BY JUSTIN PACK
SPECIAL TO THE ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
PHOTO COURTESY OF ELMORE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
“We’ve got a Coach” said Elmore County High School Principal Wes Rogers at an April 19th Elmore County School Board Meeting. For 122 Days, the Eclectic community was without a head football coach and Athletic Director. What started as a run of the mill coaching search quickly turned to a tumultuous affair between the school board, board employees, and community members, much of which played out behind closed doors – leaving the Eclectic community questioning why the search was taking so long.
However, after several board meetings, public statements, and a list of social media posts, the Elmore County School Board officially made a decision to hire Kyle Caldwell as the new ECHS Athletic Director and Football Coach.
A native of Dadeville, Caldwell cites his raising in a small town as a qualification for his new role. “I think my experience growing up, being from Dadeville, helped me out a lot just because of that small town atmosphere and the similarities [of the communities] are so much alike. A lot of churches, a lot of kids are outside playing when you’re driving around town and they’re playing pickup games of basketball, football, it doesn’t matter what sport – they’re playing. The community is involved in the school and in athletics which is really what drew me to wanting to be the head coach and athletic director here,” said Caldwell. He hopes to leverage his own personal experiences in being from a small town to connect with his students and athletes.
Caldwell most recently served as an assistant coach at Chelsea High School, however has never served as a head football coach or athletic director. When asked about how his transition into two brand new positions have gone, Caldwell credited Coach Dustin Goodwin and Coach Zeb Ellison for providing advice and guidance on his new adventure.
Goodwin, currently serving as an assistant coach at Thompson High School, was Head Coach at Chelsea High School while Caldwell was an assistant coach there. Ellison, current head football coach at Shelby County High School, was an assistant coach alongside Caldwell while at Chelsea High School.
Caldwell says “[The first few weeks] have went well. Definitely leaned on Coach Goodwin and Coach Ellison just from the experience that they gave me as a young assistant coach. They definitely helped me along the process with paperwork and being prepared on administrative things to take care of and [they] gave me a lot of responsibility to help me get to where I am. They knew this was my goal and so they were definitely willing to help.”
Much of the community’s focus has been on Caldwell’s role as Head Football Coach. However, he will also be serving as Athletic Director for ECHS. Caldwell has already laid out what his goals are for the Athletic program and how he plans to accomplish them. Caldwell says “Definitely just making sure all our goals are aligned; the same vision and the same standards need to be held from one sport to the next sport. So as the AD making sure those coaches are aware of what the standards are and make sure that they’re holding their kids to that standard so the kids don’t vary from sport to sport, they expect the same no matter which sport they’re a part of. [This approach] creates longevity – The kids understand what’s expected. There’s not a easier sport to play because all the standards are the same and that encourages kids to not quit a harder sport because they think this other sport is easy, or workouts are easier – they’re the same. They’ll obviously be modified for in season and out of season sports but they’re still held to a high standard.”
Caldwell anticipates these changes to the athletic department will be beneficial to both athletes and coaches.
This season’s football tryouts saw a record number of students participate. The increased interest can reasonably be attributed to the fact that there is a new head coach. Caldwell plans to take advantage of the increased interest by leveraging and developing the skills of these athletes.
“Definitely just taking advantage of the kids’ skillsets. You know as a coach you can have a certain system that you want to implement but it really doesn’t matter what you want, it’s what your kids can do. You know if we have really big strong offensive linemen we know we can play smashmouth football but if we don’t and your roster numbers are lower, than you might have to huddle and if your linemen are not big you might have to let them run screens and draws outside zone where they just bucket step and run to the next level.
“If can’t block the big guys up front then you don’t block them – you just throw it around them. Just taking advantage of our player’s skillsets because I know just watching film in the past some games they would be in a certain offense or defense and then the next game it’d be changed, not all the way, but there’d be changes. Having kids play with confidence and then they’ll learn whatever you want them to learn,” said Caldwell.
The absence of an athletic director and the tumultuous search for one made the spring season hard this year for both players and coaches. Caldwell recognized that the past season was one of the toughest ones for the athletic program in a long time and is excited to be at ECHS to help make for a better future.
When asked about the recent season, Caldwell said “I’m definitely excited to be here like I told the kids – our family, my wife and I chose Elmore County because we believe in this community and although she’s from Tuscaloosa, she’s from a small town just like this as well and you know her growing up – their high school – they weren’t winning a lot of games but their stands were packed, kind of like it’s been here the past four years. Me being from Dadeville playing against Elmore County – I mean I know people in this community and have always been impressed. You know the band is amazing, stands are packed out for every game, it doesn’t matter what the season looks like. If you’re always able to start off 1-0 then it just keeps getting better and better. I’ve felt a lot of support already, you know parents and boosters and anybody just wanting to help. You have to take care of the small details and that’s been an eye opener to me, just the involvement from the community so far.” Caldwell is excited to be at ECHS and is looking forward to seeing how he can help bring success back to Elmore County.
Coach Caldwell said that all support is welcome in revitalizing the ECHS athletic program. There are multiple ways to support all programs at the school. You can reach out to Coach Caldwell by contacting Elmore County High School at (334) 541-3662.
Rest assured, the Eclectic community is eager to see what Caldwell can bring to the table and how he can help bring success and discipline back to ECHS Athletics.
