FAYETTEVILLE HIGH School (FHS) was established 11 years ago. Along with the school came a new Tigers basketball program, a lot of uncertainty, and a head boys basketball coach faced with
the challenge of bringing success. Chris Murdock did not disappoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Murdock has been teaching at Fayetteville City Schools (FCS) for 13 years. He gradu- ated from Martin Methodist College in 2009 and obtained his master\u2019s in Educational Leadership in 2019 from Austin Peay State University. Along with coaching the boys basketball team, he instructs government, economics, and US History. He is also a hus- band and father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Murdock\u2019s journey with the high school basketball team began in the 2011-12 season when the school was established. No seniors or juniors were present, so Murdock had to coach 8th, 9th, and 10th graders who came from FCS\u2019s middle school. Murdock said he appreciates the boys and their parents who elected to stay with FCS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be here without them,\u201d Murdock said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In that first year of growth, the Tigers only won five games along with a district game. Things flipped the very next season as the team retained all their starters and posted a winning record of 14-11. The Tigers returned in the 2013-14 season to post a 19-11 record and earn a trip to their first district championship, where they lost. They also qualified for their regional tournament that year but lost on a last second shot to Lead Academy, a Nashville team who moved on to the state tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Murdock led his team to a school record of 23-5 the following season, but the Tigers once again lost in the region tournament to Lead Academy, who was starting to become a stumbling block for FHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like we could never get past them,\u201d Murdock said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, no one could serve as a stum- bling block for Murdock\u2019s senior player Nick Hopkins, as the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association named him Class A
Mr. Basketball in 2016, making Hopkins the community\u2019s first and only recipient of the award in this historical moment. When the 2016-17 season rolled around, all the players from the Tiger\u2019s original team in 2011 had graduated, and Murdock found himself in the stages of rebuilding a team, winning only six games that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was like rebuilding from scratch again,\u201d Murdock said. \u201cAfter being with those players for seven years, now we\u2019ve started the pro- gram over again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Tigers did not stay down for long as they went 19-10 the subsequent year, capturing their first district championship and winning their first regional game. Despite the success, Murdock\u2019s team lost to none other than Lead Academy in their regional semifinals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the third time they\u2019ve beaten us,\u201d Murdock said. \u201cAs a coach, I\u2019m questioning; I\u2019m like, \u2018What are we gonna do? How can we beat them?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer came in the 2018-19 season when Murdock met up with Lead Academy in the regional semifinals again. The Tigers would finally beat them 75-35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I unleashed all the memories of them beating us three times already, and I said, \u2018I\u2019m just leaving y\u2019all out there,\u2019\u201d Murdock said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though the Tigers could not win the regional championship, the team qualified for the state tournament and finished the season 26-8, a school record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Murdock said he credits the team\u2019s success to the change of philosophy he made after reading \u201cThe Energy Bus\u201d by Jon Gordon, which encouraged him to help the team get more connected off the court by inviting the boys to his home to participate in non-basketball activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The success continued as FHS won three straight district championships, going 25-6 in 2020 despite having only one returning starter from the previous season. The latest district championship victory oc- curred this past season. Murdock has now won four district championships and owns a record of 184-130.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From his coaching career, Murdock said his relationships with his players and their families bring him the most satis- faction. The ultimate goal is to win a state championship, but he is not too worried about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt will take care of itself,\u201d Murdock said. \u201cI want to thank my wife because without her I would not be able to coach basketball,\u201d Murdock added. \u201cShe is supportive of the team and is the glue that holds our family together. Thank you, and I love you, Jennifer.\u201d\u00a0-GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FAYETTEVILLE HIGH School (FHS) was established 11 years ago. Along with the school came a new Tigers basketball program, a lot of uncertainty, and a head boys basketball coach faced withthe challenge of bringing success. Chris Murdock did not disappoint. Murdock has been teaching at Fayetteville City Schools (FCS) for 13 years. He gradu- ated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":68,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n