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Ken Sparks is the Last of His Kind

Ken Sparks, the NCAA's winningest active coach, stepped down from Carson-Newman on Nov. 18 after a five-year battle with prostate cancer.

When the text came it was late on a Sunday night. I was told by the Director of Sports Information at Carson-Newman University, Adam Cavalier, that I needed to be at a press conference the next day. He wouldn’t tell me what it was about, but I already knew. We all knew. Ken Sparks was stepping down as head coach of the Eagles program after 37 seasons.

If you’ve heard of Ken Sparks, there’s a reason for that. If you haven’t, there’s a reason for that too. Sparks retired at 72 with a record of 338-99-2 at Carson-Newman. He is currently No. 5 in the NCAA’s All-Time coaches win list behind only John Gagliardi (489), Joe Paterno (409), Eddie Robinson (409) and Bobby Bowden (377). It wasn’t age and it wasn’t losing that caused Sparks to step down. It was prostate cancer, the same cancer he’d been fighting since being diagnosed with it in 2012.

“The five guys that have the best won-loss record in the history of the game are guys that stayed at one place,” Sparks told me a few days after he stepped down. “We cast our lots in one spot. The longevity of a stay, there are a lot of advantages. You can stabilize your family. Everything is bigger than you. At the time of my life when some of those offers were coming around and things were tempting with fame and money and position, because all of us want to max out. But the Lord put it on my heart that I could max out with the real stuff, the Kingdom stuff, His stuff, I could do it here. I don’t feel like I lost anything. My family is sure glad that I did.”

Sparks spent his entire college head coaching career at Carson-Newman and didn’t have to by any stretch. He led the team to to five NAIA national titles and when the team jumped to NCAA Division II, his teams would play for three more in 1993, 1998 and 1999. In all, over two college football divisions, Sparks was the head coach on nine teams that played for a national title and he was offensive coordinator on C-N’s staff in 1972 when they played for their first.

“It’s intoxicating to make a lot of money,” Sparks said. “It’s intoxicating to have a lot of fame. It’s intoxicating to get a power position. Us men, that appeals to us pretty good. There’ve been so many people (coaches) have approached me and told me they wished they’d done it like we have. Unfortunately in the coaching possession a lot of us are losing our families.”

It’s a standard of excellence that kept Sparks atop plenty of coaching lists throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but he turned down every job offer, including opportunities to join NFL staffs. It’s the reason Carson-Newman’s facilities rival those of any FCS program and most FBS programs. It’s why Sparks’ name is on the Athletic Complex building.

Sparks was open about his Christian faith all throughout his career. That, and his ability to coach and win, garnered him friends all through the coaching landscape. Former NFL coaches like Tony Dungy  would regularly show up at his coaching clinics. Current University of Tennessee head coach Butch Jones himself was a regular in recent years.

When Jones heard Sparks had retired, he spoke of his friend at UT’s next media session.

“I love Coach Sparks,” Jones said. “You talk about one of the greatest individuals, not just a great football coach who’s accomplished a lot in his career, but an even better human being. …He’s what this game should stand for. In terms of a human being and impacting the lives of many individuals. I always talk about being a champion. He’s a champion in every sense of the way and our friendship means the world to me.”

Sparks was candid with me about his prognosis and it isn’t good. He doesn’t know if he’ll be alive when the Eagles kick off in 2017, but he’s still on a mission, as I wrote in my piece for the Knoxville News Sentinel and it’s one he won’t surrender just yet. It’s what helped him connect and guide young men in 1980, 1990 and in 2016.

“All kids have needs, no matter what year it is,” Sparks said. “We’ve all had needs. When I was coming through (as a player), I needed mentorship. I needed somebody to tell me they cared about me and would help me or spank my tail when I didn’t. I needed accountability. I think the story is the same, regardless of what year. We need men to say that the Lord has got me in the position to influence and help people be what God has created them to be. The need to men to lead is the same as it’s ever been. There’s more urgency now because there are less men doing it. There are less coaches doing it.”

There will never be another tenure and legacy like Coach Sparks’. Coaches jump jobs too quick, all with the goal of landing that job at a Power Five school. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the old guard, men like Sparks, who set up roots at a University and remained there, are gone and won’t be replaced.

Long time C-N offensive coordinator Mike Turner took over for Sparks as the Eagles’ new head coach. When he was asked about replacing Sparks, he didn’t mince words.

“You don’t,” Turner said. “There’s no way. Ken Sparks is Ken Sparks. Anybody that took this job and thinks they’re going to replace Ken Sparks isn’t very bright. … I think the best way to continue going for it is to just get on with it. There won’t be a day around this place that Ken Sparks won’t be a part of it.”

After 37 years Sparks won’t be in the building. The winningest active coach in the NCAA is no longer that. He suffered just his second losing season of his entire career in 2016, finishing 4-7. But just a few days before Sparks baptized three football players in Mossy Creek below the football stadium. As far as he’s concerned, he ended with three victories right there.

“My goal was to die on the practice field and have them roll me over in the kudzu,” Sparks joked at his press conference. “Carol (his wife) wouldn’t have to worry about funeral arrangements. We’re going to see what the Lord has for us.”

To see this weekend’s full line up of college football games, go to the world famous Diamond Sporstbook (BetDSI) by clicking here. 

Written by Adam Greene

Adam Greene is a writer and photographer based out of East Tennessee. His work has appeared on Cracked.com, in USA Today, the Associated Press, the Chicago Cubs Vineline Magazine, AskMen.com and many other publications.

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