The senior living community Morning Pointe Danville invited local high school football coaches to talk about what football means to them — and reminisce about their glory days — as part of their Souper Bowl Family Night on Thursday.

Head coaches Clay Clevenger of Danville and Mercer County’s David Buchanan as well as Boyle County assistant coach Charlie Cox and Lincoln County Middle School coach Chris Cook were the attendees who spoke.

The night was filled with football  — from decorations to employees dressed like KHSAA officials — in honor of Sunday’s big game.

The decision to invite the area coaches came about as a way to bring the community together around the biggest football event of the year.

“Morning Pointe is a community and we look at our schools as being a very integral part of our community,” community relations director Tabitha Teague said. “Everybody cares about our kids — whether they’re from Boyle, Mercer, Lincoln or Danville — everybody cares about our kids. Our seniors especially care about kids. We thought what better way than to pull these coaches together and just forget about the rivalries and have some fun.”

Danville’s coach Clevenger was the first of the coaches to speak and opened up by talking about how Super Bowl Sunday is a sad time for football coaches because it marks the beginning of a stretch without football.

He continued to talk about what the sport and the community means to him.

“I’m from Danville. I know a lot of people in this room,” he told the crowd. “It’s a humbling experience to be able to coach here and coach in this community because it means so much. I appreciate you having us out here. I think this is an awesome event.”

Boyle assistant Cox was filling in for newly hired Justin Haddix who is in the middle of transitioning to his new job. 

He talked about his history of playing for Boyle County — including being a part of the school’s first stretch of state championships — and how he got his start coaching. He also discussed the future of the program under Haddix to the applause of some of the members of the Morning Pointe community. Boyle also was represented by junior Jake Hester and sophomore Nate Rush.

Coach Buchanan from Mercer County spoke passionately about the sport and his history with it — including remembering former Centre football coach, the late Joe McDaniel whom he played under. He was accompanied by his wife, whose father is a resident of Morning Pointe and his son Trosper, who plays quarterback and defensive back for the Titans.

All four of the coaches who spoke talked about the importance of the community they are a part of, and that is something that Morning Pointe wants to continue to foster.

“We are new to this community. We’ve been here for three and a half years and we’re learning and discussing new ideas,” Teague said. “You can bet your dollar that this will be something we continue.”