The Anniston Star
Page 10 Wednesday, August 17, 2011 Ta l l a d e g a c o u n t y C e n t r a l | f i g h t i n g t i g e r s
T he long wait is over Wright hoping his dream job can turn into dream season By Al Muskewitz amuskewitz@annistonstar.com
Bob Crisp/Consolidated News Service
First-year coach Buddy Wright is set on playing good defense and controlling the clock as he hopes to guide the Fighting Tigers to the playoffs.
Nuts and bolts Coach: Buddy Wright Class, Region: 1A, 3 Fast fact: Last year’s one win was the fewest in a season since the Fighting Tigers’ went winless in 1991.
2010 Record (overall, region): 1-9, 1-6 Points scored: 13.3 (avg.) Points allowed: 40.2 (avg.)
2011 schedule Date..................Opponent . ...Location 08/26.................... Parrish......................A 09/02................. Saint Jude*..................A 09/09................Winterboro*................ H 09/16................... Wadley*.....................A 09/23........... Randolph County.............A 09/30................. Notasulga*................. H 10/07.................. Verbena*....................A 10/14................Fayetteville*................ H 10/20............... Loachapoka*............... H 10/27..................Ranburne.................. H * denotes region contest
Some coaches wait a lifetime to get their dream job. Buddy Wright waited — and learned — almost half his life. Wright, who recently turned 39, has been coaching high school sports 16 years — some even as a head coach. But this fall he is taking the reins of his own football team for the first time as the new head man at Talladega County Central. “It’s something I’ve been definitely waiting on in my career,” he said. “It was an ‘ultimately’ thing; I always felt like ultimately maybe it’ll happen, sooner or later, it’ll happen. “This is my first time to have a chance to put a team on the field that I consider my own, and it’s been an exciting period so far.” Wright is no stranger to coaching football. He cut his teeth playing and working under some of the most successful coaches in the state and in a variety of classifications. He’ll channel those experiences into a Fighting Tigers program he wants to get back in the playoffs after the fist year off since 2005. And he’s hoping to tie it all together with structure and a philosophy that has stuck with him since his freshman year in high school. “I’ve always said 70 percent of coaching is motivation,” Wright said. “Twenty percent is knowledge and the last 10 percent is luck. Sometimes you just have to be lucky, and that’s with any sport. “I know everybody starts off saying they want to win a state championship. We just want to win one week at a time because when you get into the playoffs, anything can happen.” He knows that all too well. The Jacksonville State grad was a freshman on the 1986 Gadsden team that went 4-5 and ended up winning the state championship. His last basketball team at Gaston was 3-15 at one point last season and wound up sweeping the area and making it to the regional. “That’s what I keep telling the guys,” he said. “Just keep doing what I’m asking you to do, keep playing hard, and something
“Sometimes you just have to be lucky, and that’s with any sport.” — Buddy Wright, TC Central coach
good is going to happen.” And what he’ll be asking of his new team is to do it with defense, while running the football and controlling the clock. Last year, the Fighting Tigers held only one opponent to fewer than 30 points, and that was in their lone win (39-6 over Fayetteville). They’ll rebuild that defense around linebackers Wilbert Wells (6-3, 255) and Corey Morris (6-0, 205), an honorable mention all-state pick as a freshman, and defensive end Tadarius Wright (6-0, 250). The offense will be directed by sophomore quarterback Zekyle Stockdale. Ramone Russell and Tyree Garrett will do most of the rushing, while Wright is expecting big things from tight end Tevin Garrett and versatile Kendarious Swain. TCC fell a long way last year after reaching the state title game as recently as 2007, but from what Wright has seen so far, it’s this close to climbing back. “I think we’re right there at the verge of being a playoff team,” he said. “... From what I’ve seen on film and what I’ve seen all summer, I’ll be very disappointed if this team is not a playoff contending team.” The journey — for Wright as a head football coach and the Fighting Tigers as his new team — begins Aug. 26 at Parrish. “I don’t know if I’ve really grasped the moment of it all and probably won’t until that first ballgame when the lights come on.” Al Muskewitz is a sports writer for The Star. He can be reached at 256-235-3577.