The Charger Issue 1

FEATURES

As members of the Providence Day football team trickled into the lecture hall during break last year, it became clear that something major was about to happen.The day was March 10, 2015, smack in the middle of the offseason. Standing at the front of the room was Bruce Hardin, who had just completed his seventh season as the team’s head coach. Standing off to the side were most of his assistants.

While meetings between players and coaches in the offseason are far from unusual, those get-togethers normally take the form of one-on-one conversations in the coach’s office. Such large scale gatherings, where the entire team and coaching staff is brought together, most often mean the delivery of highly significant news.

This was one of those meetings.

Once the team was all present and settled in, Hardin announced that he would be stepping down as head coach in favor of a more administrative role as football program head. Taking his place would be a man he knew very well, and who knew Providence Day very well.

As Hardin spoke to his players, a press release containing the same information was sent to local news outlets. Word spread quickly through social media: after five seasons as head coach at Ardrey Kell, Adam Hastings would be returning to Providence Day.

Building a Resume

For Hastings, the move was a long time coming.

It wasn’t just about being reunited with his longtime friend and mentor in Hardin. It was about finally being able to secure his dream job at the place he had fallen in love with.

“When I was an assistant here, I knew I wanted to eventually be the head coach at Providence Day,” he said. “Not anywhere else, but Providence Day. This is where I wanted to spend my career.”

In order to eventually be considered for the head coaching job, though, Hastings realized he would have to have some experience at the position. With his ultimate goal in mind, he left Providence Day after two seasons as Hardin’s offensive coordinator to become the head coach at Ardrey Kell High School. “I left Providence Day because I knew I needed the experience [of being a head coach] to be able to come back here,” he said.

It wasn’t the first time he had made that kind of decision. As a player at East Burke High School in the late 1990s, Hastings was recruited to the Citadel by Hardin, who at the time was the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator. However, Hardin never actually got to coach Hastings, as Don Powers, the head coach who had hired him, was fired after the 2000 season. Often, at the college level, a head coach’s firing also means the end of the line for his coordinators and other high ranking assistants, so Hardin went back to Charlotte to be the head coach at Providence High School.

Hastings played offensive line for the Citadel for four years, graduating in 2005. That fall, he returned to his hometown of Icard to coach that position at East Burke. However, he soon realized he had a choice: stay at his high school alma mater and likely remain an assistant, or seek a larger role elsewhere. After mulling over his options, Hastings left East Burke in 2007 to become the offensive coordinator of an Ardrey Kell team that was in just its second year of existence. One year later, he left Ardrey Kell to become part of Bruce Hardin’s first coaching staff at Providence Day.

“I always try to surround myself with the best people,” Hastings said. “I had worked for one hall-of-famer [Mike Biggerstaff, the head coach at East Burke from 2002-2009, was recently inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame], and to have the chance to work for another one [Hardin has been inducted into the NCHSAA Hall of Fame as well as the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association Hall of Fame] was a no-brainer.”

When he went back to Ardrey Kell in 2010, Hastings found a program that was still in the development stage, with just one winning season in its first four years. He took the challenge and ran with it, posting an 8-5 record in his first campaign and advancing to the second round of the 4AA playoffs. As the driving force behind this drastic reversal of fortune (the Knights had gone 3-7 the year before his arrival), Hastings quickly earned the respect of his fellow coaches and was named the Southwestern 4A conference Coach of the Year that season.

After another winning season and state playoff appearance in 2011, Hastings represented both North and South Carolina as a recipient of the Marine Semper Fi Coach of the Year Award, given to high school football coaches across the country who embody the Marine Corps values of honor, courage, and commitment, and who develop leaders on and off the field.

Although he had one losing season in 2012, Hastings’ time at Ardrey Kell was quite successful overall, as he amassed a total record of 35-25 while competing against regionally renowned programs like Butler, Independence, and Charlotte Catholic. Last year, his Knights finished 9-4, good enough for second in the SoMeck 8 conference. Also, more than 50 of Hastings’ players have either gone on or committed to play college football, a significant number at high major Division I schools. Recent examples include Duke freshman DE Twazanga Mugala, North Carolina freshman OL Mason Veal, Notre Dame DE commit Julian Okwara, and Wake Forest OL commit Taleni Suhren (Okwara and Suhren are both entering their senior year at Ardrey Kell. Okwara’s older brother, Romeo, is also a DE entering his senior year at Notre Dame and was coached by Hastings during his junior and senior years at Ardrey Kell).

