One seat over

On the bench, the shift from one chair to the next is just a few inches.

That’s how far Cynthia Padgett is moving, but the magnitude of the move far exceeds the physical distance. 

Padgett was named the new head volleyball coach at Homewood High School in early April, after serving as an assistant coach the past two years under Krimson Revis. Padgett knows the responsibilities of being the head coach are far greater than those placed on the assistants, but she is familiar with the program and is eager for the challenge.

“In one sense, it’s very easy. It’s very comfortable. I know these girls,” Padgett said. “I always say there’s a difference in one seat over. Having a solid foundation helps that transition.”

The shuffling within the Homewood volleyball program comes as a result of tough decisions and is not based on team performance. Revis led the Lady Patriots to the Class 6A North Super Regional each of her two seasons in charge, but she chose to shift her focus to the program at Homewood Middle School, where she teaches.

Padgett has worked at Hall-Kent Elementary for the past seven years but will move to the high school next school year.

“Now that I have her job, I don’t know how she did it for two years,” Padgett said. “It’s really hard to be the coach at the high school and not be at the high school. She did it for two years and I thought she did it really well.”

There hasn’t been much idle time for Padgett since being named head coach. She met with the team shortly after the decision was made, with tryouts for the 2019 fall season at the end of April. Padgett and Revis believe the transition will be as close to seamless as possible, since they have worked together the last two years and will have a model of consistency beginning with the seventh-grade team.

“The schools that are good [at volleyball] have a foundation that starts in middle school,” Padgett said. “Our goal is that our girls will be doing the same thing, so when they get up to the ninth-grade team and trying out, they’re not learning it as ninth-graders because they’ve learned it as seventh- and eighth-graders.”

For Padgett, who played at the University of Kentucky in the late 1990s, there are three characteristics of utmost importance within a volleyball program: improvement of individual skill, improvement of team skill and character. She believes the Lady Patriots have what it takes to excel at all three.

“This is a really special group of girls,” she said. “Where they’re going from here is determined solely by their desire to reach their peak potential. Their potential is really high. They’re good and kind and fun girls, and I really look forward to coaching them.”

There is also the coincidence that soon there will be two separate instances of parent coaching child in the Padgett household. Logan is set to begin playing basketball for his father, Samford basketball coach Scott Padgett, later this year, while Layla will move into the high school volleyball program for the 2019-20 school year. 

“That’s cool and terrifying all at the same time,” Cynthia Padgett said.