It was another banner year for Sulphur athletics, as the Dogs wrapped up the school year earlier this month and recently had the end of year sports’ banquet.
Much success across many sports on both the girls and boys side provided another impressive school year of accolades, accomplishments and success for the Sulphur athletic program.
Each year, as the month of May nears, I sit down with athletic director and head football coach Corey Cole to get a recap of some of the important moments, takeaways and memorable moments of the past school year.
The 2023-24 conversation is below: Whitt Carter: What are some of the highlights and achievements that you are proud of from 2023-24?
Corey Cole: “We had a tremendous senior class and as a group they were very successful. These kids have been competing at a high level throughout their careers, have been in championships and won some of those championships. We made it to the quarterfinals in football, to the semifinals in dual state wrestling. Our track team had lots of seniors, as well. They just missed out on being in the mix for a state championship there. Obviously, powerlifting won another state championship and I thought on the girls side we had a lot of teams improve from last year, especially the softball teams. We had a lot of kids sign collegiately. We had three football players sign, as well as three track and cross country kids sign to go to the next level. So it was a great year.”
WC: Longtime girls basketball coach Toby Todd and longtime track and cross country coach Terry Neal both retired in 202324. What can you say about the impact they had during their tenure and the legacy they have left CC: “When I remember this year, I think I will probably always remember it as the last hurrah for Toby Todd and Terry Neal. Both of those guys helped our school achieve great team accomplishments throughout the years. What they have done for Sulphur sports, both in basketball and in track on the girls side is incredible. Those two guys have been at the forefront of many great things. They have reached the peak of success Toby was right there in the beginning, getting it going in the girls program to winning a state title. He built the program. Back when he started, people would often show up late, maybe around halftime or so of the girls game, then stay for the whole boys game. Toby flipped that around. During his impressive run, people were getting there for the whole girls game, then maybe leaving at halftime of the boys game.
Terry has been at Sulphur for over 40 years and has coached about everything. Both of those guys deserve a lot of credit for the many, many years of work they did in coaching our junior high teams. People don’t realize how important that is. Under Terry, the cross country programs have really taken off, as well. What they have both done for Sulphur athletics cannot be repaid. They both could have gone to other places but they wanted to be here and wanted to be Sulphur Bulldogs. As a former and current Bulldog, as well as a now administrator, I am very thankful for what they have done. For them to do it for that long, people don’t understand how special that is. Countless coaches have come and gone during their tenure but they were always here. It’s to be commended and they both just felt like it was just time for them.”
WC: As you usher in a new group of upperclassmen, the once “young” athletes in Sulphur are now growing up. What do you see in their development as they step into more experienced roles?
CC: :”I see these kids taking more of a leadership role already. They are not worried about letting upperclassmen down.Across our athletic program, it’s impressive at the chemistry these kids have. And it was the same way with our recent senior class. It was their group and they made it their own. They had a fabulous year and were good in many sports and different areas. Our seniors lead the way. And it’s always a tough time to see those guys go, but it allows another opportunity for Sulphur to go out and compete for championships with new leaders. Just like I have said before, every senior class will be a part of what happens in the near future, but we have no choice but to keep pressing and pushing these kids forward. We pride ourselves on doing things differently and that’s what we are going to keep doing.”
WC: What can you say about the state of the athletic program and how competitive Sulphur is in their classification currently?
CC: “I feel like we are in a really good spot right now. We are in a tough class in Class 4A for most sports. This puts us in a difficult spot because a lot of schools are big enough to have several kids only play one sport. We don’t have that luxury. But that’s ok, because we know that when we are successful, it’s because we share kids. We have had a ton of 2-3 sport athletes in high school, which has been a huge reason have had success and we expect that to continue. We have several sports that have all but one returning starter back, like wrestling and baseball. Again, we hate to see these seniors go because they have put in all the time and effort, but we are excited and ready to go compete for championships. We are excited for this next journey. We have a lot of hard working kids, on both the boys and girls sides. We are excited for the summer and ready to see what we can do next year. We have a lot of pieces in place. We just need to capitalize on it.”
WC:Along with yourAD role, you are entering your second or third season as head football coach. After another successful season that saw the program get back to the state playoffs, could you give us a state of the program and tell us what 2024 might look like?
CC: “We’ve had a great spring with some long practices and workouts. Our leadership this spring was outstanding. We have five or six kids who already have offers, and that comes from previous classes playing a lot of football. When they were getting recognized and people were coming to watch more, it allowed some of our younger kids to get their name out there. So that’s pretty special to have that many kids potentially playing at the next level in one senior class. But they don’t care about that right now. They are focused on winning a state championship. In this upcoming group, we have quite a few that are Bulldog lifers and their parents were, as well. They want to see their picture on the wall in the field house. We feel like, as close as we got last year, and then fell on our face in the playoffs, we are really looking forward to the opportunity to go compete again.
A totally different district awaits and we have a lot of new faces on our schedule. We only have three teams from last year on our schedule this year and some are teams we haven’t played in a long, long time. All we can control is ourselves, our effort and our attitude every day. But it all starts right now. We have had a good spring and we are ready for team camp this week. Then we will focus on the summer, which is when you learn how to win. When no one is around, pushing yourself and your teammates to get tougher. Success happens and champions are born during the summer when it’s not fun and when it’s 105 degrees outside. Chemistry is made and coaches can start to see that this guy or that guy can be counted on. It’s a long summer but if you want to play in December, it starts now and you have to put in the work immediately.”
WC: As the town underwent the devastating tornado, the kids at Sulphur High School were very involved in contributing to relief efforts. What can you say about that and how that made you feel as an administrator, coach, parent and community member?
CC: “It just made me really thankful to live in a great place like Sulphur. It made me really proud to be a coach in a great place like Sulphur. I think I speak for many when I say that I was more proud of Sulphur athletes for how they responded during the tragic time of the tornado than ever before. It was incredible to see how they went out and helped our community and realized that’s what is actually important. They just wanted to do good and give back to their community, dayafter-day, during that time, it was really awesome to see. It made you realize that we are doing something right, not even talking about us as coaches, but just as a community and as parents of kids at school. But as theAD, a Sulphur person and a school employee, that’s what it was about. Sure, we know there were way more people that were more valuable. I am not saying we were more important, but to see our kids understanding the situation and to see them not even worried about losing out on doing this or that, but just wanting to help. In a time like that, you know collectively that you are doing something right. That’s why this is a special place. We are just a tight knit community that rallies around one another and sticks together.”
