HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – Columbia High School’s football team enters its final game of the season carrying the nation’s longest losing streak at 100 games.
Head coach Sammie Coates, a former Auburn receiver, took over the program this year and has focused on rebuilding from the foundation.
“We’re rebuilding the program from the ground up. There’s no way around it, we’re at the very bottom,” Coates said.
The Golden Eagles last won a game when Coates was still playing college football at Auburn. Now he leads a team of 40 student athletes who have maintained one of the program’s best team GPAs in years, with all students passing their classes.
Coates said his initial goals extended beyond victories on the field.
“Behavior. Discipline. Doing the right things inside the building,” he said.
The coach praised his players’ commitment despite the program’s struggles.
“They came to practice every day. They show up to work. They kept fighting, they keep fighting. Especially the seniors. When you’ve been through what you’ve been through, the seniors that have played here 4 years and haven’t won a game and still show up the next year, that tells you what kind of character they really have,” Coates said.
As the team prepares for its final game, Coates says his players are prepared.
“It’s the first year I’ve known any of these players, and the way they stepped up and became leaders and led the team is big to me. They do have it in them to be great, to be winners,” he said.
Thursday’s game against Hazel Green may be the end of the season for the Golden Eagles, but Coates says his work at Columbia has just begun.
“These kids understand if they win one game they’ll go out on top because they haven’t done it in so long, so they’ll be the class that changed the program,” Coates said.
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