SAND ROCK – Sand Rock senior lineman Justin Lindsey likens new Wildcat head football coach Alan Heath to a light switch. He says Heath knows when to “flip it on and off.”
“He keeps us on our toes,” Lindsey said. “You never know what he’s going to do next. He does a good job with us.”
Heath officially became the Wildcats head coach on July 6, but even before that, he was working with the team. He made sure they stayed on schedule with their workouts, even during the months the state was shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He kept up with us every day. He sent us something every day with workouts,” senior receiver Colton Cash said. “Everybody’s bought in. We’re more bought in this year than we ever have been.”
Senior running back Magnus Goolsby said the Wildcats’ off-season was an awkward one, but they did the best they could under Heath’s guidance.
“He sent us home workouts where we were able to do stuff you could find around your house,” Goolsby said. “No matter what, you were able to work out and get better when everything was shut down (due to COVID-19).”
Even with such an unusual spring and summer, senior lineman Christian Proper said Heath has brought about a “culture change.”
“He’s a lot more intense,” Proper said. “He’s really getting on to us and making sure we do everything right, and if we make a mistake, then fix it.”
Fellow senior lineman Justin Morgan added: “It’s definitely been different. It feels like he has more fire.”
Senior running back Ethan Clanton said Heath’s passion for football has been “really contagious.”
“It just lights a fire under all of us players. It really gets us all going when we’re out here (practicing),” Clanton said.
Heath said he’s humbled how welcome the Wildcats have made him feel as their new head coach. He admits he’s a bit nervous becoming a head coach for the first time, but the Hokes Bluff graduate said he’s also excited to “give these kids some culmination for all the hard work they’ve done.”
“I thought ‘I’m an assistant principal. They won’t like me.’ But then, I started working with them and they just do everything I tell them to,” Heath said. “I coached 15 years before I came here as assistant principal. I took two years off and now I’m coaching again, but this is my favorite group of kids from top to bottom I’ve ever worked with. That doesn’t guarantee us any wins or anything, but I love being around this group of guys. It’s a blessing. I can’t say enough about this group of kids. I love being with them.”
The Wildcats don’t have a lot of size, and Heath said they’re not the fastest group of players he’s coached, but one thing he likes about them is their tenacity.
“The kids work hard and they enjoy working hard,” he said. “I’m not going to lie and say every day we execute, but we’re getting better every day. That’s what you look for, just getting better every day.”
One of those players Heath said is getting better by the day is sophomore quarterback Ace Ashley.
“He still makes sophomore mistakes, but he’s getting better,” Heath said. “Today (Tuesday), most of his reads were right. I wasn’t just pulling my hair out.”
Joining Ashley in the backfield at running back is Clanton and freshman Jacob Cornejo. Heath noted that Cornejo plays a hybrid between running back and slot.
Sophomore Bradley Jackson will be snapping the ball to Ashley. Another key blocker along the Wildcat offensive line is senior Blake Holmes.
Cash and junior Olin Pruitt are expected to be Ashley’s top receiving targets.
A lot of the same names on offense will play big roles on the Wildcat defense as well. Jackson and Holmes will help anchor the defensive line, while Cash and Pruitt will patrol the secondary.
The Wildcats compete in Class 2A, Region 6, along with Cherokee County rival and first-year 2A squad Spring Garden. Westbrook Christian, Gaston, West End, Cleveland, Locust Fork and Southeastern round out the region.
“It’s a very solid region, top to bottom,” Heath said. “Westbrook is loaded. Spring Garden is loaded. Just watching a little film on those Blount County teams, they’re all loaded too — Southeastern, Cleveland and Locust Fork. From top to bottom, this region is going to be tough.
“Even our non-region games — Cedar Bluff, Collinsville and Pisgah — we’ve got a tough row to hoe. We’ve just got to keep these kids working hard.”
Heath said it’s obviously his goal is to win football games, but he also has something else he wants to accomplish.
“I want every team we play to know they played Sand Rock and they’re glad they don’t have to do it again this season,” he said. “If we go out there and hit people in the mouth long enough, maybe we’ll outlast them, and that’s to our advantage.”
