Conditioning, recruiting two of new coach’s top priorities
New Pioneer football coach Chris Madewell shared his plan for success Tuesday morning, and noted it boils down to two key elements: Getting more players, and making those players stronger.
The former WCMS head coach and WCHS assistant said among his first goals for the program are an emphasis on weight training and recruiting more players for his program.
“It’s going to take a strong weight program, first of all,” Madewell noted when asked what would be his keys to success. “We’ve got to get stronger as a team. So what I want to concentrate on right now is making sure we have the right program in the weight room that we need, and develop from there.”
But strength in body won’t be the only key, Madewell said. There must also be strength in numbers — namely, the number of players on the Pioneer roster.
“We should have many more players out on the football team,” he said. “I’ve thought of many ways of doing that, getting kids out. I know a lot of them, that helps, and with the help of the community, the coaching staff, and the current players, I think we can get more athletes to come out.”
First among Madewell’s efforts to encourage more participation in football will be the promotion of current Warren County Middle School head coach Jeff Watson to the freshman level. Madewell said he hopes Watson will be able to rebuild a freshman squad which has dwindled over recent seasons.
“Jeff is an excellent recruiter,” he said, “and I feel that’s going to increase our freshman program. It’s been down the past couple of years, because there hasn’t been anyone to concentrate on that. But I know he will go out and recruit, because he wants to win, and he’ll go out and get the players to help him do that.”
Once his short-term goals are in place, Madewell said finding success in the long term will be a gradual process.
“As far as the first year goes, I want to be competitive,” he said. “We have got to get to a point — and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t — where we’re competing, and in the region we’re playing in there’s no reason we shouldn’t be competitive.
“Within three to four years, we should be winning games. We should have a successful program. With the middle school, with their success and those kids coming up, there’s no reason we shouldn’t have a successful program.”
The Madewell File
New Pioneer head football coach Chris Madewell’s football career highlights:
•?Player, Warren County Senior High School, 1989-92
• Player, Tennessee Tech, 1993-96
• Assistant coach, DeKalb County High School, 1996-97
•?Assistant coach, Warren County Middle School, 1997-1999
• Head coach, Warren County Middle School, 2000-2001
• Assistant coach, Warren County High School, 2002-2003
• Acting Head coach, Warren County High School, 2002
• Head freshman coach, Warren County High School, 2003