Meet ‘Archie.’ He’s an assistant football coach at Ardrey Kell High, and he’s only 17
At Ardrey Kell High School in southeast Charlotte, everybody calls Alden Archdeacon “Archie,” and all Archie ever wanted to do was be involved with the football team.
His brother played on the team once, but he got hurt and had to stop playing. At 5-foot-8 and 110 pounds, Archie knew that playing for the Knights wasn’t likely.
So he found another way to be involved.
“I went to coach (Greg Jachym) and said, ‘Hey, can I help out?’” Archie said. “I mean, I always wanted to be on the sidelines, but I just was never big enough to play.”
Jachym wasn’t sure that Archie was serious, but he asked him to come to practice, learn how things are done, and maybe they could find a role for him. Truth is, Jachym had just had a high schooler who would call plays in from the sideline for the team, like a rare teenage assistant coach, and Archie had seen Parker Childers do that for the Knights.
So when Ardrey Kell was getting ready to play a pandemic-postponed season last February, Archie figured he could do it, too.
It didn’t take long for Jachym to become convinced
“He was there every day,” said Jachym, whose team is 5-2 this season, “and you could tell he was dedicated. And the more he showed up, the more responsibility we started to give him, and we started getting him involved with the offense. Archie’s almost like an offensive assistant coach now for us.”
His first game calling plays last February was hard. Ardrey Kell was playing South Meck and Archie’s job was to signal in the play call from the offensive coordinator to the quarterback. And it’s not a small job.
If Archie messes up, the team could end up running the wrong play, and running the wrong play at the wrong time, well, it can lead to a loss.
“It was pouring down rain and so cold for the South Meck game,” Archie said. “I was so nervous, and I was freezing and my gloves were soaked in water. It was miserable, but it was also an awesome experience. I’m like, ‘Wow, I love doing this.’”
Now, Archie knows Ardrey Kell’s plays like he knows the alphabet.
“It’s become second nature at this point,” he said. “It’s like, if somebody says a word, like ‘cavalier,’ and we have a play for it, I’ll make that hand motion. Like at the lunch table.”
Jachym said that during practice he always catches Archie practicing his signals and said he’s 100 percent confident in the high school senior.
“I think it’s great,” Jachym said. “It gives a kid who maybe doesn’t want to play football but wants to be involved with the football team an opportunity and that can lead to opportunities down the road for them.”
Archie said he wants to continue being involved with football in college, hopefully starting as a freshman equipment manager and see where it goes. He just can’t imagine himself doing anything different right now.
“I love cheering on my teammates and I want them to do well,” Archie said. “Doing this now is second nature to me, and I have faith in the team they’re going to perform. This year, we have such a unifified vibe. They don’t care about stats, just about winning and doing it for Ardrey Kell. You don’t see that on every team. We get in the huddle on the sidelines and they trust coach, that he’s going to call the right play.”
And the Ardrey Kell coaches trust that Archie is going to signal that play in.
This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Meet ‘Archie.’ He’s an assistant football coach at Ardrey Kell High, and he’s only 17."
