Cheatham will bring a new intensity, enthusiasm to East Central football

Robbie Robertson/Publisher
The Newton Record

DECATUR December 26, 2007 01:29 pm

— Here’s part two of the East Central Community College coaching story from the view of this old editor.

On Tuesday, Steve Cheatham became the new head football coach at East Central Community College after serving as defensive coordinator for one year.
I’ve known Steve Cheatham since I was in the seventh grade, but got to know him better as an eighth grader at Neshoba Central.
Steve was the ninth grade football coach at Neshoba and unlike some junior high football programs, I remember it being pretty intense. As a matter of fact, we had spring training and even played a spring football game. This particular year, the game was against West Point.
The night before, the high school team had went and played a good game against the Green Wave, winning a close game.
Then we went and played that Saturday morning in West Point. Now to put this in perspective, this was 1985 and this was the class of West Point that went on to win three straight state championships.
I remember little from the game except for West Point running up and down the field on us. They had some little running back, a Barry Sanders like kid, that we couldn’t seem to get our hands on. In the end, they beat us 42-0 and it really wasn’t the close. We were really outclassed and it was a total beat-down. It’s not that we were that bad, they were just that good – as they went to show in later years.
That’s easy to say now, but it wasn’t so easy to say then. To say the least, Coach Cheatham was not a happy camper.
He told us we had embarrassed ourselves, the school and all of the coaches. He then said the words I’ll never forget, he was going to find out “who wanted to play football.”
The next few weeks were rough as he ran our hind ends off and put us through all sorts of rigorous physical tasks. At one point, during one workout, I breathed a not-so-nice word under my breath – not necessarily at him but just in general, honest, but he thought it was directed at him.
This part I remember vividly.
“What did you say?” he asked.
“Nothing sir,” I responded.
“What did you call me? What did you say? Come on, be a man and say it to my face.”
So I bucked up and repeated the word. Since this is a family newspaper, I won’t repeat it but something about a son comes to mind.
At that point, he sent the rest of the group in. My classmates since first grade looked at me like I had been given a death sentence. The next week or so was pretty rough as he attempted to run the swearing out of me which I think he did at some point.
And for that skinny eighth grader – and for those who know me now, yes, I was once skinny – with a smart mouth, I learned to keep my mouth shut. It was a tough lesson to learn but one that has served me well to this day and one I won’t forget.
Even though Steve and I didn’t always get along, I realize now he was just doing his job, trying to help young punks become young men. After I became a sports writer at The Meridian Star, we made our peace when he was head coach at Philadelphia. He even seemed glad to see me during media day at East Central this year. He did make me feel a little bit old when he told me his daughter, whom I remember as a little thing, had graduated from college and was working as a dental hygeniest. Of, how time flies.
Now here we are, some 20 years after that episode and I’m running a newspaper and Cheatham is the new head football coach at East Central.
For those who don’t know much about Cheatham, here’s what I do know.
Having worked at Ole Miss and Clemson, Cheatham is well connected in the senior college ranks. Don’t be surprised to see East Central benefit from that.
Cheatham is a defensive coach at heart, always has and probably always will be. He believes in playing solid, technique football. His defensive don’t rely on fancy schemes to win games, just solid execution.
I know he communicates well with college kids, even today. I could tell that early on after watching East Central practice a little.
And finally, Cheatham will bring some enthusiasm to the field. He’s always been a passionate coach and always asked his players to play with passion.
While Cheatham has never been a head coach at the junior college level, he’s more than qualified. He’s probably seen more football than any of us can every imagine.
Will he win at East Central? That’s a hard one to answer. Because coaching and desire can only take you so far. In the end, you have to have athletes to win at junior college football and in that respect, he’ll be facing the same problems that former coach Terry Underwood faced.
Can it be done? Sure, it has been before but note on a consistent basis. Can Cheatham do it? That’s to be determined.
Well coach, let me be the first to say good luck and happy hunting on the recruiting trail the next few week.

Robbie Robertson is editor and publisher of The Newton Record.

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