In this transcription of our recent podcast episode (which will be published soon), former Daphne football coach, AHSAA Executive Director and Alabama Sports Hall of Famer Steve Saverese talks about his career journey, that famed 2001 title run with the Trojans, the current state of high-school athletics and much more.

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Steve Savarese

Parker Gillam: You grew up in Leeds, Alabama but went on to graduate from Southwestern College in Kansas, which is where you made your head-coaching debut. You then came back to Alabama, but talk a bit about those early years in Kansas and how that set you up for success down the line?

Steve Savarese: "I've always said I've been the most blessed person in the world. God led me on a pathway to deal with students and be part of athletics...

...I went to Leeds High School in Birmingham but played college football and baseball in Kansas. After my playing career ended, I was offered a head-coaching job at a small 3A school called Douglas High. I was originally going to come back home, but I decided to stay and we had a great run in Kansas...

...The fifth year I was there, we had a perfect season and won a state championship. I'm still in touch with those kids, and it was a great way for me to learn how to become a coach, teacher and so on...

...It's Small Town, U.S.A. out there. I'd go over to the kids' houses on the weekends and they'd invite me to to hunt out on their farms. It was awesome...

...When I got there, there were only 18 kids on the team. My mentor at the time came up to me and said, 'Steve, we're going to start needing you to suit up for practices so we can get a better look and have a chance to win a game.' I let them talk me into it, and so I practiced every day against them. I would come home to my wife with stitches...

...I made $8,800 on that job for a whole year, coaching three sports, teaching biology five out of six periods in the day. And I was having the best time of my life."

PG: And then, you of course made your way back down to Alabama. You had a couple of stops before and after arriving in Daphne, so first talk a bit about your time coaching around the state before we get into your stint with the Trojans?

SS: "What a great place Ensley [High School] was! It was a great school and we had great athletes...then I went on to Benjamin Russell and was blessed to have a 12-year career there before spending three years at McGill-Toolen."

PG: Of course, that leads me into that famed 2001 season. You coached at Daphne from 1997-2003 and posted a clean 77-14 overall record over that span, and you guys actually appeared in the 2000 state-title game prior to winning it all the next year. To start on that, just how were you able to build that program into a consistent championship contender?

SS: "It takes a team effort. I had a great principal in Barry Pennington, great assistant coaches, and then also great parents and kids. Everybody just embraced the program...

...We kept getting better every year, and the key to building a program has always been through strength and conditioning. You have to be strong to play at the highest levels in Alabama...

...We went three times to the state-championship game and only won it once, but if the team had a better coach, they might have won it those other times...

...We had to play that team out of Birmingham, Hoover, and we had great battles for a couple of years."

PG: And then what would you say led to the breakthrough of 2001? From what I can tell, only two teams came within single-digits of you guys that year, and you avenged your lone loss from the previous year by thumping Hoover, 48-21, in the state title. Just talk a bit about what made that team special and your memories of the group.

SS: "I'll never forget that when we lost in 2000, I knew we were in trouble because of Hoover's speed. The way we were defensively at the time, we were more geared towards stopping the run and didn't have the speed at linebacker especially and safety that we needed...

...So that night when we got back from the game, I watched the film, and we started planning right there because we knew we had a good group coming back. We felt like we could always score, we just needed to get more speed on defense....

...And then in 2001, that was just one of those games where everything went right. We were up 41-7 at one point, and so it was out of reach pretty early. And it was one that you could really enjoy coaching, because it wasn't tense and you didn't have to make too many critical calls...

...It was a great season for our kids because they worked so hard, and our coaches did an outstanding job. And our booster club was great under the direction of  Libby Hill."

PG: You've been fortunate to coach a plethora of high-caliber athletes who have gone on to accomplish great things in the future. Current Daphne head coach Kenny King is a prime example of that, so talk a bit about what it's like to see a former player out there coaching a program you once led?

SS: "It's very rewarding, and I love Kenny. I went to visit his dad before he passed away, and he said to me 'Coach, just promise me you'll take care of Kenny...'

...He [King] takes such great care of those kids, and he's a really loving coach. So that makes me feel good...

...But I have a lot of kids or coaches who worked under me that are now head coaches or have been. Blount's head coach, Gus Smith, is one of my former players, and there's quite a few I'm leaving out...

...It's very rewarding to see them be coaches, but I also love seeing Justin Stanton being the Most Outstanding Car Salesman at Eastern Shore Hyundai, or whatever someone may be doing. Just seeing the kids be successful and contributing to society."

Daphne head football coach Kenny King.

Micah Green / Gulf Coast Media

PG: To catch some of the locals up on what you’ve been up to since, just talk a bit about your endeavors as the AHSAA’s Executive Director and what you’ve worked on within high school athletics, with you of course also having been inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

SS: "I believe we have so much to show in high school athletics, because we are the last pure form of sports...

...There's nothing that brings a community together like rallying around kids and whatever sport it is. And football, because of its nature and passion in the South, can really do that...

...So providing the opportunity to showcase that with video streaming, with the AHSA TV Network, that was our vision since Day One. And then with the timing, the NFHS Network came into play, and Alabama was the first of 48 states to sign a contract with them...

...And those kinds of things provide opportunities for kids to get into the media realm, but they're also for the grandparents who are out there and can't attend a game. I even had an athlete in Afghanistan email me while I was with the AHSAA, thanking us because he was able to watch his brother play while overseas...

...And I've had a lot of media folks thank us as well, but you know who else does? College football coaches. A coach with the University of Central Florida said they watch kids all over the country through this, with it being how they scout a lot of players now...

...This Friday, I get to babysit the grandkids, so I can't get out to catch a game. But I'll be watching them on the network, and you can even have multi-screen now!"

PG: Going off of that, you’re also someone who has seen this industry change drastically throughout your career. What are your thoughts on the modern era of high-school athletics, in terms of what you believe is working well or healthy about them or what may need to be improved upon?

SS: "What hasn't changed are the kids. They're the same. If adults don't mess them up, they're the same...

...We have great, dedicated coaches, and great kids. Do they have better facilities and equipment and graphics made for them? Yes, but when it comes down to it and you're standing on that sideline or practice field, they're the same kinda kids I coached a long time ago. They're out there because they love it, they want to be the best they can be and they want to provide themselves with an opportunity...

...What has changed maybe not for the better has been things like transfers and NIL. I 100% believe that parents ought to be able to take their kids and play where they want, as long as they're following the guidelines set up by the schools...

...And Alabama is still one of the states that hasn't approved NIL in high schools. And you can call me old school if you want to, but I hope Alabama is the last one. I understand that we have some kids who can make some really good money, but I look at that vs. the entire product, and to diffuse the entire thing for a couple of players, I just don't see the value in that...

...All you have to do is study history to not make the same mistakes in the future. The NCAA is a great model to see the pitfalls that have occured...99% of our kids aren't going to make a living playing football, so we have to think of that 99% vs. the 1%."

PG: There’s also bound to be some young sports fans listening who want to get into the industry in some capacity. If you had them in front of you, what advice would you give someone looking to get into the sports realm and make a career out of it?

SS: "I would first and foremost say that you're never going to get rich monetarily, but you'll be rich beyond belief with the benefits you get from interacting with students and the community. It's a great profession...

...I would encourage people to get involved with sports because there's such an opportunity to be transformational with students. They'll learn lessons you teach them that they will never forget, so if you want to make a difference in this world, there's no better place to do it than through education and athletics."

And we'd like to extend a major thank you to Steve for taking the time to join us for this episode!