Looking Toward the Future

Hastings’ experience with turning a struggling program around will be invaluable to Providence Day. He takes over a team that has gone 9-15 in its last two seasons and hasn’t won a conference game since 2012. None of that, however, matters to Hastings. “I can’t tell you what the [Chargers’] record was the last couple of years because I have made a point not to look at it,” he said. “When I’ve gone back and watched film from the last few seasons, I have made a point to never look at the score...It means nothing to me.” “I don’t care [if] they won a state championship, or [if] they...didn’t win a game,” he added. “I’m not stuck in the past, the good or the bad...I’m looking at potential, and I’m looking at what’s in front of me.” What’s in front of Hastings is a challenge that even the best coaches would find demanding: fill the shoes of the third-winningest high school football coach in North Carolina (Hardin has a career record of 332-110) while navigating a highly competitive league. This year’s NCISAA Division I football classification adds last year’s Division III state champion Victory Christian and Division II finalist Davidson Day while maintaining a four-team playoff. That means two teams won’t make it to the postseason.

But Hastings, with his self-described “all gas, no brakes” philosophy, seems thoroughly prepared to take on the challenges associated with his new job. He certainly has his predecessor’s support. “I think people should recognize and appreciate his leadership skills and what he can do for this school,” Hardin said. “He will take our program in a very positive direction for many, many years.”

In addition to his role as program head, Hardin will still help coach the team, working especially with linebackers, the same position he coached at Army during the mid 2000s. While stepping down as head coach may have fueled speculation of his retirement, Hardin, who is entering his 50th season as a coach, says he intends to keep going for as long as he can. “As long as I’m healthy, I’ll coach,” he said. “I don’t have to be a head coach to enjoy being at Providence Day.”

Along with Hardin, athletic director Nancy Beatty also has a high amount of confidence in Hastings. “I knew right away he was the right guy,” she said, recounting her initial interviews with Hastings. “His enthusiasm is contagious. He’s high energy, very organized, and has a great vision for getting everybody involved [with the team], from the lower school to the upper school.”

Hastings has already taken measures to implement that vision. Almost immediately after he was hired, he created the first-ever Providence Day football Twitter account (@PDS_ChargersFB) so that fans could keep up with the team. For younger fans, Hastings plans to institute a number of programs, including one he calls Future Chargers. Open to lower schoolers, the program will give participants the opportunity to get to know a varsity football player. Members will attend practices, games, and get plenty of one-on-one time with their player. The program is similar to one Hastings founded at Ardrey Kell, which was open to all elementary schoolers who were slated to attend high school there based on school district zoning lines.

A Strong Supporting Cast

Hastings isn’t the only new face on the Charger coaching staff. Two of his former assistants at Ardrey Kell, Otis Moore and Brad Wornick, will also be wearing the red and blue on the Providence Day sideline this fall.

Moore, who served as the Knights’ defensive coordinator while also coaching defensive linemen (he worked closely with some of the aforementioned high major prospects), played for four years at Clemson and helped the Tigers win three ACC Championships. Although Moore was recruited as a linebacker, his coaches wanted him to play defensive line, so he redshirted his freshman year in order to properly acclimate to the position change. This proved to be a wise choice, as over the next four seasons, he recorded 113 tackles and nine sacks as part of one of the nation’s best defensive units. Some of Moore’s former teammates on the Clemson defensive line include Michael Dean Perry and Chester McGlockton, both of whom went on to successful NFL careers that included a combined ten Pro Bowl selections. Moore, too, extended his playing career far past his college years. Taken by the New York Giants in the 10th round (274th overall) of the 1990 NFL Draft, he was cut by the team late in training camp. In the next two years, he was invited to training camp with the Detroit Lions and the New Orleans Saints, but didn’t make either team. Instead, Moore spent the 1991 and 1992 seasons with the Birmingham Fire of the World League of American Football, one of the NFL’s many ill-fated attempts at expanding the game overseas. Moore’s head coach with the Fire was Chan Gailey, who would go on to coach the Dallas Cowboys (1998-1999), Georgia Tech (2002-2007), and the Buffalo Bills (2010-2012) before landing at his current job as the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets.

