Duane Wales is a proud graduate of Elkmont High School. And on Aug. 25, when the Red Devils enter the field to play Addison in their first game of the 2017 season, he will have realized a career goal, to lead the team on the field as its head coach.

Wales was named the 26^th head coach of the Elkmont football program on May 25 in a vote by the Limestone County Board of Education. He had served as assistant coach for the Red Devils for the past eight years.

“For me, this is a dream come true,” Wales said. “I’m a graduate of Elkmont High School, and finished here in 1987. To be able to come back and be the head coach is something very special. I’m thoroughly enjoying being able to run the program for the first time as a head coach. I take great pride in that in being a graduate.”

Elkmont is Wales’ first head coaching job. He spent six years at Ardmore as a special teams and defensive coordinator before moving to Clements, where he spent 11 years on the staff, 10 of those as defensive coordinator.

Wales has served as the offensive and defensive line coach at Elkmont for the last eight seasons.

He inherits a difficult job, as Elkmont has won just two games over the past two seasons, including an 0-10 mark last year.

Wales takes over for Sean Holt, who resigned shortly after last season ended. Holt had a 22-41 record in six years as a head coach but led the Red Devils to one of its its best seasons in school history in 2014, finishing with an 8-3 record.

After spending 25 years as an assistant coach, things are a little different for Wales as he begins his first season as the head man. But for an old coach, some things are always going to be the same.

“The football coaching and working in the weight room are the things that come naturally and easily, because those are the things you love doing as a football coach,” Wales said. “The biggest difference in being a head coach is having to do a budget and be responsible for the financial part of things. You have to make sure everything is ordered and in proper care, and manage the stadium and practice fields. The actual coaching part is the same things we’ve always done.”

While starting with a team that went winless is not an easy task, Wales said he has stressed to his players to focus on things they can control.

“We can control the amount of times we come to summer workouts and the amount of effort we give in practice,” Wales said. “We can control how much we’re focused on our task at hand. These are the kinds of things we’re working on. If we take care of the small things and little details, and not worry about outside influences, then the winning is going to come.”