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T H E S E F O R M E R OX F O R D H I G H S C H O O L VA R S I T Y B A S E B A L L A N D FOOTBALL TEAMMATES ARE BACK AT THEIR ALMA MATER AS COACHES. WRITTEN BY LESLIE CRISS
W
hen Oxford High School staff members gathered at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, it was a reunion of sorts for head football coach Chris Cutcliffe and baseball coach Cade Hoggard. Cutcliffe, 35, and Hoggard, 34, met as seventh graders at Oxford Middle School. The Knoxville, Tennessee-born Cutcliffe moved with his family to Oxford when he was in sixth grade; Hoggard, born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, was in kindergarten when his family moved to Oxford. The two became friends and teammates on both the baseball and football fields, playing summer baseball together through middle school and later varsity baseball for the Oxford High School Chargers. Hoggart played multiple positions for the Chargers — pitcher, outfielder and first base; Cutcliffe played second base. And one of their best memories from their time on the baseball field
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remains their team winning OHS’s first state championship in 2005. There are also highlights from their varsity football years, when Cutcliffe was Charger quarterback and Hoggard tight end. In fact, both smile big behind their beards as they recall a specific 2004 Friday night under the lights. “No score,” Cutcliffe said. “We were in the fourth quarter. I threw the ball to Cade, he caught it, and we won the game 7-0. Against Tupelo.” After graduating from Oxford High School, Cutcliffe went to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he served as manager of the Tennessee Volunteers football team. Later, he attended graduate school at Duke University, where he was a football intern for two years. His father, former Ole Miss football coach David Cutcliffe, was also coach at Duke at the time. Hoggard spent three years at Mississippi State University and
