UNIONVILLE, Tenn. – After a winless 0-10 campaign in 2024, the Community Vikings decided to bring in Glenn Tidwell in an attempt to build a competitive program from the ground-up. With just four 4-win seasons since 2007 and zero playoff appearances in 18 years, Tidwell recognizes the steep hill he and his staff have to navigate. 

This year, in Region 4-AAA with Sequatchie County, Giles County, Cascade, Chapel Hill, and Watertown, the Vikings have stiff competition if they want to make school history and clinch a postseason berth. But first, Tidwell recognizes that he has to change the internal belief of a program that has combined for two wins across the previous three seasons.

“You obviously want to win every game, but that's not a reality,” admits Tidwell. “That's just what your goal is. If I had to put a number… [this senior class] has only won one game. Unless you count a forfeit, they are 1-29. When you’re using it last year, for example, I think – outside of the Cascade game – they averaged like six points-per-game and they gave up 50-plus. So in their mind, progress is getting to where… if they were to lose 21 to 7, that's, hey, we didn't get the crap kicked out of us, so that's progress. While I get that, you still lost the game. Obviously, get them to understand that a loss is a loss no matter how you do it, but I get what they’re saying is that, hey, it's not a 55 to nothing or a 70 to nothing game.  It's 21 to 7 and we have a chance. In their head, that's progress.”

“Now, my goal personally is that I would like to win three-plus games,” he continues. “Now, we'll see if that happens. Who are those? I don't know right now. But I want this senior class to go out winning more than one game in their high school career. So, that's the goal.”

In an effort to establish the kind of culture that he wants to bring to Unionville, Tidwell brought former Cascade HC and AD, Jake Tyre, out of coaching retirement to establish a strong ground attack. Tyre, known for running the Wing-T offense, was open to joining Tidwell if he took the job. When he was hired in early March, Tidwell and Tyre got to work to compose an offense that would work best for this young Vikings squad.

“We were both ready to get back into coaching after taking last year off, and it took some time to finally get it all set when we came over, but offensively… I've always loved running the ball,” Tidwell says, “Or the option. He's familiar with the Wing-T. And so I said, well, let's find a way if we can to marry the two together and we'll see what we can come up with. The program had gotten to where they were just throwing the ball all over the place and I wanted an offense that would run the clock more, and if we were to lose, it's not because of a running clock. It was because we kept it somewhat close and we tried to control the clock on our side with possessions for the opponent. There's really not anyone on our entire schedule that runs the Wing-T. Everybody's a spread team. So it's a little harder for them game-planning from a coach's standpoint, but also having kids mimic it in practice. We wanted to have an offense that just tried to make the preparation for whomever we're planning to be a lot more difficult.”

“We're not going to be a big passing team,” he continues. “Will we pass? Yes. How often? Who knows? I think if we're going to pass more, it's because we're way behind the chains. But if you had to put a number on what I thought we would pass in the game, I would put the line at 10? You know, because we want to just pound the football and wear you down and make you exhausted, make you run side to side, and not let you know where things are happening. Let's slow the thing way down and you know. You'll have folks that like that and the folks that don't. We don't really care.”

Last season, in the aforementioned game against cross-county rival Cascade, the Vikings threw the ball 41 times in a 49-34 loss that took more than three hours to finish. This season, Charlie Haskins, who finished with 119 yards receiving and 1 TD in 2024’s ‘Battle of Bedford’, has moved to the quarterback position. The dual-sport star – he is the Vikes’ starting point guard as well – is making the move from wideout to quarterback with Community’s shift to a run-heavy attack.

Charlie Haskins (3) returns for his junior season with a new position: as the starting QB of the Community Vikings.

David Smith

Another player to watch out for in 2025 is senior Isaac Jacobs. Jacobs is Community’s starting free safety, and he promises to be the primary feature on offense as well.

“He [Jacobs] just plays with a different motor,” says Tidwell, “There are times that we have to ask him not to hurt his teammates. And because he doesn't know any other way, but he is zero to a thousand and there's no break.. And it could be dangerous at times. I'm not trying to overexaggerate. I mean, he's just that type of kid. He's playing the fullback position for us – a lot of offense – and he's a free safety on defense. And every play, it's 100 miles an hour. Which is great. But sometimes you just have to try to reign him in a little bit, so he won’t hurt somebody because he just doesn't think about it that way.”

