Within three months of Mark Teague's first head coaching job he had faced enough obstacles to make most people in his shoes seriously consider selling life insurance or used cars or finding any other career with less stress.
After just one year as the defensive coordinator at East Ridge, where his Pioneers held six opponents to fewer than 20 points, Teague was hired to take over a Howard program that had won just three games the three previous seasons. Only eight boys showed up for the team's first day of workouts and just seven players took the field for the first three days of spring practice.
Howard head coach Mark Teague (second from right) signals his team. The Brainerd Panthers visited the Howard Hustlin Tigers in TSSAA football action Friday Night."It was an eye opener for me," said Teague, a native of Dothan, Ala., who has spent time as the defensive coordinator at Alabama's Ashford Academy and later as an assistant for four seasons at Marion High, an Arkansas prep school located half an hour from Memphis.
"I looked around at the locker room and the weight equipment and I was shocked," Teague said. "I spent the better part of my time that spring painting over graffiti on the walls and lockers. I had been to some inner-city schools in Memphis to play games, but I hadn't seen anything like it was here.
"When you take over a program you have dreams and aspirations, but nobody gave me a blueprint on how to start from rock bottom. Installing our offense and defense was the furthest thing from my mind because we were spending so much time just trying to get it to be a functional football program and teaching kids the importance of showing up on time every day."
With a roster of mostly underclassmen and inexperienced players, Howard not only finished winless in Teague's first season but lost all 10 games by an average of 43 points.
But Teague never lost his enthusiasm and determination, and that has helped the Hustlin' Tigers begin to turn the corner back to respectability. Last season, in year two of Teague's system, Howard again finished under .500, but three of its losses were by two touchdowns or less, and that was with a still inexperienced roster.
"I think the biggest difference from my first year as a sophomore to the last couple of years is the discipline Coach Teague brought to the program," said senior receiver and defensive back Jahmani Thomas, who recently committed to play for Trinity International University in Illinois.
"I didn't think I could play at the next level, but Coach Teague said he believed in me, and that meant a lot. I don't have a father at home, so Coach Teague is a father figure for me and a lot of other players."
After struggling with lack of numbers during his first offseason, Teague set the time for the first day's workouts last spring at 7 a.m. and said that if players wanted to prove the team was more important than themselves they would arrive early. When he pulled in at the school just past 6 a.m., there was a line of players waiting to get into the weight room.
"That showed me that we had kids who were growing up and wanting to be good," Teague said. "We had some leaders developing, and that was a big-time turning point. Easily the toughest part of this process has been instilling the discipline it takes to be successful, not just in football but in life. It's a process."
And while Howard will have one player sign a college scholarship Wednesday, with nine starters back on both sides of the ball Teague expects as many as eight or nine players in this year's junior class to be recruited at some level.
"More than anything, what stands out about Coach Teague is the consistency of his character," said Howard athletic director Matthew Taylor. "If you're going to play in his program, he demands that everybody is 100 percent committed.
"He's consistently up front with the kids about what he expects from them, so they have someone who models that there are consequences, both good and bad, depending on how you respond. The kids know when they wear a shirt that says 'Howard football,' there are expectations on the field and in the community with how they play and how they carry themselves and represent the school and the community."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.