JASPER, Tenn. — There are moments, a wiggle that leaves a tackler grasping at air or a sudden turbo boost to speed past pursuit, when Tim Starkey experiences bouts of deja vu.
When Starkey, who guided Marion County to its first unbeaten regular season in nearly 30 years last fall, was an all-state quarterback at South Pittsburg he would hand the ball to Sam Pickett and have the best view of anyone as the shifty speedster would make opposing defenders look silly.
Now, as Marion’s head coach, he hands the offense to Pickett’s son — and watches in amazement at the similarities.
“It’s really cool, to be honest, and we talk about it all the time,” Starkey said. “The thing that’s way more important than football is that me and his dad are best friends and cousins, so little Sam is family.
“But I tell him every day at practice, he ain’t his daddy. Not yet. He’s a great player, but I’m challenging him to be even greater and help carry us the way his dad did back when we played together.”