05/20/2012– NC Tech Continues Mission of Providing Second Chances and Hope

Charlotte, NC--In many ways Tim Newman mirrors Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. They look nothing alike, but both represent lightning rods that people love or hate. Both take underdogs and provide them with an opportunity to stay in the game of football and that of life.

Both wear their Christianity as luminous shields-as bright as any athlete’s bling’ while unapologetically using football to pay homage to God. The differences between them are still as wide as the gap between suburbia and the Hood, yet their mantras similar because all they do is win.

Win is what Newman has been doing since a star running back at Charlotte’s Olympic High School and then as an All-American running back at Johnson C. Smith University, who went on to spot duty in the NFL with the New York Jets in 1987.

He’s continue to win after founding NC Tech Preparatory Christian Academy in 2006 to the tune of 76 wins and only six losses while helping over 200 kids get their grades right and move onto college. He finds ways to win despite the obstacles and is not shy in talking about it. “Yeah, we’ve sent several players to the SEC,” says Newman “it’s the best conference in college football.”

Newman and NC Tech continue to win, despite ESPN’s horribly one-sided story by Mike Fish, which made the bulk of its case portraying Newman as an exploitative hustler on the opinions of former staff who are now direct competitors of NC Tech.

Newman dismisses the “hate,” as he cheerily announces, “16 of our players just signed with Division-1 colleges this year, including Sterling Wright who signed with Kentucky.”

Ironically, and In contrast to the ESPN story, Wright, a hard-hitting quick-footed defensive back out of Miami, Florida paints a vastly different picture of both NC Tech and Coach Newman.

“NC tech, it worked out good for me,” said Wright.

“I just needed to get qualified. My grades were okay but I needed to get a higher score on the SAT,” he added. NC Tech gave him a great option, since major college football programs were recruiting him.

NC Tech seemed a better fit for him compared to his other option of attending one of the Texas junior colleges that might eat up some of his eligibility. Wright says his high school made a mistake with his academic record and NC Tech “was a second chance and it was good—if you are not playing (around) and serious about things.”

He says Newman was very upfront with him about the six-month prep program and despite being recruited by the SEC and other top schools, even he didn’t play every down during games due to the talent level there.

He says unequivocally that NC Tech was a tough place to play for several reasons, but mainly because of the talent there.

Rightly so, Wright cautions players to consider other options “If you are not a D-I athlete.”

“You are not going to play at all because there are multiple D-I athletes at every position. You can’t go in there (thinking you will jump to a top program) and you haven’t talked to these big schools-you have to be realistic,” he warned.

“You are not going to go to Alabama, if you haven’t been recruited by those types of schools.”

For Newman, who spent time coaching both in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System, and with the semi-pro Carolina Cowboys, as well as being hired to startup football programs at a local college and junior college—the focus has always been the same he started with—to helping kids use football to get to college.

“I’ve seen so many young men over my lifetime that had the ability to use football to attain a college education never make it out of poverty. Our neighborhoods are littered with tons of great athletes who never got a decent chance at life. So many great athletes who simply lacked a grade or two or the right test scores,” said Newman.

NC Tech was an idea started in his living room after attempts to startup a football program at Louisburg College fell through and he realized that his ability to recruit young men was a god-given gift.

Rather than allow his dream of becoming a college coach fall by the wayside he realized he was exactly where he needed to be to create a program designed to give kids a second chance and serve as a bridge to help those step or two away get to college. Maybe this was where God wanted him to be? Maybe his destiny was to serve as a bridge to a destination as opposed to that destination.

“Before they get a playbook or a textbook, they are given the playbook of life,” says Newman. “Our focus is to help build young men and that is never easy with all the issues our children face.”

Yet help to build young men are what he has been able to do with a small team including his wife Gail. His intentions were never to lead any kid or parents on, just to provide a second chance. To give them that little bit of extra help that he could have used while earning All-American honors as a college running back or while trying to stick with an NFL team.

“I feel sorry that people would believe that we are intentionally trying to mislead or hurt people. That’s not what NC Tech is about and has never been the way we do business.”

Despite his critics, Newman has won over many by providing a uniquely tailored service that picks ups where high schools leave off.

“It (NC Tech) helped me become a man on and off the field, because Newman put us in the fire. And we had to do what we needed to do,” said Kendall Evans, a tackle/guard from Temple Hills, Maryland who attended Potomac High School and now has a scholarship to play football at Shaw University. “I love all the coach, they were good coaches, especially coach Newman,” said Evans. The experience matured him and exposed him to real life.

“By traveling around like a D-1 college it was a big experience for me. I never been exposed to going to Ohio, Kentucky, (and other states)” said Evans.

His father Kenny, while admitting the travel to away games was a lot, sees the difference the experience has made in his son. “If he (Coach Newman) had a two year school, junior college school, I would send my son there for two years, I would,” said Kenny with conviction. “I can see the difference in him,” he added.

For the elder Evans, the experience was great since it allowed his son to get his test scores up as well as grow up. He said he had a nephew attend a junior college on the west coast and it was a highly unstable situation compared to NC Tech.

“It was a good fit for us, I don’t have nothing bad to say,” said Evans.

The Reese families of Birmingham Alabama, share similar sentiments are similar regarding Matthew Reese, now attending Tuskegee University.

“We had a good experience, they worked with us and helped Matthew get into a good place-Tuskegee, (and) they worked with us well. I did not have a bad experience at all. I have no bad thing to say about them, we just had a great experience,” said Matthew’s mother Monica Reese.

Contrary to other experiences, Monica says NC Tech was “very upfront about what he (Matthew) needed to do and they did everything they needed to do to put us in the right place and to talk to the right people,” she added.

Monica said she would recommend NC Tech to other parents if their son needed a place to play football and get their scores up. “We always had contact (with the staff), they were always letting us know what was going on, and if we had any problems we could always get in contact with folks. I never had a problem about anything he (Matthew) needed to do or what was expected of him.”

Matthews’s grandmother, Mary Reese who accompanied her daughter Monica on the trips to Charlotte was also very satisfied with the experience.

“It was a positive experience,” said Mary. “(We) liked the communications best-yes. He (Newman) was upfront about everything.”

NC Tech has seen over 200 kids that have used their program successfully to move on to college football. Some have gone on to Kentucky, Auburn, Massachusetts, and countless HBCU’s. The most notable alumnus is Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown.

Their teams are often so talented that many schools refuse to play them and “competitors despise them for their ability to continually land great players,” argues Newman.

For Newman, none of this is new. He is not a professional “educator,” and does not have a million dollar budget like major football programs or prep schools. He is sure if ESPN decided to interview any of the major prep schools or college programs, they will easily find parents dissatisfied with their child’s playing time and the experience in general.

“I guess that comes with the territory,” said Newman.

He wondered aloud if “some of these reporters ever had their entire life gone over with a fine-tooth comb by someone they just met who only quoted the people who didn’t like them? Would these guys be so carefree with what they say about others? Maybe I’ll become a sportswriter,” laughed Newman.

As he has been doing all his life, Newman says, he never let us this type of thing gets to him too much--Not enough to stop him from doing what he does. He says he’ll do what he always does when faced with detractors and individuals willing to sell him short for a dime-do better and prove them wrong.

“At NC Tech, we do two things well,” smiles Newman “One and the most important is to give kids who need it a second chance. The other and the one a lot of folks hate us for, is winning,” he added.

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