Members of the Red Level community gathered Tuesday night at the high school auditorium for a meet and greet with new Tigers’ head coach James Wise.

 

“The first thing he told me was that he was going to do it the right way,” Red Level principal Randy McGlaun said during his introduction of Wise. “He said he wouldn’t be an embarrassment on the sideline, and neither would his team.”

 

McGlaun said this was what is needed to get Red Level back to the glory days.

 

When Wise was introduced to the crowd, he started off by saying that Red Level was one of two places for which he has always dreamed of being head coach.

 

“When I got in to coaching,” Wise said. “There were two places I dreamed of coaching, one was Red Level, where my mother graduated from, and two was Elba, where my father graduated from. Red Level is right where I want to be.”

 

Wise said that he called McGlaun before the job had even been listed, and wasn’t sure how he would react to it.

 

“I called Mr. McGlaun before the job was listed as open,” Wise said. “I just told him, ‘If you have anything open let me know.’ I was a little nervous about how he would take that. I didn’t want to come off as pushy, but I’ve always heard the early bird gets the worm.”

 

Wise said that he models the way he coaches on parenting.

 

“I don’t have any children of my own,” Wise said. “I will treat these kids just like they were mine. I model coaching like being a parent. I like to know if why my star running back made five fumbles in the game. Maybe his girlfriend broke up with him. I can deal with that. By the way, I talked to all the cheerleaders and told them if they are going to break up with one of my players do it before or after the season.” Wise said, drawing laughs from the crowd.

 

Wise said he expects hard work and honesty from his players.

 

“I’m going to honest with them,” Wise said. “And I expect the same in return from them.”

 

Wise went on to say how much Red Level and the opportunity to coach the Tigers means to him.

 

“My roots are here,” Wise said. “My mother and uncle graduated from here, and I still have a lot of family in the area. From the bottom of my soul, I’m happy to be here.”

 

Wise then talked about his expectations for Friday nights.

 

“Win or lose,” Wise said. “I want people leaving here say, ‘That was a good product I just saw.’ I want them to want to come back for more. There should be no question where the town of Red Level wants to be on Friday night when the Tigers play at home.”

 

Wise also said that he brings a lot of intensity to the sideline.

 

“I’m very energetic on the sideline,” Wise said. “I’m running up and down the sideline. I’ve even been flagging for wrapping up a player while he was still on the field after making a big fourth down stop. I said, ‘hey we got the ball, I’ll take 15-yards on that.’ I really love it and get into it. I’m like a kid coaching out there.”