Family Matters

Shadowens emphasizes accountability, hard work to rebuild Governors

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

New William Blount football coach Philip Shadowens is accompanied at a press conference on Friday by, from left, daughter, Katie, wife, Laura, and daughter, Sydney.

Laura Shadowens was way ahead of the curve on this one.

Her husband, Philip, was a driven, young coach. During the season, he was never home.

Not really a fan of football at the time, Laura Shadowens devised a novel approach to the problem.

“Philip was gone a lot,” the wife of William Blount’s new football coach said. “I knew if I was going to be a part of his life, I was going to have to go to practice.”

It’s since become a wife/coach partnership well outside the norm, with Laura Shadowens in charge of the air horn at practice to keep things on schedule. Three stops and two state championships later, Philip Shadowens emphasis on family in football has proven an unqualified success.