CHS athletic director talks about direction of Redhound sports at Rotary meeting

It should surprise no one to hear that the outlook for athletics in the Corbin Independent School system is very positive. Last week, Corbin High School Athletic Director Tackett Wilson spoke to the Corbin Rotary Club about the many reasons for why that is.

“When it comes to athletics at Corbin, we are very competitive,” said Wilson, who retired from the Kentucky State Police in 2014 before coming to work for Corbin Independent Schools. “I want this to be a top shelf program. If you’re going to have an athletic program, you want it to be the best.”

Wilson and company have certainly accomplished a lot since he took over the athletic director position at CHS in the summer of 2021. In that time, the Redhounds have continued a longstanding tradition of success with multiple district and regional titles across several different sports.

“We are fortunate enough to have more sports at Corbin than anyone else in the region,” Wilson said. “We have everything from bass fishing, to bowling, to diving. There are a lot of sports, which means I am managing a lot of people, and a lot of student-athletes.”

When it comes to his day-to-day duties as CHS athletic director, Wilson explained that he oversees roughly 450 student-athletes and about 80 coaches at any given time. He described it as a “fast-paced job” that allows for very few breaks.

Wilson is excited about the results of all the hard work being put in by everyone involved in Redhound athletics, however, saying, “I look forward to where we’re going. We have a great school system, and I like to run the athletic side of it just like a college program. Why do I do that? Because I want us to be winners. First, I want our graduation rate to be high. Then I want us to have the best in athletic equipment. If we do that, then the people will come.”

“We don’t recruit,” Wilson added. “When you have a top shelf program, then it just promotes itself.”

One of the biggest topics of conversation related to athletics at CHS lately has been the multi-million-dollar upgrade and renovation project taking place at the Redhounds’ football stadium.

“You have to build and keep up your facilities in order to have top shelf programs,” Wilson said. “We will have one of the prettiest football stadiums in the country when it’s finished. We also just started turfing our baseball and softball fields.”

Speaking further about future building projects, Wilson mentioned that Corbin High School plans to feature a multi-purpose auxiliary gymnasium on its campus in the next couple of years. He said that, with so many teams needing access to a gym for practices, adding another facility will help to accommodate everyone, and will greatly benefit the student-athletes.

“In the next five years, we will have one of the top campuses for athletics in the state,” Wilson said. “Is it expensive to build things? Yes, it is. It’s not cheap, but when you have the number of athletes that we have, you need to have the facilities to go along with that.”

“As a school system, we are heading where we need to be,” Wilson continued. “It takes a lot, though, which is why I thank the community from the bottom of my heart. Without the support of the community, we cannot thrive and get to where we need to be.”

Wilson said that a big part of his job is keeping the athletics program at Corbin financially sound. He was happy to report that is currently the case, and that, once again thanks in large part to the continued financial support of the community, there is a good amount of money in the bank that will continue to help pay for equipment and other various needs in the months and years ahead.

In sum, Wilson said that he enjoys getting to be in a position to lead the charge for Redhound coaches and student-athletes as they go about the business of winning in their chosen sports.

“I come from Leslie County,” Wilson said. “One thing that I have learned about Corbin is that people here are crazy about athletics. Not just one, but they’re crazy about everything. It really makes for a great atmosphere.”

Other topics that Wilson touched upon during his presentation included:

• While athletic directors in the state have so far voted it down, an ongoing discussion about allowing high school athletes to benefit from name, image and likeness (NIL) deals has been taking place. Wilson said that he is “not a big fan” of the idea, but he did recognize that it absolutely could become a reality at some point in the future.
• Corbin High School will feature an e-sports team in the spring of 2024.
• The Kentucky High School Athletic Association is considering sanctioning lacrosse as a new sport for student-athletes in the state.
• The KHSAA has sanctioned boys volleyball as a spring sport beginning in 2025.