Coach and Player, Father and Son: OHS’s Speakmans

BY DANIEL LOCKE FOR THE OBSERVER

OPELIKA —

The bond between a father and his son is one of the closest relationships many people will ever

(66-56).

The girls’ area tournament will be held at Central High School in Phenix City this week. The Lady Bulldogs played Auburn in the first round, Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs fell, 68-53, to the Tigers.

The Tigers advanced to the Area Tournament Championship game against the winner of Central and Smiths Station High School.

The championship game is set for 5:30 p.m. Friday.

The boys’ area tournament is hosted by Auburn High School (AHS).

See SPORTS, page B3

Opelika High School head football coach Erik Speakman and his son Bryce have gotten to enjoy making those memories at the high school level. With Bryce signing to play baseball at Gadsden State, it is nothing new to Speakman. The Bulldogs had five players sign to play football at the collegiate level on National Signing Day this year.

“It means a lot to you as a coach watching these kids grow up and realizing their goal,” Speakman said. “A lot of these kids have a goal of playing athletics in college and work really hard over four, five or six years trying to achieve that goal. So, it means a lot to see these kids achieve it.”

Getting the opportunity to play for your dad in high school is a rare thing, and Bryce does not take it for granted.

“It’s everything really,” Bryce said. “As a kid, you always love playing for your father but then to do it at the high school level was something that was really special. A lot of high school coaches don’t get to see their family much during the season, so I’m glad that I got to spend time with him every day.” know, you’re together a lot,” Speakman said on coaching his son at the high school level. “He was a ball boy and a water boy for us coming up so there’s been a lot of years of being on the sideline together.”

Bryce was able to learn a lot from his dad about navigating the recruiting process to ensure that he ended up at the right college for him.

“No matter what, don’t get too high or low,” Bryce said on the advice his dad gave him about the recruiting process. “Just keep working hard, because if you’re arrogant and cocky it will come back to bite you.” have. A father coaching his son in sports creates some of the best memories within those relationships. safe to say that Speakman is one proud dad. Seeing his players advance to the next level is

Speakman was confident in his son’s ability to figure out the process of recruiting and find the best fit for him.

This opportunity was not taken lightly by Speakman either.

“It’s a lot of fun, you

“He did a lot of it on his own,” Speakman said. “Nowadays every kid is using twitter to try to get recruited. In fact, we do that with our football players and send in film to coaches.”

See SPEAKMANS, page B2