Photo by Todd Lester.
Spain Park QB Brock Bradley (5) attempts a pass during a game between Spain Park and Helena on Sept. 13 at Husky Stadium in Helena.
Brock Bradley had to head downhill just to climb.
Bradley was a Berry Middle School eighth grader when Tim Vakakes was hired as the Spain Park head football coach, and when he requested a one-on-one meeting with the new coach, he had to descend that hill from Berry Middle School, cross Jaguar Drive, and end the walk at Spain Park High School.
He wanted to learn more about the former Jackson-Olin head coach, to plan for their futures together as coach and player.
"I told him from the jump, 'I want to change this place,'" Bradley said. "'I know you want to change this place, but I want to help you do that.' It's been really cool over the years working with him. He's pushed me in so many different ways on and off the field."
Bradley grew up a Spain Park kid. He played every offensive skill position, as well as linebacker and safety on defense. But in eighth grade, he started to lock in on his future as a quarterback, likely a topic he discussed in that first meeting with Vakakes.
"It's my passion, and just feeling like you're leading guys and being the guy that if someone's not lined up right or can't get a formation right or something like that, you're the calm in the storm, as Coach V would say," Bradley said. "That's really the coolest part for me, just being that leader on the field, kind of that player-coach."
Spain Park posted a 3-7 record in Vakakes' first season in 2022. Last season, the Jaguars finished 7-3 in Class 7A and just missed making the state playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Spain Park has only fielded a team since 2002 but has reached the state championship game twice: the Class 6A game in 2007 and the Class 7A championship in 2015. The Jaguars came up short in both.
But it's been different lately. Spain Park won its final five games of the 2023 season, with four of the five wins in Class 7A, Region 3. Back in Class 6A this season, the Jaguars have been one of the best teams in Alabama. They beat Hoover for the first time since 2015, breaking an eight-game losing streak against the Bucs. They are a playoff team again for the first time since 2017, looking for their first playoff win since 2015.
"Just a 1-0 mindset every week has been big for us, and I just feel like this team is different this year," Bradley said. "We really expect to win every game we play. We have that championship mindset. It really speaks volumes to what Coach V has been able to do for us and this coaching staff, and I think the biggest difference this year is just the community. It feels like they're so involved, and you can really feel it when you walk through the halls Monday through Friday. Any time you have a community behind you like that, it makes my job and the players' job a little easier."
Bradley earned a scholarship offer from Clemson University on Aug. 15 and committed six days later. It might seem a quick trigger, but Bradley has attended football camps there since sixth grade.
"I think that's what led me to be able to make that decision so early," he said.
Thinking back to his first interaction with Vakakes, Bradley said he walked out of that meeting knowing the duo's future plan. That future is now.
"So far, we've executed that plan, and it really feels like we're changing this place," Bradley said. "And we're not done yet."