BACK IN THE SADDLE: Cedar Shoals High School head football coach Scott Wilkins, former head coach at CSHS from 1994-2007, has now returned to the coach in the stadium that bears his name.
By KEVIN MOBLEY – Junior Copy Editor
On Jan. 14, Cedar Shoals High School hired their former head football coach Scott Wilkins, who accumulated a 106-50 overall record at CSHS from 1994-2007. Heading into his first matchup against Clarke Central High School in seven years as the Jaguars’ head man, Wilkins discusses the history of Jaguar football, his resignation in 2007, the significance of the Classic City rivalry and his 2014 squad.
KM: What was the state of the Cedar Shoals football program when you arrived back in 1990 as an assistant coach?
Scott Wilkins: Our four years under (former CSHS head coach) Jeff Herron we were 32-11. The program was in a good place and I’d like to think that (my staff and I) took it to a better place. My second year we played for a state championship. It was the start of a good situation. It would take me four years before we could defeat Clarke Central, but then we were able to reel off some consecutive wins. That gave our program a tremendous amount of momentum.
KM: What changes took place from 1994-2007 while you were head coach at Cedar Shoals?
SW: Sometimes I think maybe there had been a little bit of complacency that settled in. We were always going to be good and we were going to be in the playoffs, and my staff and I weren’t satisfied because our goal was to win them all. I think some people thought that maybe we weren’t winning enough. Our last two years we were 17-4 and there were some people that said: “We should win more.”
KM: What are some of your favorite memories as a coach?
SW: My first win against Clarke Central was huge. It happened in 1998, and it happened as the visiting team in Death Valley – the first time that Cedar Shoals had won in Death Valley since 1978. You remember all the good ones and unfortunately you remember some that you let get away, and you try to learn from those.
KM: What led up to your final season at Cedar Shoals before you were brought back this past offseason?
SW: (In 2007) we were 9-2, (from 2006-07) we were 17-4 and I had 30 years in public education. So I thought 17-4 is not a bad way to finish, maybe this is a good time to step away, and so we did. When I made the decision to step down, I called two people: (former CCHS head football coach) Leroy Ryals because I had a tremendous amount of respect for him, and second I called (former Athens Academy head football coach) Michael Gunn, who I also have a tremendous amount of respect for. I wanted to tell them instead of them reading it in the paper or seeing it somewhere else. I wanted to tell them myself and say: “Hey, I still think there’s some more tread on the tires, but I’m going to step down.”
KM: Describe those final days at Cedar Shoals.
SW: Finishing out the year was hard, and the hardest group to tell was the team because I love those guys. When you coach it’s like one big family. I love and respect those guys tremendously. It was tough, but I had to encourage and assure them that it’s going to be alright (and say): “This isn’t about me, this is about you. You’ve been successful and you’ll continue to be successful. You’ll be fine.”
MORE THAN X’S AND O’S: In addition to his head coaching duties, Scott Wilkins teaches United States History at CSHS. “I run my classroom like a coach. I tell them: ‘I coach U.S. history and I teach football. I don’t see a difference between the two.”
KM: What were your parting words to the CSHS community?
SW: The last day of post-planning, I addressed the faculty and I told them: “I’m not going to say goodbye, I’m just going to say see you later.” (When school started,) I stood in the same place in the cafeteria and I said: “Those of you who were in this room six years ago, do you remember what I told you?” None of them did. I said: “I told you I wasn’t going to say goodbye, I was just going to say see you later. Like the tax man, like kudzu and like poison ivy… I’m back.” I’ve always been told that you can always go back, but you can never go home. I’ve taken that as a challenge.
KM: Why did you choose to return?
SW: A little voice in the back of my head started saying, “You know you want to lead again. You know you want to get back in front.” When two people ride a horse, only one can ride up front. After about three years, that desire to ride the horse from the front began to reemerge.
KM: What did you want to stress to the players when you first arrived back as head coach?
SW: I told them that I want them to get their heads up, be proud of who they are and that we’re going to work real hard together to right this ship and get this thing going back where it should be.
KM: What are some of your main focuses in revamping the Cedar Shoals football program?
SW: I think one of the biggest things is stability and continuity over time, and I have a lot of players ask me: “How long are you going to be here?” The guys in our program right now have seen a revolving door. I’m going to coach as long as I can.
KM: Was there anything different about the school since you had left in 2007, and what had stayed the same?
SW: The athletes at Cedar Shoals were still here; their confidence was not. We are having to work to restore confidence and regain their self-credibility as a team. The seniors have a chance to be in the group that turns the ship. The juniors, the sophomores and the freshmen have a chance to return it to where it has been.
KM: If you had to choose one word that captures the essence of Cedar Shoals, what would it be?
SW: Eastside. We’re the only school on the east side of town. Our goal is to be the best, leave no stone unturned and to lay on the field exhausted and celebratory. We’re going to hold nothing back, we’re going to go for it. We may not get it, but you will have known after our games that we were going to go for it.
KM: What do the football programs of these two schools – Clarke Central and Cedar Shoals – mean to the Athens community?
SW:Clarke Central has a long and storied tradition; Cedar Shoals has had a long and storied tradition that in the six years after I left, it struggled to maintain. We want to return that tradition.
