This year, 2025, Mr. Charles Elliott was announced as the head coach of the Armuchee cross country (XC) team because the previous coach, Scott Pierce, retired at the age of sixty-four. Coach Elliott is very excited for the upcoming season and the next few years. He said, “We got second and third in our first two meets, so I think we have a bright future,” This is just confirmation of what he believes about the Armuchee cross country team. He believes that the team can continue its legacy of winning in this new coaching era, continuing to create opportunities for even more state championships.
Coach Elliott has been teaching at Armuchee High School (AHS) for 5 years now. He has been teaching social studies, and before he was here, he worked for the United States Delta Force. This meant that he spent a lot of his twenties and thirties staying in very good shape. He said that he greatly enjoyed his time serving for his country, but at this point in his life, he is a teacher and coach. He also said, “The reason why I want to be a teacher is because I want to affect the lives of the future generations.” For the past five years he has taught eighth grade Georgia history, while adding some younger classes as the school got bigger. However, for the first time this year, Mr. Elliot has taken the challenge of teaching 10th grade.
Many people on the team would agree that to begin coaching a new sport takes a lot of determination and dedication. Even though he has been coaching the Armuchee track & field team for the past five years, the transition still might not be completely smooth sailing. track and XC have their differences. For example, in track, you have to coach the long distance, short distance, and the in between. When coaching XC, the coach only has to manage long distances, so it might end up being easier for him to focus on one thing to make the best team that he can. While in this transition phase he said, “I enjoy it very much,” so he is enjoying the process so far this season. Even though Coach Elliott is transferring his talents to a different sport, he could have many challenges. He said, “I don’t think I have had any difficulties so far.” This is a very good thing that he hasn’t really had any problems yet because he thinks it is so much easier to keep doing something when you enjoy it. He was very clear that this is where he wants to be and he wants people to know that.
The Armuchee XC team has been very successful over the last decade. They have won state twice, in 2021 and 2022, and have been runner up multiple times. Coach Elliott thinks that he has inherited a lot of potential this year and for the years to come. When asked about what his goals for the team were, he said, “just do the best we can.” Doing the best that we can and making it as far as we can in the state race at the end of the season. He said, “I think we have the potential to win state. We have a great team.” Out of the team’s top seven runners, five of them are underclassmen.
Every day, Coach Elliott comes with a smile on his face and the excitement to get better and learn as a coach. He said, “I enjoy being around the kids; they are the best set of kids in the school.” Along with being considered a good coach, he also used to run himself. He ran a 15:18 time in the five killometer (5k) run and a 31:27 in the ten kilometer (10k) run during his late twenties. Those times are considered to be incredibly fast, even for a seasoned runner. He knows how to be fast, so he can pass on his work ethic and skills to the next generation of Armuchee XC runners. And that is his real goal, to create the next dynasty at Armuchee high school. He sees the potential, and he just needs to be able to tap into that and make the team faster.
Coach Elliott has the passion from his running past and experience from his track coaching. He said, “Watching the kids get faster is one of my favorite parts of coaching the team.” It brings him joy to see the young runners putting the extra work in at practice and during the many races. Though this all back a while ago, a young Mr. Elliott would run countless miles each week, so he said, “I actually enjoyed running” from a younger age. That is part of the reason he is the person he is today. It is part of his current determination to thrive in this new sport.
