The Blue Hose football team is about to experience a very good change. After being away for seven years, Coach Tommy Spangler will return to PC on March 1^st as our new defensive coordinator. When he began his work with the Blue Hose in 1997, he was the defensive coordinator. He continued to coach defense in 2001 when he took the reins and assumed the role of head coach. As a head coach, he accomplished many things including a South Atlantic Conference title and the best winning percentage of any coach in PC football history. Coach Spangler is regarded as one of college football’s best defensive coaches and recently was a finalist for the Broyles Award for the top assistant coach of the year.

The football team and athletic department are extremely excited to have him back on the staff for next year, saying that we are extremely fortunate to have a man with such background and experience on the football coaching staff. According to Athletic Director Brian Reese, he can get our football team better immediately, and he also makes the athletic department better immediately. He says, “When you bring in great quality people with great experience, that benefits everybody.” Spangler not only has experience as a football coach, but also as a Clintonite. Reese went on to say that during his time here, he and his wife were very involved in the community.

The other great thing about having Spangler back in blue is that he already has relationships with the coaching staff. He coached with Coach Nichols at Georgia Southern and here at PC. He also has relationships with some of our coaches, through playing and coaching. According to Coach Nichols, Spangler is very well respected among our coaching staff and is “very well thought of by former players and alumni, and they think an awful lot of him, as I do.” When asked about how the team feels about Spangler’s return, he said that they are excited to have him back. He says he can feel a “buzz and a general excitement that runs through the team because of his return.”

It is clear that the football team and athletic department are looking forward to Spangler’s return, and that excitement can be felt throughout the campus community and the town of Clinton. People who have been around Presbyterian College for a while know what a valuable asset Coach Spangler is to our football team. His experience and background with success will, hopefully, be what it takes to turn around our football team and take us to a Big South title.

Article by Richard Hodaly

Picture courtesy of http://www.uga.edu/gm/artman/uploads/tspangler1.jpg