Ken Sparks, coaching icon at Carson-Newman, dies at 73

Ken Sparks, the Knoxville native who became a football coaching icon at Carson-Newman University, died Wednesday after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 73.

Mr. Sparks won 338 games at the Jefferson City college where he graduated in 1967. That total ranks fifth among football coaches at all levels.

Mr. Sparks retired after the 2016 season. He had coached on through physical adversity since his cancer diagnosis in 2012.

“I’m grateful to be part of a profession where you can teach about life while you’re teaching blocking and tackling,” Mr. Sparks said in 2010 when he was honored with the Robert R. Neyland Trophy. “The Lord has blessed me.

“I hope that through things like this I can honor the Lord and that it has more meaning than what’s on the scoreboard at the end of the field.”

The scoreboard reflected success for Sparks-coached teams 77 percent of the time (338-99-2).

Mr. Sparks coached at several area high schools, most notably going 29-5 in three seasons at Farragut from 1977-79.

He took over at his alma mater in 1980 and the Eagles became a juggernaut, claiming five NAIA national titles in the decade.

Carson-Newman won NAIA titles in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1989.

The Eagles also reached the title game in 1987, falling to Cameron.

Moving to NCAA Division II in 1990, Carson-Newman remained a frequent playoff participant. The Eagles didn’t win another championship but reached the title game in 1996, 1998 and finally, 1999, a 58-52 four-overtime loss to Northwest Missouri State.

Carson-Newman made the playoffs in 25 of Sparks’ 37 seasons.

Mr. Sparks’ only losing seasons were 2011 and 2016. His Carson-Newman teams won 21 South Atlantic Conference titles. The only college coaches with more wins are John Gagliardi, Joe Paterno, Eddie Robinson and Bobby Bowden. In his last season, Mr. Sparks passed Pop Warner into fifth place.

Mr. Sparks was inducted into the inaugural NCAA Division II Hall of Fame Coaches Class in 2010. He is also a member of the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame, the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame, the Carson-Newman Athletic Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and the NAIA Hall of Fame.

In addition to the Neyland Trophy, Mr. Sparks has been honored with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Sparks was elected president of the American Football Coaches Association in 2007. In 2002 he received the All-American Football Foundation’s Johnny Vaught Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mr. Sparks earned NAIA coach of the year honors in 1984 and was voted SAC coach of the year 12 times.

But Mr. Sparks’ legacy was never just about a trophies. He always said his real mission was the players he related to during their transition to adulthood.

“You’re going to have influence, whether you like it or not,” he said last November when he retired. “Everyone of us is an example of something. We can talk all we want to, but our walk is what tells people who we are.

“The Lord has put us in a position where we’ve been able to have an audience of players and people that want to know the message. That’s what I hope I’ve been true to, the Lord’s message.”

Like Tennessee head coaches before him, current coach Butch Jones appreciated Mr. Sparks’ contributions to the sport.

"Coach Sparks was a close friend to myself and our football program,'' Jones said in a UT statement. "I had followed Ken’s coaching career from afar and our friendship really began when he was one of the first people to call me when I was hired at UT. That phone call and our talks over the years mean the world to me. He was such a pillar in this community and was always willing to help.

“I think anyone who had the opportunity to be around Ken Sparks would tell you what a special human being he was. His legacy extends way beyond the game of football. He touched so many lives off the field. The players he coached, he coached them to not only win football games, but to be successful in life. I spent some time with Ken a few weeks ago at his home and will always cherish that conversation.

“We lost a legend today and our thoughts and prayers go out to Carol and his family. He will be missed but always admired.”

The Sparks family will receive friends at Manley Baptist Church in Morristown from 2-6 p.m. ET Friday with a service to follow. That event is open to the public. Burial will be private and family only.