NWA Sports

ARLEY – Lance Archer says he is excited and looking forward to leading Meek High School onto the gridiron for the first time this fall. The Attalla native will be starting his third season as a coach for the Tigers, but it is his first stint as a head football coach.

“I’ve been around football all my life and I was an assistant at Walker, but it wasn’t something I was looking for,” he said last week. “It sort of fell into my lap, but I do have some head coaching experience, so I’m excited about being here and I want to do my very best to make this a positive season for these kids.”

Archer was officially hired earlier this summer after the resignation of Gary O’Gwin, who had served three years as head football coach.

“When we went into the spring, Coach O’Gwin had just resigned and we didn’t know if there were going to be any teacher units open in order to hire another coach,” added Archer. “I think a lot of the players were down and there were about four or five of our better athletes who didn’t come out in the spring.

“We went over to the spring jamboree and lost all three games. We only had about 13 true varsity-age players, but the ones that played – they played their hearts out.”

Since then, the athletes who opted not to participate in the spring, have joined the squad, which will definitely help the Tigers when they start the regular season.

The coach says he anticipates having around 22 varsity age players, along with a promising group on the junior varsity squad.

The Tigers’ coaching staff this fall will be made up of school personnel and volunteers. Lamar Frith, who previously served five years as head coach (2000-2004) at Meek is coming back on board as offensive coordinator. Jamie Edwards will be the defensive coordinator and Archer will work with the wide receivers and defensive backs.

Devin Guthrie will handle the junior varsity offense with Tony Williams leading the defense. Rounding out the coaching staff this fall are John Mitchell, Mike Keene and Dr. Richard Welch, pastor of Meek Baptist Church, who played at UNA.

“We’ve got a large staff with a lot of experience. I think the players will get a lot of fundamentals taught to them,” Archer said. “Obviously, Meek had been down for a few years, but we’re hoping to get things turned around. We have a lot of experience on the staff, so that is a positive thing.

“As far as depth goes, we’re kind of few in number, so we’re hoping to avoid any serious injuries. Barring any injuries, I think we could have a better than .500 record this year.”

Archer played baseball and football at 5A Etowah High School. He was a sophomore member of the Blue Devil football squad which was the first in school history to go 10-0 in the regular season. The team finished 13-1 after losing in the semifinals. He was center fielder on the baseball team which won a state championship his junior year.

Archer got his college degree at Auburn University and UAB, and is currently working on completing his Masters degree at the University of Alabama. He also has an undergraduate degree in math and is certified in physical education as well. Prior to coming to Meek, Archer was a teacher and coach six years at Walker High School.

He and his wife Lauren are the parents of two children.