Clancy Campbell, now a Checotah High graduate, had a standout year in football where he was a linebacker and tight end and baseball where he was the catcher for the Wildcats. Tom Butler had the privilege of coaching him in both sports.

“I was his linebacker coach in football where he was a vocal team leader. He made all the defensive calls and had a couple of hundred tackles over the past two seasons. He gets the most out of his abilities and maximizes his potential. I was the head coach in baseball where Clancy led more by example than vocally. He hit about .340 this year and was named a Class 4A All Star as well as being voted the team’s most valuable player.”

Campbell says that although he’s probably better at baseball, football is still his favorite sport. He says he really made improvements at catcher this past season by working with former Wildcat and Connors State standout Caleb Knight who is now in the Chicago Cubs organization.

“He helped coach our summer team last year and he helped me a lot with things like footwork and building up my self-confidence,” said Clancy who was a member of the National Honor Society and was in the top ten percent of his class.

An acknowledged leader in both sports, Campbell feels he knows what it takes to be a good leader.

“I think a good leader is someone that just keeps everybody cool and keeps their heads in the game.”

As far as a lasting athletic memory for himself as a Wildcat, Clancy goes to the gridiron.

“I think my fondest memory will be my junior year in football when we went to the state quarterfinals. That was just a great group of guys.”

An avid outdoorsman, Clancy says he’ll find just about any reason to go hunting for whatever is in season in his spare time. He plans on attending Connors State this fall to pursue an associates degree and maybe get his plumbing license on the side. He says his ultimate goal is to become a teacher and a coach one day.