With high school football practice now under way, Lake Marion head coach Chris Carter has his work cut out for him.

The former O-W player takes over a Gator team that has three wins in two years. However, rebuilding teams is nothing new to Carter. T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover was able to catch up with Carter to talk football in this installment of The T&D Sunday Conversation series.

Q: What was it like playing at O-W back in 1990?

A: It was pretty good. That last year, we actually went to the region championship. We were facing Greenwood. As far as the spirit and just the enthusiasm within the community, it was just pretty exciting. We had an opportunity to get out in the community. A lot of people seemed like they were involved. They were following the team, seeing where we were going and traveling. So, it was really exciting during those times.

Q: You went on to play football at UT-Chattanooga and you went on to coach in the Indoor Football League. Talk about those experiences.

A: At the time I was on the team, I played with a guy. You probably know him as Terrell Owens, but all of those guys were up there with us then. After playing at Chattanooga, I got into coaching a little arena football. It’s a fast-paced game. The concept of it is a lot different than playing outdoor football. It’s almost like everything you do outdoors, you’ve got to coach it somewhat backwards. It’s high-scoring. It’s fast-paced. It’s exciting. One thing about it is the fans are right there at the back of your neck. You can feel them just breathing on your neck, but there’s a lot of electricity when you go to those games.

Q: When did you realize that you wanted to become a coach?

A: Actually, I wanted to become a coach in high school. Maurice Kelly and I always talked about it. It was funny because even in my little high school books, I even wrote it. It would say “Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?” I said “Coaching high schoo’ football.” So, it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. Some people do it for certain reasons and some people feel like they have a calling to do something. I think I found my calling in life to be a football coach and a teacher. It’s exciting because when I go to work, it’s not like a job to me. Some people say, “I’ve got to go to work.” It doesn’t feel like I’m going to work. It feels like I’m going some place in a different world, but I enjoy it.

Q: Who were some of your coaching influences?

A: I’ve got to say Coach Saxon, Coach Riley Jackson, Coach Barron, Coach Buddy Pough and guys like James Williams when I played at Belleville. There are so many guys around Orangeburg that I could name. They had a chance to see me from Pop Warner all the way up through high school. One thing about it was when I was here, we had a lot of positive role models. A lot of these guys now are still around, but they actually saw me grow. They saw when we made mistakes. They always corrected us and kept us on the right track. So, those are the guys I would say in the beginning. Now, my basic coaching philosophy, I think that comes from a guy named Bill Chappell out of Dalton, Ga. He coached at Dalton for 41 years and never had a losing season. I started coaching under him and he really gave me a lot of words of wisdom and brought me along through the ranks. Lots of times, they say you never see what you’ve actually learned until you go out. Some of the things they taught me ... when I went to all of these different places, those things stuck with me. Everywhere I’ve been, it seems like I’ve always had to build a program. So, that’s where I’d say that foundation came from.

Q: Take us back to your first high school coaching experience, the difficulties you faced and how you think that will help you at Lake Marion.

A: At Garinger, you’ve got to imagine when you take over a program that hadn’t won a game since 2002, pretty much everything is run completely down. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Lean on Me,” it was kind of like that. I can remember when the athletic director took me down to the fieldhouse. We could barely get in because there was trash and stuff thrown all over the place. The locker rooms had graffiti all over it. It was an inner-city school and when I got there, I was pretty much there by myself. I really didn’t know anybody. I had a few classmates there, but none of those guys could coach. So day by day, I was taking stuff out and getting that place cleaned up. They told me that I may have 18 players on the team. So, that was one thing I was worried about, but we got the team up to 52. I can even tell you about an incident when we were getting ready to play a game against North Mecklenburg and the game was scheduled to be at Garinger, but we had 100 geese on the field. There was so much manure on the field that we couldn’t even play the game. I had to build a lot of equipment. I went to a garbage can and got some wood and built a chute for the linemen. We took recycling bins and we made dummies out of those. I had to become really creative with that. As time went on, we were able to get some things in place for the new coach. The thing about Lake Marion is everything is there. The facilities are immaculate. You’ve got a huge number of players. So, it’s the opposite of Garinger, but a lot of times when you come from a program that has everything, people don’t appreciate it. One thing about coming from Garinger, it makes me appreciate everything that we have at Lake Marion.

Q: You’ve been to a lot of different places. What made you want to come back to Orangeburg and take over a program here?

A: A lot of times when guys do go off, we’ll go off and we’ll go all these other places. A lot of times, we don’t come back. I happened to call Coach Saxon one day and ask him about the job because I saw it online one day, but I had no idea what school Lake Marion was. When I left, there was (Holly Hill-Roberts) and Elloree. But he said it’s a wonderful place. I called a few coaches around the region. I called the coach from North Charleston and asked him. He said, “Man, that place is just brewing athletes. They’ve just got to get them on point. Once you get them on point, Coach, that place right there can really take off.” So, it kind of sparked an interest when I heard other coaches around the region talk about it. When I went to the coaching clinic, what they were saying is it’s just a hidden jewel that nobody actually knows and I was shocked. I was thinking when we get there, we’re going to have a few players. But I was shocked at the type of kids that we have down in that area.

Q: Prior to you getting the job, Corey Wright had the program. What advice did you get from him?

A: I had a chance to talk to him and he felt like they were getting ready to turn the corner. He made some strides. He got a lot of stuff done. Sometimes when you’re trying to build a program, you’ll have a coach there a lot of times and they get a lot of things done that may not come in the wins and loss categories, but they actually set things up for the next coach coming behind them. It’s kind of like the coach at Garinger. When he went in, he had new uniforms, a remodeled office, training equipment. The old coaches lay the groundwork. Corey did some things. Unfortunately for coaches, our overall job is judged by wins and losses. That’s the bottom line when people judge us as far as coaching. When you look at a coach’s record, you ask “Did you win there or did you lose there?” If you don’t win, you’re not going to be there long. Corey is a good guy and he did a lot of good things for the program. I’m reaping some of the benefits of some of the things that he was able to do there. I just hope that I can take the school and take them to another level.

Q: With that being said, what’s it going to take for Lake Marion to take that next step and become a contender not only in your region, but in this area?

A: I’ve told the kids that they’ve got to begin to see themselves better than what you are. I’ve challenged the kids to lay everything out on the line. Discipline is a huge factor in it. Lot of times, a lot of kids think discipline is saying “Yes, sir” or “No, sir.” If a coach comes around, come to attention. What I tell the kids is discipline is doing what you’re supposed to do when I’m not around or when the other coaches are not around. Can we count on you? Will you be disciplined to do the little things that we need you to do in the class, outside the class and on the field? Those are some of the things we’re preaching to them. We’ve got some things in place and some of them are getting used to it, but having a dedication in the weight room or just having dedication overall. We always say, “You’ve got to be committed. You’re either in or you’re out.” There is no halfway or in-between. That’s one thing I’m asking the kids and that’s one thing I’ve been hard on the kids about. I tell them to use football and don’t let football use you. I know they want to play, but I tell them to use football to get you somewhere else. If they’re doing what they’re supposed to do, it may not be the NFL but if you’re good enough, it could get you a free education. It could open doors maybe with a job. Somebody may see you play and want to talk. You just never know what doors it can open. So, I tell the kids to take advantage of it because you only play four years or 44 regular-season games. You don’t play that many high school games. So, they need to take advantage of it now because once it’s gone, it’s gone. I think the kids are beginning to see that.

T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.thetandd.com.

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