By SADIE BORCHERS
Rutherford County Schools
Chris Harris has a long history with athletics in and around Rutherford County.
Before become the athletic director for Rutherford County Schools in 2021, he served as an educator and coach at Gallatin, Smyrna, Riverdale, Holloway and Siegel high schools. He was also an accomplished athlete for Middle Tennessee State University, and he was on the team that beat the University of Kentucky in 1982.
He now works with middle and high school athletic programs in the county, helping coaches and more than 10,000 student-athletes competing in TSSAA sports. As the county continues to grow rapidly, one of his biggest challenges will remain finding space for them to compete will remain a challenge.
Harris recently sat down for an interview to discuss his role.
QUESTION: As Rutherford County Schools keep growing what might some of the challenges be for your job?
Harris: Some of the major challenges are facilities, field use, trying to find spaces for all the sports to play, for the student-athletes to play. That’s a major challenge right now. And our county is just continuing to grow, we’re adding more sports. Next year, spring next year, lacrosse is coming, so that’s going to be another sport that’s being added. So that’s another field-use issue that we’re going to have to deal with. Also, in a couple of years — within the next two years — flag football for girls which is a very popular thing. Williamson County has started, Metro Davidson County has started it. Now Rutherford County, more likely, we’re going to come on board, too, so that’s another use. Obviously it’s going to be played on the football field so now you’re talking about adding coaches, you’re talking about when are you going to play. Are you going to play during the week? Are you going to play on weekends? Williamson County is playing on Sundays, so that’s Sunday afternoons. And I’ve heard Metro sometimes plays those games on Sunday morning so that’s an issue, too. I mean, that’s something to consider. So there’s a lot of sports that are coming online now. Even Siegel High School is doing men’s volleyball. And there are some other schools that are experimenting with that, too. So there’s a lot of things that are coming online right now.
Q: Why are the athletics in Rutherford County some of the best in the state?
Harris: Primarily it’s because of the coaches, I think it’s our facilities, and I think those are probably the top two and facilities can always get better. And I think it’s the attraction of our county, our school system. Several of our principals in our middle and high schools were coaches themselves. So they take a vested interest in athletics. And our athletics, all of our sports gives a chance for people to see our schools. It’s just like in college when you have a good football program, or whether it’s good or not, when they come out for basketball, baseball, whatever it is that gets people on your campus to look at your facilities, it also gives a chance for people to ask questions about other things that you offer — academics and everything else. And it could be they start asking about “Well what’s your ROTC program? What other things does the school offer?” If your facilities are good, you keep your facilities clean, people start asking about other things that you do. So that’s what keeps people interested in the county, it keeps people interested in the things that you offer. That’s why people keep asking about Rutherford County that’s why people move here.
Q: Who are some players you’ve enjoyed coaching?
Harris: In my time as a coach, I’ve had some players that have gone onto play Division I basketball. There was a guy named Keith Ramsey, he went to junior college, he went to University of Missouri, he went to the Sweet 16 and NCAA basketball tournament. Jimmy Oden, he played at MTSU and had a lot of success there. I coached Kerry Hammonds II as a freshman (at Siegel), and he played at MTSU and now he’s coaching at (Providence Christian Academy) right now. My assistant coach, Ben Dotson coached him his last two years and they went on to the state tournament, and Kerry’s sophomore year, we went to the state tournament final four. And Kerry’s enjoyed a lot of success at PCA, they went to the state championship. And they went and lost a very close game by two points. So those have been some players, I’ve had several players that have gone on; another guy named Darius Roper. He had a lot of success in college. And all of them are not just successful in athletics. Some of them have been successful in careers. They’ve gone onto get married and have kids and are living in the area. Some players I used to coach, one of them works here at the central office — Mark Gullion — he was one of my point guards I had in Smyrna High School. So now I’m starting to feel my age now. So there are a lot of people I’ve coached and just through athletics it teaches you a lot of discipline and just realizing how much athletics plays an important part in your life keeping you on task.
Q: So LaVergne boys basketball went to the state tournament, what do you think of their program?
Harris: Coach Anthony Rutland has done an outstanding job at LaVergne High School in a short amount of time. He has been a great coach and it (was) their first time in the state tournament. He’s a great coach and I think this season has been a real good season for them and has brought a lot of excitement to the county. It has brought a lot of excitement to the LaVergne community.