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HomeSportsAustin Peay Football: 'Time to give back' brings James Hite full circle...

Austin Peay Football: ‘Time to give back’ brings James Hite full circle

Written by Brad Kirtley
APSU Sports Information Director

Austin Peay State University GovernorsClarksville, TN – James Hite twice had retired from coaching, but he knew he wasn’t through with the sport he loved or the school from which he got his start.

After 40 years of successful high school football coaching in Colorado, Texas and New Mexico, Hite is back at his alma mater, working as a volunteer assistant coach, specifically coaching APSU’s tight ends.

Austin Peay Football. (Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)
Austin Peay Football. (Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)

“This all started actually two years ago,” APSU head coach Rick Christophel said. “He came to see me and we talked about him wanting to come back here.”

“If it wasn’t for Austin Peay I have no idea of what would have become of me,” Hite said. “It was time to give back.”

Hite grew up in Pulaski Tennessee and came to APSU to go to college. Although he didn’t play football-“I got knocked out a lot and my daddy was a doctor and told me I couldn’t play”-Hite graduated from APSU in 1969 and embarked on a coaching career that saw him serve nearly 25 seasons as a head coach.

“I moved around a lot because it was what I thought you did,” Hite said. “But I also learned a lot of things from a lot of different people. I was fortunate enough to work for a lot of good people. One thing led to another and I had the opportunity to run my own program.”

Hite captured 135 head-coaching victories along the way that took him to multiple stops in New Mexico and Texas. He was known for building and rebuilding programs, including capturing a state championship at Robert Goddard High School (Roswell, New Mexico) in 1989 and winning three Coach of the Year awards.

“But this is a dream of my life, doing this (coaching college),” Hite said. “It is what I always wanted to do. It wasn’t in the cards at the (previous) time.”

But after spending a quarter of a century in the Southwest, what was the call of the Volunteer State that brought Hite back to Clarksville to be a volunteer at his alma mater?

“No matter where you go, if you are from Tennessee you are always from Tennessee,” Hite said.  “When I was ready to retire I said I had to go home. This is where my family is from. My mother’s family was from out at Hampton Station, were farmers out there. My dad and granddad were doctors in Pulaski and Nashville. It is just who I am-it is where I am from.”

Hite is again enjoying the aspect of being a position coach, working with the Governors tight ends , and not having to worry about the pressures of being in charge. He believes the transition has been seamless in getting acquainted with the college game.

“I love working with Coach Christophel,” he said. “It is a great bunch of coaches who get along really well.

“There’s also a great bunch of kids on this team. They are getting better all the time. I think the future is extremely bright.”

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