Sten Eller

Staff Photo by D. Patrick Harding
Soddy Daisy's head football coach E. K. Slaughter watches as his players take part in an afternoon scrimmage.

Taking over as the Soddy-Daisy High School football coach has been good, E.K. Slaughter said, but the former Red Bank offensive coordinator admitted the job is an adjustment.

“There were certain things that I didn’t have to worry about (at Red Bank),” Slaughter said. “I’d look at Tim Daniels and ask him what he wanted to do.

“It has gone pretty well so far, but it is different,” he said. “I was doing more coaching of the coaches early, because we had a new staff and a new system. We were getting used to new terminology.”

Slaughter also was learning his players and finding out who would buy into his philosophy and who would do extra work. He was pleasantly surprised over the spring and summer, he said.

“He intimidates everyone,” Trojans quarterback Scott Parrott said. “It isn’t that we’re afraid of him, but everybody has so much respect for him. He has come in and made everyone feel like they’re an important part of the team, like they’re a winner. He came in working hard, and I don’t think anybody wants to let him down.”

Soddy-Daisy totaled three wins the last two seasons.

“I’m a little bit optimist and a little bit pessimist,” Slaughter said. “It’s going to be interesting. My No. 1 goal is the attitude that we take to the field. It sounds old school, but every game is a new game. We can’t look down the road, but there are a lot of opportunities here.

“I think our kids want to win and will battle. I think our coaches will work and have the kids prepared. I’m a competitor, and I think Soddy-Daisy will be competitive.”

Slaughter has relied on his assistants to handle some of the administrative duties but said he also has found a strong support group among the booster-club parents.

“I didn’t expect the amount of support I have received,” he said. “The support from the parents and the quarterback club has been great. I don’t have to paint or mow or top-dress the field. The parents have been doing all of it, which is more time for me to be able to work on the actual football part of the job.

“If I had to do a lot of things on my own — if I didn’t have assistant coaches who were willing to grab hold and get things done, and if I didn’t have that parental support — I wouldn’t have the balance I’ve been able to maintain with my family and my job.”

While Slaughter is tackling his first year as a head coach, Tim James moved across the state line from East Ridge to Georgia to begin building the new program at Heritage High, and Stan Eller returned after assistant stints at Soddy-Daisy, Hixson and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe to resume head coaching duties at Meigs County. Eller succeeded Mike Martin, who took James’ old job.

“I feel challenged,” said James, who left the comfort zone of his alma mater for Heritage. “Everything is new — a new boss, new facilities and a new staff. I’m learning a whole new set of kids, but that’s part of the challenge, and the challenge is the fun part about it.

“I miss the kids, the coaches and Mark Bean, my principal, at East Ridge, but I haven’t really had time to reflect because I have been so busy trying to keep my head above water,” James said.

It is the same for all of the new coaches including Eller, who had to take time off Wednesday afternoon to get finger-printed. All teachers entering the Meigs County school system must do that these days.

In his initial stint at the Decatur school, Eller took the Tigers to an 11-1 season in 1994 and followed in 1995 with a 14-0 run to the Class AA state final. He has continued to live in the county and drove 80-100 miles daily to his subsequent jobs.

“I guess I left Meigs County because I got fed up with things I couldn’t control and I would go for help and couldn’t get it,” he said. “I felt then that I needed a change. I’m saving a lot of gas money and time by coaching at Meigs County, but I really wanted to be a head coach and I really wanted to coach here.

“It seems more like a community thing now,” Eller added. “The kids up here play hard and give all they have, and the attitude has been really good so far. I worked with Clint Baker when I was here before, and now he’s the principal, and I worked for Don Roberts and now he is the superintendent. The support is there.”

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