He served on UGA’s College of Education’s Alumni Board and on the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Advisory Board for several years, and currently serves on the National Council of Teachers of English’s REALM committee, as the Journalism Education Association’s State Director for Georgia, and as the Southern Interscholastic Press Association’s Executive Chair. Ragsdale will facilitate the JEA Outreach Academy at fall conventions. Ragsdale advocates a stance of student inquiry in his work and seeks to provide a safe place for students to not only succeed but also to fail. He seeks to empower students to recognize the implicit and explicit import of their words and to engage them in masterful storytelling. His students have received top honors in critiques and competitions across the country.