As of right now, heading into the season opener against Moore County, Tidwell says his team probably has at least 25% of the playbook available and installed. One of the biggest reasons for this? His team’s abundance of youth. Of the 44 players he currently has on the roster, 18 are upperclassmen, the majority being 12 seniors. 26 of the 44 (59%) are underclassmen. The biggest spots that this youth shows up are along the offensive line.

“The offensive line is going to take a little bit of time just because of the youth,” Tidwell says. “It won't be for a lack of trying. They're aggressive and they're physical, it’ll just be about them understanding what they're supposed to do.”

However, defensively is where the Vikings possess the majority of their seniority, perhaps most  notably in the trenches.

“Defensive wise, I think we'll be okay depth wise at d-line,” says Tidwell, “I think I've got about six guys that I feel pretty good about. I mean, I don't feel bad about the defense. It's just a matter of just getting a lot more reps and getting a little bit more.”

Since Tidwell arrived back in March, he has worked tirelessly to establish some sort of culture that will act as building blocks towards building a successful program. One interesting rule he has in the locker room is concerning the…direction your helmet is facing?

“The thing we have in the locker room is helmets have to be pointing towards the [practice] field. If they're not, there's a punishment. I don't think, since day one of doing that in the spring, has one helmet ever not been turned towards the practice field because they want to make sure they do everything the right way. Also keeping the trash cleaned out and picked up. They do all that. They're taking accountability for that kind of stuff and doing everything you need to do.”

As far as the coaching staff surrounding Tidwell, Jake Tyre was brought in as the offensive coordinator while Justin Gaines was hired as the defensive coordinator. 

Growth, improvement, and development will all take time, especially for a program that has won just one game on the field in three seasons. Sequatchie County and Giles County should battle with one another for the top two spots in Region 4-AAA, but Cascade, Chapel Hill, Community, and Watertown will be battling for the final two postseason places. The Vikings open the season with five non-region games, then close with their five region contests. Local old-school rivals like Moore County, Huntland, Eagleville, and Richland are on the schedule, as well as Cannon County. There was an intentionality with the scheduling of keeping opponents close rather than traveling to a school like Red Boling Springs outside of region play. 

So, what can you expect from the Vikings this season? You can expect a physical and deliberate plan of attack on both sides of the ball. Tidwell’s goal for Year One is to send out the seniors with more wins than the previous three seasons combined (3), but based on the schedule, that will be difficult. Despite the non-region consisting of four Class A teams and one Class AA squad, all five schools finished with winning records in 2024, and all but one – Moore County – made the playoffs. The best opportunity for a Community win in 2025 as of right now looks to be the ‘Battle of Bedford’ at home against Cascade in the final week of the season on Halloween Night. 

However, expect the Vikings to show some fight and resilience throughout the season despite the tough schedule. This is a new era in Unionville.

“This group does what you ask them to do,” says Tidwell, “They want to get better, and they want to learn.”

Community opens the season at home against Moore County on Friday, August 22nd at 7:00 p.m.

2024 RESULTS: 0-10 (0-4)

AUG. 23 LOSS @ Lewis Co. 64-6

AUG. 30 LOSS vs Eagleville 63-6

SEPT. 5 LOSS @ Chapel Hill 55-14

SEPT. 13 LOSS @ Cascade 49-34

SEPT. 20 LOSS vs Cannon Co. 54-0

SEPT. 27 LOSS vs Grundy Co.* 54-8

OCT. 4 LOSS @ Sequatchie Co 48-6

OCT. 18 LOSS vs Giles Co.* 49-0

OCT. 25 LOSS Red Boling Sp. 31-24

NOV. 1 LOSS @ Watertown* 41-0

COMMUNITY’S 2025 SCHEDULE

AUG. 22 vs Moore County 7:00

AUG. 29 @ Eagleville 7:00

SEPT. 5 vs Huntland 7:00

SEPT. 12 @ Cannon County 7:00

SEPT. 19 vs Richland (Hoco) 7:00

SEPT. 26 @ Watertown 7:00

OCT. 3 vs Chapel Hill 7:00

OCT. 10 vs Giles County 7:00

OCT. 17 vs Sequatchie County 7:00

OCT. 31 @ Cascade 7:00

COMMUNITY 2025 FOOTBALL ROSTER