Column published in a January issue of the Madison County Journal. To subscribe to the Journal visit www.mainstreetnews.com
By Dallas Bordon
Either you agree with the decision or not, Chris Smith is the Raiders’ next head man in charge. Smith was promoted from within the coaching staff and now has moved to the head of the class. Smith, a long time familiar face of Madison County, has replaced Randall Owens who stepped down at the end of the 2011 season.
Chris Smith is a 1992 graduate of Madison County and was a quarterback for the Raiders 1991 & 92. Smith advanced to the next level of play at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina before returning to Madison County as part of the Raider coaching staff in 1997 and has been part of that staff for 14 years. Now it’s Smith who has been given the chance to turn around a struggling Raider football program.
There will be some fans in Raider land that might not agree with his hiring but Smith is a good fit for Madison County. Those same people might have wanted to see a new face, perhaps an out of county coach step in. The advantage to hiring within is that Smith is very familiar with the program and has served in many positions on the staff over the years. He can see where the program needs fixing and will have a better knowledge of his players and personnel than someone coming from the outside. The players that are still in the program know and like him and on the flip side Smith is familiar with the players not just the current ones but the ones coming up through middle school and junior varsity. There are many advantages to hiring within the system and Smith could just be what the Raider program needs to lead them into the future.
One thing the Raider faithful has hoped for in the next man was someone who will be a vital part of the youth in Madison County. Smith, who has two children of his own that are in the recreation sports programs now, has big plans of involving the youth and getting them familiar with what Raider football is all about. Investing himself in the youth and the youth programs of Madison County will be something that we can expect to see Smith do.
Preparing the youth and helping those kids in the MCYA football program get the fundamentals needed and getting them prepared for the next step if they choose to do so is a very important ingredient to a successful high school program. Not only teaching the kids the fundamentals but perhaps holding coaching clinics can be a product that Smith will hopefully produce.
Sometimes it seems that a head high school coaches’ duties consists only on what happens on the high school level. But the requirements of that person should consist of showing a large interest in our youth and the training of those guys who have desires to play in middle and high school. This is what I think Chris Smith will bring to the table. He sees the importance of forming a winning tradition that starts from the ground up that all begins with the youth programs.
The interesting part of it all will be to see how a community starved for a successful football program will embrace the promotion of Smith and fully support his decisions. Will Smith produce a winner right away since he’s been part of the Raider staff for so many years and is familiar with the kids already? We won’t know that answer until the time comes but it’s certain that Smith loves to win and is a winning choice as head coach.
Dallas Bordon is the former Sports Editor of the Comer News/Danielsville Monitor and a regular contributor for the Madison County Journal.
