By By Matthew Nascone
Northview High School assistant principal Mike Sherrill was the head football coach of Woodham High School before going to Northview. That coaching stint landed the Chiefs a wide receivers coach last week, as NHS head coach Cody Keene hired Conner Cagle, one of Sherrill's assistants for the 2000-01 season.
"I have known about Northview for a while," Cagle said. "And the school is talked about highly everywhere you go, and not just for the football program. This school has a great family atmosphere and I love that."
Cagle comes to NHS from Washington High School in Pensacola, where he coached the receivers since 2002. He was born in Pensacola and his family is deeply rooted in that area.
"My great grandfather helped build the railroad out there," Cagle said. "And my dad and all my uncles went to Pensacola High School. They are always involved with sports."
Cagle was one of the few high school students that knew what they wanted to do with their life in high school. He graduated from Fort Walton Beach High School in 1988.
"I was blessed to have coaches who were good influences on me and it wasn't just football that influenced me," Cagle said. "There was a very strong F.C.A. (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at my school. The program affected the school."
Cagle said the atmosphere at NHS is similar to that of FWBHS when he was a student and that is the main reason he took the job at Northview.
Cagle held down coaching jobs at Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola and Milton high Schools while gaining his college degree. He graduated from the University of West Florida in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education.
Coaching high school football players was not the only thing Cagle did while attaining his degree. From 1995-97 he was part of a semi-pro football team owned by Emmitt Smith and Roy Jones, who are both Pensacola natives. Cagle played linebacker for the Pensacola Bucs for three years. The team would travel all throughout Florida and other parts of the Southeast.
Cagle said the atmosphere created at Northview recently is great.
"These people here are super nice and the atmosphere Ms. (Gayle) Weaver, Mr. (Mike) Sherrill and coach (Cody) Keene have created is awesome," Cagle said. "It has such a small town feel and when you can get to know all the families of the kids you coach, that is just a great thing. And I was looking for that small town feel. I hope to be here for a long time to help coach Keene out on and off the field."
Cagle will be teaching math and sociology when he is not on the gridiron.