Someone recently passed the Bear.
Carson-Newman University head football coach Ken Sparks—the winningest active head coach in the country—earned his 324th victory on October 25 to pass Paul “Bear” Bryant and claim sixth place for himself on the NCAA’s career victories list. His Eagles won 35-34 over the North Greenville Crusaders after overcoming a 28-7 second-quarter deficit.
And it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy. Sparks, in achieving this milestone, has demonstrated perseverance and loyalty and humility—qualities that define a good leader for any type of team.
Coach Sparks is in his 35th season at Carson-Newman, and his career record currently is 324-87-2. Coach Bryant went 323-85-17 for Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Alabama from 1945 to 1982.
Big talk and bravado are simply part of college football, no matter what team you pull for or which part of the country you call home. Sparks though, isn’t boasting about his recent accomplishment. Downplaying his achievement after tying Bryant’s record a few weeks ago, he said, “I told (my players) if anybody wanted to talk about the number of victories that I had, you tell them that I didn’t play a play.”
Carson-Newman, in Jefferson City, Tennessee, is a Division II school, and Sparks seems perfectly content with that. He has said, “Somebody asked me … how many Division I job offers I’ve had. I think I’ve had nine since I’ve been (at Carson-Newman). Then I talked to an NFL team once about being an assistant coach.”
Sparks was diagnosed with prostate cancer over the summer of 2012 and earned his 300th career victory in his first game after the diagnosis. He’s also won five national titles and 20-plus conference championships. But the legendary coach measures his success mostly by the impact he has had on the lives of the players, coaches and other members of his Carson-Newman family.
“We’ve had a lot of guys play professional football out of this little ole program,” he once said, “but more importantly, we’ve had guys be successful in many challenges of life as husbands as dads and professionals.”
Coach Sparks and his staff strive to develop the whole person—educationally, socially, athletically and spiritually (this comprehensive approach is very much like what we do with our 7 F’s of True Success model of coaching).
“If I didn’t have a heart of gratitude I’d be wrong,” Sparks once told a television reporter. “And, if it didn’t humble me to my knees to say ‘thank you, Lord,’ I’d be wrong.”
And that’s another hallmark of a great leader. The truly successful ones not only are determined, steadfast and humble, but also they know they can’t do it alone.