Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Spangler Leaving Presbyterian; PC Begins Search For New Head Football Coach

            CLINTON, S.C. – Presbyterian College has begun a national search for a new head football coach after Tommy Spangler announced that he has accepted a position at another institution, college officials announced today.
           “I was disappointed to learn of Coach Spangler’s decision to leave PC,” Blue Hose director of athletics William “Bee” Carlton said. “He has built our program into a consistent legitimate contender for the South Atlantic Conference championship and has set the stage for our successful transition into the Big South Conference and the Football Championship Subdivision of the NCAA."
            Coach Spangler has made innumerable contributions to our football program. More important is the impact that he has made on the development and growth of the young men he has led during his ten years at PC. As with any outstanding coach, that will be his lasting legacy. I understand the reasons for his decision and I have no doubt that he will be successful in his new position. We all wish him the greatest success in the future.”
            Carlton said a national search for Spangler’s replacement will begin immediately.
            “At this critical time in the recruiting year, it is important that we move quickly to find his replacement. We will certainly move as expeditiously as possible, but we will not make a hasty decision,” he said. “Thanks in great measure to Coach Spangler’s work, I feel confident that this will be an attractive position to many talented individuals.”
            During his six years as PC’s head football coach, Spangler guided the Blue Hose to a 42-24 record — a mark that stands as the highest winning percentage (.571) among the school’s 14 head football coaches. During the 2005 season, Spangler guided the Blue Hose to a 10-2 record, the South Atlantic Conference championship, a top regional seed in the NCAA Division II Playoffs, and a spot in the final top ten rankings.
            Spangler was honored following that season as the American Football Coaches Association’s Region 2 Coach of the Year.
            A 1983 University of Georgia graduate, Spangler was a member of three Southeastern Conference championship teams, including the 1980 team that defeated Notre Dame for the NCAA Division I National Championship. He served for two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater under legendary Bulldog head coach Vince Dooley before moving on to a 10-year stint at Georgia Southern University — the latter five as defensive coordinator.
            He arrived at PC in 1997 as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator on former head coach Daryl Dickey’s staff and assumed the reins of the Blue Hose program in 2001 when Dickey was named quarterbacks coach at Florida State University.
            “Tommy Spangler is a man of character, sportsmanship, and integrity — traits that have been reflected in his Blue Hose football teams. He has been an outstanding coach, mentor, and colleague,” PC president John Griffith said. “He has set a high standard as we begin a national search for his successor, but he also has left the football program in a strong position. We are determined to find the proper individual to guide this storied program successfully to the next level.”