Ken Sparks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ken Sparks | |
|---|---|
 |
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| College | Carson-Newman College (1968-Present) |
| Sport | Football |
| Conference | South Atlantic Conference |
| Team record | 259-62-2 (as of 12/07)[1] |
| Place of birth | Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Career highlights | |
| Championships | |
| NAIA Champion - 1983, 1984 (tie), 1986, 1988, 1989 NAIA Runner Up - 1987 |
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| Awards | |
| President, American Football Coaches Association (2007) | |
Ken Sparks (born 1947)[2] is a football coach of Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee who has been with the school since 1980 and is the winningest football coach in NCAA Division II history.
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[edit] Early life
Sparks was born in Knoxville. He was a wide receiver with Carson-Newman and graduated from the school in 1968. He was football coach at Gibbs High School in Knoxville. The next year he received a master's degree from Tennessee Tech University where he also coached quarterbacks and receivers. He coached at Morristown, Tennessee East High School.
In the early 1970s he was assistant coach on the Carson Newman football team that was a runner up in the NAIA championship game. He coached the school's track team and he was name Southern Collegiate Track of the Year. in 1972 under In 1977 he returned to Carson Newman where he coached the track team.
In the fall he coached at Farragut High School in Knoxville where he accumulated a 29-5 record. Among his players was Bill Bates. In 1980 he began coaching at Carson Newman.
Following his string of successes Carson Newman built the new Burke-Tarr Stadium in 2005.
Sparks who was once Fellowship of Christian Athletes National Coach of the Year actively pursues a Chrisitan aspect in his coaching and is a popular public speaker. He was quoted as saying that football should be used as a tool for bringing people to the Lord.
- it has done something. If it hasn't, we haven't done a thing, no matter how many games we won.[3]
[edit] National championship appearances
- Champion NAIA national football championship, 1983, 1984 (tie with Central Arkansas), 1986, 1988, 1989
- Runner up on NAIA national championship, 1987
- Runner up in NCAA Division II national football championship in 1996, 1998, 1999.
[edit] Overall NCAA Winning Active Coaches in 2007
- John Gagliardi - College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University - (431-117-11)
- Bobby Bowden - Florida State University -(358-105-4)
- Joe Paterno - Penn State University - (352-117-3)
- Ken Sparks
[edit] See also
List of presidents of the American Football Coaches Association
[edit] References
- ^ http://carsonnewmaneagles.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/sparks_ken00.html carsonnewmaneagles.cstv.com
- ^ Birth date is based on the 1968 Carson Newman graduation
- ^ Carson-Newman football coach knows what's really important - Baptist Press - December 17, 1999
