Forrest Gladson spent much of his life in sports, and now he has the job he always wanted: football coach, basketball coach and athletic director at Rogersville City School.
Early Life
Forrest is the son of Brenda and the late Larry Gladson. Larry was a high school athlete and a Rogersville Warrior football player. Forrest came from a family of athletes. His uncle, David Gladson, was a high school football phenom before a tragic auto accident ended his life. Forrest recalls “I remember going to Florida and Louisiana to watch my cousins, David Kenner, Thomas Floyd and Aaron Kenner play little league baseball.
Davis said “I was involved in sports since I was knee high.” His introduction to organized football was on Little League football Red Team, coached by his father Larry. He played flag football then until the sixth grade. He then played for the Rogersville City School Warriors, coached by Larry Pierce. Forrest was a running back and cornerback.
High school
Forrest played his high school football as a Cherokee Chief at Cherokee High School near Rogersville. The freshmen team he played on had a 7-1 record. Forrest played at Cherokee for coach Mike Sivert. In his sophomore year Forrest was a running back. In his junior and senior years he was a cornerback and kick returner.
College
After graduating from Cherokee, Forrest attended Walters State Community College in Morristown for a period. He then enrolled at Emory & Henry College in Emory, Virginia and pursued his college football career as an Emory & Henry Wasp. Forrest said “Jim Brooks and family were instrumental in helping me get into Emory & Henry.”
He attended the Division 3 school from 2000-2004. In his freshman season, the Wasps won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championship. That season Forrest remembers he played “mostly on special teams as a kick returner.”
As a junior he won the “most improved” award and as a senior he won the leadership award. Forrest played running back and kick returner in his junior and senior seasons. At Emory & Henry he played for coaches Lou Walker and Fred Self.
Travis had some big moments in his college playing days. In his sophomore year, he had his first college touchdown against Guilford College. He scampered 71 yards with a screen pass for a touchdown. In that game he carried 13 times for 74 yards and caught 4 passes for 79 yards. That year the Wasps lost to Western Maryland in the playoffs. Forrest recalls “Coach Sivert (Forrest’s high school coach) wrote me a letter after that game. That year the Wasps were 8-3. Forrest has a championship ring for the ODAC championship.
First Job
Forrest said “I’ve always enjoyed being around sports and being around kids, making an impact on kids. I knew in middle school that I wanted to be a coach someday.” Coaching was his natural next step after college. He found an opportunity near home, at Bulls Gap School. He remembers “Bulls Gap was my first job; I was hired two weeks before school started.” He coached football, basketball, and track at Bulls Gap. He coached the Bulls Gap Bulldogs from 2004-2011. Forrest said “Bulls Gap was great! Everybody worked well together. We had great support from parents and the community. I loved working for the principals Beth Holt, Maureen Morelock, and Sharon Pinkston Southern.”
One memory that stands out from the Bulls Gap days was in basketball; the 2007-2008 Bulldogs upset powerful Mary Hughes School in the conference tournament.
Move to Rogersville City School
When the opportunity came to move to Rogersville City School, Forrest said “It was a tough decision. I’d been at Bulls Gap seven years.” He added that “One of my goals had always been to coach at the city school and be like Coach Pierce.” Forrest made the move to Rogersville City School in 2012. He coaches football and basketball. He was the assistant athletic director before becoming athletic director two years ago.
He had immediate success in football. In 2012 the RCS Warriors were 9-0. The team has had additional unbeaten seasons in 2014, 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2022. They were 7-1 in 2023. Since 2012 the Warriors record in football is 93-12.
In basketball, the Warriors are 167-102 since Forrest came there in 2012.
Some highlights
2012-2013 24-3 record, Big 3 Conference Champions, TMSSA State Runners -up
2014-2015 24-3 record, Big 3 Conference Champion, Area Tournament Champion, TMSSA State Runners-up
2015-2016 20-6 record, Conference Champions
2019-2020 18-5 record, Conference Champions
Forrest said “I’ve had some great mentors; Dennis Renner, Bill Walker, Homer Cauesy, Mike Sivert, Jeremy Parrott, and many others at Cherokee, and my cousins David Kenner, Thomas Floyd, and Aaron Kenner.” He also credits the “great student-athletes and the parental support I’ve had. It’s been great to see kids go on to play in high school and college.”
With his success, other schools have tried to lure Forrest away. He spoke about one offer; he said “I prayed about it and decided this is where I’m supposed to be.”
Things that really matter
Forrest has had great success on the field and court, but what really stands out is that he cares about the kids. He said “Wins and losses are great, but we try to teach the boys to be better men and citizens.”
Forrest said that the city school administration “is fully supportive in academics and athletics, the always do what is best for the student athletes, and they come to games. We have a good program here, built by generations of coaches, built on tradition, the expectations of administrations before us.” He added “We hold the students accountable, not only in athletics, but in all aspects of life. The people who love you hold you accountable; parents, teachers and coaches.”
Forrest said that for a coach, a supportive wife is important; “you’re away a lot.” He and his wife Lauren have three daughters, 11, 8, and 5, and a boy on the way. He added “I enjoy watching my own kids play; sometimes you miss that while you’re coaching.” He also said that he has been blessed with good assistant coaches.
Forrest concluded “Coaching is time consuming but really rewarding. If you don’t equip them for life, you can’t be judged by wins and losses, in the grand scheme it doesn’t mean that much. Coaching and teaching is a calling; you’re loving other peoples’ kids.”
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