Character

Sports are driven by numbers. We count stats. How many shots were made versus the amount taken? How many passes completions versus throws? Of a certain number of pitches, how many were strikes?

In this age, information is virtually instantaneous and at our fingertips – reportedly we carry more technology in our pockets with our smartphones than was in the computer that helped send men to the moon — it goes even deeper. How many of those strikes came on a 3-0 count with runners in scoring position? How many passes were completed on first down compared to third down? It is never-ending really.

The statistic most noticeable, however, is marked by the comparison of wins and losses. Afterall, that is why score is kept, right?

Ask most anyone about the accomplishments of a head football coach, and they instantly think ofnumbers: wins, losses, records as well as those other on-the-field stats. Even a coach who traditionally produces winning teams can have a period of his or her career viewed as “unsuccessful” based solely on if they lost more games than they won.

In reflecting on the career of former Carson-Newman Head Football Coach Ken Sparks, one gets an entire media guide of the aforementioned statistics. They include: five National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championships; three NCAA Division II National Championship appearances; 21 South Atlantic Conference titles. In 37 seasons at Carson-Newman, Coach Sparks collected 338 wins.

Nearly a decade after his 2016 retirement and eight-plus years since his passing, Coach Sparks is ranked sixth among college football coaches in wins. He stands just behind names like Joe Paterno, Eddie Robinson and Bobby Bowden and ahead of Bear Bryant, Pop Warner and Nick Saban.

While football was Sparks’ platform, his success was not limited to the playing field. Prior to being named head football coach at Mossy Creek, Sparks oversaw the track program, which performed well enough to earn him Southern Collegiate Track Coach of the Year honors in 1977. 

There is more. Lots more. Long lists of accomplishments, on the field and off. Coach-of-the-Year in first one category then another. Lifetime achievement honors. 

And on and on.

But for those who knew Ken Sparks, who played for him, coached beside him, even across the field against him, such stats and records were secondary to the coach’s greater mission.

Teaching others about Jesus Christ.

“You wonder why this man showed up in so many people’s lives,” asked Jeff Joslin, who played for Coach Sparks at both Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tennessee and at Carson-Newman. 

He showed up in Joslin’s life. Then and now. Years later, the impact Sparks had on Joslin led the latter, who, through his Double J Entertainment Company, produced a full-length film on the coach. 

“… It’s amazing where God will step in and do His work and he’s using a game called football to change people’s lives,” Joslin said.

Mark Isom knows that fully. An All-American at Carson-Newman it was Sparks’ influence off the field, as well as on, that impacted Isom.

“He always wanted to know how your heart was,” Isom said. “(He wanted to know) what you were doing and what was going on in your life.”

“His faith was a big part of who he was,” said his wife, Carol Sparks. “He would always ask, “How’s your heart?””

It was a simple question his players and assistants knew well. Before he passed away in 2017, one of America’s all-time winningest coaches would find time to focus on winning the most important game of all – salvation. 

Jay Floyd was one of those, even before he became an Eagle. Visiting campus, Floyd cast an imposing figure walking the halls of the football offices at 6’6” and north of 300 pounds. As a player who drew attention from some of the biggest college programs in the country, Floyd could be a literal game-changer at Mossy Creek.

He did not know anything about Carson-Newman when he arrived. After more than an hour talking with Sparks, about nearly everything but football but mainly about Floyd’s relationship with Christ, he signed his papers to come to C-N, went back to Georgia and packed his things.

“He believed in his heart that if he was introducing Christ spiritually to his players, that they would become better people,” Floyd said.

It is said the true definition of the character we possess is measured by who we are when no one is looking.

Serving Christ through his role at Carson-Newman was THE game plan for the legendary coach. To execute the plan, Sparks served many capacities: fundraiser, relationship builder, advocate, encourager – and for many young men donning the Orange and Blue, a father-figure.

“He wanted to show the players Christ-like love,” said Carol. “So many of them didn’t come from a very stable family situation. And he was very sensitive to that.”

He understood what Billy Graham was credited with saying, that a “coach will impact more people in one year than the average person will in a lifetime.”

Former Carson-Newman chaplain Ken Smith saw it first-hand and often, saying Coach Sparks cared about his players’ lives and what they were going through.

“He knew what (a player) brings to practice is what he deals with off the field,” Smith said.

Carol says it was her husband’s faith that made that possible.

To spend so many years in an occupation where everything is measured by wins and losses and the performances of young student-athletes, Sparks understood the big picture. 

We serve an undefeated God.

To this day, a Sparks tradition continues each fall as football players make the trek from this stadium down the hill to the waters of Mossy Creek. There, each who has made a public profession of faith in Christ may be baptized in the presence of teammates – just one reminder of a coach’s eternal gameplan and the mission of Carson-Newman University.