When the World League suspended operations after the 1992 season, Moore was out of football for a year before signing with the Arena Football League’s Charlotte Rage in 1994. In the AFL, Moore played both offensive lineman and defensive lineman, earning him the league’s Ironman designation, given to those who play on both sides of the ball. In a thirteen-year career, he recorded 42 receptions for 312 yards and four touchdowns (in the AFL, one offensive lineman must declare himself an eligible receiver each play) on offense, and 131 tackles (in the AFL, solo tackles count as one tackle while assisted tackles count as half of a tackle. Therefore, Moore’s 94 solo tackles plus 74 assisted tackles adds up to 131 total tackles), 18 sacks, 12 forced fumbles (fourth most in AFL history), five fumbles recovered, and two interceptions on defense. What's really notable is that he accomplished all of this while playing for ten different teams, none of which still exist: the Rage, the New York CityHawks, the New England Sea Wolves, the New Jersey Red Dogs, the New Jersey Gladiators, the Colorado Crush, the Buffalo Destroyers, the Carolina Cobras, the Grand Rapids Rampage, and the Las Vegas Gladiators.

After hanging up his cleats for good at the end of the 2006 season, Moore was hired as the defensive line coach for the Kansas City Brigade, another now-defunct AFL franchise. He spent the next three seasons there before taking a defensive coaching internship with the New York Giants in the summer of 2010. That fall, he would return to Charlotte and begin his high school coaching career at Ardrey Kell with Hastings.

Brad Wornick, who coached quarterbacks for the Knights, was one of Ardrey Kell’s original star athletes. As a member of the very first Knights football team, he was named all-conference at wide receiver his junior year. The next season, with Hastings as his offensive coordinator, he played quarterback, leading Ardrey Kell to an 8-5 record (officially, the Knights’ 2007 record now stands at 9-4 as a result of South Mecklenburg retroactively forfeiting all wins from that season due to using an ineligible player) while throwing for more than 2,000 yards and rushing for more than 1,000 with a total of 22 touchdowns, earning him another all-conference selection and the South Charlotte Sports Report’s area MVP award. Wornick also played basketball for the Knights, and was named captain as a senior. His role in helping a fledgling Ardrey Kell athletic program get off the ground was recognized at the end of his senior year as he received the Knight Pride Award, given to the school’s athletic MVP who also displays exceptional leadership.

Although he had only played quarterback for one season in high school, scouts at East Carolina saw Wornick’s talent and recruited him as a preferred walk-on. After redshirting his freshman year, he was named scout team quarterback in 2009. It was in 2010, however, that his efforts began to pay off, both figuratively and literally as he was given a full athletic scholarship. Wornick was designated as the Pirates’ starter during the preseason before Dominique Davis transferred to ECU from Fort Scott Community College and beat out Wornick for the job. Davis would go on to set several team records before signing with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He spent three seasons backing up Matt Ryan before his release in 2014. He is currently listed as the practice squad quarterback for the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Although Wornick was demoted to second string, he still saw action in five games that year, including the Military Bowl, where he threw his lone college touchdown to Justin Jones in the closing minutes of a 51-20 loss to Maryland. Including the touchdown, Wornick completed 13-of-19 passes for 138 yards that season, also attempting one rush that resulted in a seven-yard gain. In 2011, Wornick slipped back down to third string, having been surpassed by redshirt sophomore Rio Johnson. However, he managed to reclaim the backup job in 2012, this time behind another ECU record holder, Shane Carden, who signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent this summer. Wornick made his final appearance with the Pirates near the end of a 41-7 win against Memphis, recording a single four-yard rush.

After graduating in 2013, Wornick spent a year interning with the Carolina Panthers Community Relations Department before joining the coaching staff at his high school alma mater.

Wornick, Moore, and Hardin will combine with returning assistants Brian Davis, Reggie Clark, and Gary Scott to form what Hastings calls a “top of the line” coaching staff.

“These guys are all about the players,” he said. “They’re not ‘me’ guys, they’re ‘us’ guys...I think they fit really well at Providence Day.”

With a first-class staff behind him, a solid resume, and a gaze fixed firmly toward the future, the case for Adam Hastings is definitely a strong one.

“I’m not stuck in the past, the good or the bad...I’m looking at potential, and I’m looking at what’s in front of me.” –Adam Hastings

“I knew right away he was the right guy. . . . His en-thusiasm is contagious. He’s high energy, very organized, and has a great vision for getting everybody involved [with the team], from the lower school to the upper school.” – Nancy Beatty

Hastings represented both North and South Carolina as a recipient of the Marine Semper Fi Coach of the Year Award, given to high school football coaches across the country who embody the Marine Corps values of honor, courage, and commitment, and who develop leaders on and off the field.

“When I was an assistant here, I knew I wanted to eventually be the head coach at Providence Day. Not anywhere else, but Providence Day. This is where I wanted to spend my career.”

With a first-class staff behind him, a solid resume, and a gaze fixed firmly toward the future, the case for Adam Hastings is quite a strong one.

The Case for Adam Hastings

By Matt Bowling

Coach Adam Hastings on the sidelines during a time-out.