Former Carson-Newman football coach Ken Sparks has been elected to College Football Hall of Fame on his first year on the ballot.
Sparks won 338 games at the Jefferson City college. Sparks retired after the 2016 season. He died in 2017 after a long battle with prostate cancer.
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Sparks will be part of the 2026 class, which includes 18 players and four coaches. Boise State’s Chris Peterson, TCU’s Gary Patterson and John Hopkins University’s Jim Margraff are the other coaches in the class. The induction ceremony will be held during the National Football Foundation annual awards dinner on Dec. 8 in Las Vegas.
Sparks coached at several Knoxville area high schools, most notably going 29-5 in three seasons at Farragut from 1977-79. He took over at his alma mater in 1980 and Carson-Newman became a juggernaut, claiming five NAIA national titles in the decade. Carson-Newman won NAIA titles in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1989.
Moving to NCAA Division II in 1990, Carson-Newman remained a frequent playoff participant. The Eagles didn’t win another championship but reached the title game in 1996, 1998 and finally, 1999, a 58-52 four-overtime loss to Northwest Missouri State.
Carson-Newman made the playoffs in 25 of Sparks’ 37 seasons.
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Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Ken Sparks: Carson-Newman coach elected to College Football Hall of Fame
