Sports

Mills to coach at Huntingdon

By Kyle Austin - Sports Editor
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Chris Mills has always been a little bit of a football nut.

As of Friday, he’s going to live one of his dreams: Coach football full time.

“Chris Mills is going to Huntingdon College to work with their football team,” said Wetumpka High School principal Richard Dennis. “We wish him good luck.”

Mills resigned from WHS Friday after learning the Hawks wanted him to work at the college full time.

“This is such an awesome opportunity for me to coach football every day,” Mills said. “Anybody who knows me knows that college coaching is what I want to do.”

Mills was the offensive line coach for the Indians for two years, and last year he coached the running backs. He also coached the junior varsity baseball team.

Mills will take on a dual role at Huntingdon, coaching both the tight ends and the running backs.

“Last year, (head coach Mike) Turk was coaching the quarterbacks and the running backs, and offensive line coach Charlie Goodyear was coaching the tight ends,” Mills said. “This will give them a chance to focus more on one thing, and it gives me a great opportunity, too.”

The biggest thing Mills faces as he makes the jump from high school to college football is learning new systems.

“I’m going to have to learn new terms and a new offense,” he said. “(Tuesday) I went in for 6:45 a.m. workouts and I learned what my responsibilities are going to be.”

Mills said his courtship with Huntingdon began by coincidence.

“I ran into a coach who had played at Troy with a good buddy of mine,” he said. “He told me about Huntingdon and passed along my resume to Coach Turk, and I got a call around the first of April.”

That call sparked a long process and a number of phone and in-person interviews with various personnel at the college. Last week, Mills interviewed with Huntingdon president J. Cameron West and the dean of students and the job was his to take.

“This is a great opportunity to be a part of a rising program,” Mills said. “I’m honored to have a chance to work with Coach Turk.”

Mills is a 1999 graduate of Wetumpka High School. He attended college at the University of West Alabama, where ha played football before graduating with a history degree.

Mills coached at Sumter Academy in Livingston in the fall of 2003 before doing his internship in Wetumpka. He then spent some time with the football program at Hoover High School in the spring of 2005 before returning home to Wetumpka to teach and coach in the fall of that same year.

“Wetumpka will always be home, and that was part of what I had to consider with my decision,” Mills said.

“It’s kind of bittersweet, leaving Wetumpka and all the time and effort I put in,” he added. “But people who know me know my heart is in coaching, and this is a great opportunity for me.”

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