SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. — There were familiar sounds filling the South Pittsburg High School weight room Tuesday. It was organized chaos as groups of teenage boys took turns rotating between workout stations, metal bars clanging on one side of the room, the low thud of heavier weights dropping onto the rubberized floor in another section.
And above it all, the high-pitched encouragement from strength coach and defensive coordinator Shawn Peek.
Just four days after South Pittsburg’s football team added an eighth state championship to the program’s storied history, the focus was already set on the start of a new season, still eight months ahead, as the process began anew for the Pirates.
And for Peek, who is as respected as any coach who has worked in the Sequatchie Valley, it was the first time in a 38-year career that he began the process after being part of a state championship victory. Despite a resumé that included averaging 10 wins in five seasons as the head coach at Alabama’s North Jackson and being a part of seven other deep playoff runs by the Pirates in two stints as their defensive coordinator, the previous 37 seasons all ended with the disappointment of falling short of the ultimate goal.
But South Pittsburg’s 42-14 win over McKenzie in the TSSAA Class 1A BlueCross Bowl at Finley Stadium last week finally checked the box of his biggest missing accomplishment on the field.