JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Longtime Carson-Newman head football coach Ken Sparks will highlight the 2011 Carson-Newman Athletic Gala as the Oct. 9 event's keynote speaker.
The Carson-Newman Athletic Gala provides coaches an opportunity to support their individual programs through table sponsors and individual seating. Table sponsorships are $1,500 for a 10-seat table. For more information or to reserve a table, contact Doodle Johnson at 865-471-3396 or at djohnson@cn.edu. For individual seating, also contact Johnson.
The doors open Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Carson-Newman's Stokely Memorial Cafeteria.
Sparks is in his 35th year coaching Carson-Newman's football program. The active wins leader for all of college football, Sparks needs three more wins to catch legendary Alabama head coach Bear Bryant for fifth on the all-time wins list.
Sparks has a career record of 320-87-2. In 2012, he made history by becoming the 11th man in college football history with 300 career wins. Always reluctant to discuss his success, Sparks would rather be measured by his impact on the lives of the young men and coaches he has mentored.
For the Knoxville native, football is a laboratory of learning where he and his staff strive to develop the whole person – educationally, socially, athletically and spiritually.
By holding true to that goal, Sparks has developed one of the winningest football programs in the history of the sport. The Eagles have won five NAIA national titles in six tries and been to the NCAA Division II title game three times since moving up in 1993. C-N was most recently a semifinalist in 2009 and has made the playoffs each of the last two seasons.
Sparks has received numerous honors including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Lifetime Achievement Award and the inaugural Uncommon Award presented by former NFL coach and NBC commentator Tony Dungy to an individual for "uncommon leadership through character and faith."
Sparks has been inducted into six different halls of fame. He and his wife Carol reside in Jefferson City.
