SPORTS

Creek Wood hires Houston Thiel as head football coach

Andy Simmons
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

Creek Wood High School has found it's new football coach, and it didn't have to go far up the road to find him.

The school named former Charlotte Middle School football coach Houston Thiel to the same position for the Red Hawks on Monday.

Thiel is no stranger to the school system. He played for the Red Hawks when he was in high school, and has been a part of the school system for a few years now. Using that familiarity helped Thiel ultimately land the job.

"This is a dream job. Knowing the school helped me more than anything," said Thiel.

"I approached this from a different angle than most candidates did. I approached it as the kind of guy who will be prideful and be happy. It's not like I'm trying to get my foot in the door. This is something I've been striving for and working towards. I feel like that drew the administration towards me."

When the job became available, Thiel wanted to be sure it was the right decision and he was ready to make the leap.

The first person he called when he made up his mind that he was going after it? Former longtime Creek Wood coach Chuck Daniel, who he played under. Thiel replaces Daniel after Daniel took over as an interim coach following the departure of Justin Palmer, who took the job at Shelbyville a few weeks before the 2016 season started.

"I felt like that was the respectful thing to do, to get his feelings on it. He encouraged me to go after it," said Thiel.

Daniel was quick to give kudos to his successor on the jesture.

"That shows the type of high-character quality he has," said Daniel.

Thiel had numerous success at the middle school level, guiding the Tigers to their first ever undefeated season in 2015. He hopes he can replicate some of that same magic at the varsity level.

"Something I really pride myself on, is how we brand the middle school program at Charlotte," said Thiel.

"I ran that like a high school program. We taught them the game. I feel like our preparation and organization we had at that level, is certainly going to come here and help us here."

Thiel hopes to have his coaching staff assembled near the end of the month.

Reach Andy Simmons by email jasimmons@gannett.com or on Twitter @AndyDHTN