LUKE REEDER
Sports Writer
From the field fighting for
a playoff berth for the Nashville
High School Scrapper
football team to the sidelines
of the Norman Oklahoma High
School football field and many
places in between, Coach
Greg Nation has football in
his blood.
Coach Nation is a Nashville
native that was born and
raised here. He is a Scrapper
at heart, “I was born and
raised in Nashville, I have
fond memories of going to the
Little Red School House as a
kid and growing up to later
play high school football for
the Scrappers,” Nation said.
On top of his growing up in
Nashville, his parents are long
time Nashville residents with
Nation’s dad being a church of
Christ preacher.
Nation began his football
career on the Scrapper football
field. He played for the
Scrappers during the late
1970’s and the early 1980’s.
During this time as a Scrapper
Nation and his team enjoyed
an era of success, “We made
the playoffs during every year
I played football at Nashville,”
Nation explained.
After high school Nation
went on to further his education
at Henderson State University.
Along with furthering
his education, Nation also kept
up in his football career as a
Reddie. Nation was a wearer of
many hats on the football field
at Henderson as he played defensive
back, quarterback and
receiver. Nation soon graduated
with a BSE in Physical
Education and Social Studies.
After college Nation landed
his first job as a coach in 1987
at Central Arkansas Christian
high school in Little Rock. Nation’s
first coaching job was
being an offensive coordinator
for the Mustangs. Along
with becoming a coach, Nation
was around a familiar
face at CAC, “CAC was my
first coaching job out of
college. I was hired by
Bobby McLaughlin who
was a Nashville native
so it was nice to have
a person from home
there,” Nation said. But
his job at Central Arkansas
Christian did not
last too long because in
1989 Nation restarted
his football playing career
in a completely new
field, Nation was signed
to a team in a minor
league football system.
In 1989 Nation was
signed to the Pueblo
Crusaders. This team
was one that was closely
associated with the
NFL’s Denver Broncos. As
a Crusader Nation played
defensive back and on the
special teams. The team
traveled all across the United
States to play, “We played
all over the United States. It
was a lot of fun and a great
experience to play in the
league,” Nation said.
After he hung up his pads,
Nation became a coach
again with stops at The
University of Tulsa, Arena
Football and a head coaching
job at Bishop Kelley High
School in Tulsa Oklahoma
before ultimately ending up
in Norman Oklahoma as the
head coach of the Norman
High School Tigers. Nation
is in a good position as the
head coach at Norman and
has been there for eight
years. But his Tigers are having
a tough season. Norman
High School is in the 6A division
and only has 1750 kids
making it the second smallest
school in the division.
This means Nation is very
limited in his football team,
“We only have 1750 kids in
our school so that makes us
a small school compared to
everybody else in the division.
This means we have
less players than most of the
schools,” Nation explained.
This year the Tigers are
not in the most ideal spot
with only one win under
their belt. Nation knows this
is a rough year for his team
describing it as a rough
season but with even with
the rough season the Tigers
have a seasoned coach
heading them up that can
help improve the team for
next season.
Nation is a coach that
has tasted the success at
a higher than college level
and that is something that
most coaches have never
experienced but he still
keeps to his small town
roots, “My parents still live
in Nashville and it is always
good to come back there
(Nashville),” Nation said.
While he may now be a successful
coach in Norman,
Nation is still a Scrapper
at heart and without his
early start on the successful
Scrapper football team
Nation’s coaching career
may not have turned out
the way it did and like any
Scrapper Nation said “Once
a Scrapper always a Scrapper.”
When the season ends
Nation will look to bring his
team back from the bottom
and help them become playoff
contenders.
