By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even after former Silver Lake football star Logan Pegram entered the coaching profession following his college career at Northern Illinois, he never really thought about the possibility of coaching at his high school alma mater.
Logan Pegram
But all that changed when C.J. Hamilton, the winningest coach in Kansas history, announced his retirement at Silver Lake in mid-April after 47 seasons.
"It definitely came out of nowhere,'' said the 32-year-old Pegram, who was announced as Silver Lake's new head coach last week. " I think there was initial surprise for all of us that have played in the program and been a part of that community. First you kind of analyze it as the former player and community member.
"You kind of process it as that and then you look at it as a coach and you're like, 'Well, who wouldn't want to be in a situation like Silver Lake?' You have great community buy-in, you've got great administration, great schools, success. It's everything that as an aspiring head coach you look at as a great possibility.''
A 2008 Silver Lake graduate, Pegram was a part of four Eagle teams that advanced to the Class 3A state championship game, including a 14-0 record and a state title his junior season in 2006.
A first-team All-Stater as a senior, Pegram knows that taking over for Hamilton, who led the Eagles to a 447-98 record, 18 title games and eight state championships, is a daunting task.
But its one that Pegram, who served as an assistant and head coach at Anderson County and as an assistant at Class 6A Free State, embraces.
"There's no doubt it's going to be a challenge,'' Pegram said. "Talking to other people and talking about first-year expectations or this or that I think you just need to go into it with the idea that, 'Hey, we need to get better every single day.'
"And I know that can kind of be coach-talk or cliche, but there's no hiding from the fact of what the level of expectation is at Silver Lake and that's something that I think as a coach you embrace and you say that if you're willing to work and get better every day then we'll put ourselves in a position to be where we want to be at the end of the year.''
In returning to the community where he grew up, Pegram is following in the footsteps of Hamilton, who is also a Silver Lake native.
"I've heard people say that you never want to go back home but I look at it kind of I guess the way (C.J.) did, as an opportunity to give back to the community that gave so much to me,'' Pegram said. "It's a great community, great people and it's a way for me to finally give back and say, 'What can I do to help these kids that I was in the same shoes as them?' ''
Obviously Pegram will want to put his own stamp on the Silver Lake program, but he said he also wants to make sure to emphasize the qualities that have made the Eagles a premier program.
"I think any coach who would go into a situation like this would be naive to go in there and try to build a new house or rip it down to the studs,'' Pegram said. "I think the No. 1 thing is you embrace the things that have made us so successful over the years.
"Then maybe you tweak a couple of things in a couple of different ways, from summer workouts and maybe just a little bit of scheme, but at the end of the day I think Silver Lake's always going to be Silver Lake if we can keep the main things the main things and focus on what's made us so successful.''
