At media day, Independence High’s football coach says it’s time to put the dynasty to bed
Monday is an exciting day in North Carolina for high school football players, coaches and fans. It’s the official start of practice.
But few people are quite as excited as D.J. McFadden.
“I love football,” he said. “I wake up at 100 percent energy. I can’t wait for the day to get started. And I can’t wait for football to get started.”
McFadden is a former Independence High football standout who has returned to the school as a first-year head coach. He is so eager for the season to get started that he helped organize the first Southwestern 4A Conference football media day event Thursday at his school.
Most college football conferences have media days. It’s a rarity in prep sports.
For more than two hours, coaches and players from the conference’s seven member schools — Butler, Charlotte Catholic, East Mecklenburg, Garinger, Independence, Providence and Rocky River — talked about their hopes for the coming season.
McFadden has high hopes, although they’re tempered by the reality that Independence football has fallen on tough times in recent years. The Patriot program that Tom Knotts built in the early 2000s, a program that captured seven straight state championships, is a shadow of what it once was.
McFadden hopes for better days.
He said there were 57 players at the opening of camp a year ago. He is expecting more than 90 at the first practice next week.
“We have a lot of youth in our program, but we’re in a great place,” he said. “It’s a step-by-step basis, but we’re on the right path.”
If he accomplishes nothing else, McFadden wants to put the dynasty to rest.
“We don’t talk about that long winning streak, those state titles,” he says. “I think that was an issue at this school for years. It was a cloud that hung over this place. It’s time to move on.”
He says most of his current players were 2 or 3 years old when Knotts left Independence to coach at Dutch Fork High, the Columbia suburban school that he has built into a perennial South Carolina state power.
“We know coach has been there, that he was part of that dynasty,” says sophomore quarterback Justin Little. “But we don’t get into that stuff, about the winning streak and the titles.”
A two-tiered system?
The Southwestern 4A’s teams fell mostly into two categories Thursday.
In one group were Butler, Charlotte Catholic and Providence. The first two have won state championships in the past decade, and Providence is regarded as a strong playoff contender this season.
The other group — East Mecklenburg, Garinger, Independence and Rocky River — are trying to build. For them, Monday marks an exciting, fresh start.
Nowhere is a fresh start more needed than at Garinger.
The Wildcats have won seven games in the last 11 seasons. Their last winning record was in 2010. Nakia Galloway, in his second season as head coach, is the seventh person in that position since the 2010 campaign.
A year ago, Garinger tried to play a varsity schedule but had to quit, due to a lack of players.
“Last year at this time, we weren’t getting 10 people to practice,” Galloway said. “To see 22 or 23 people at practice, I’m doing flips. I know it’s not where it needs to be, but it’s a sign of the progress we’re making.”
East Mecklenburg hopes for improvement in 2022
East Mecklenburg’s Lennie Sanders is another second-year coach who has built from the ground up. He had 20 players a year ago. Now he has 76.
“A lot of these guys are young, but we have 76 out there, and they’re working hard,” he said.
Senior tight end/defensive back Parker Storey says he recruited players last year in the East Mecklenburg hallways.
“When I saw a big or tall guy who was a freshman or sophomore, I asked them to come out for football,” he said.
One common theme at media day — fun
One common theme Thursday — among the power teams and those trying to build their programs — was fun.
“Football is fun,” said Rocky River senior linebacker Marvin Togbe, who is being recruited by a number of major colleges. “Every day, it’s fun to come out for practice. This is how it’s supposed to be.”
Providence senior running back Luke Bailey allowed himself to get a bit philosophical about the whole thing, in fact.
“You grow up with these guys, playing football together,” he said. “And in the blink of an eye, you’re suddenly in high school, and you’re competing against each other.
“While you’re in the game, you care only about winning. But it’s all a part of growing up. They’re still your friends. And that’s part of the fun of football.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
