Chris Cutcliffe, Oxford High’s head football coach, has lived the thrills and the struggles of college football from the inside. Cutcliffe grew up coaching at Ole Miss and Tennessee with his father David Cutcliffe. As a student and as a graduate assistant at Duke and Tennessee, he coached alongside his father. Cutcliffe, 32 years old, knows from firsthand the fragility of college coaching. Don’t misunderstand. He is passionate about the sport. He enjoys the teaching. He loves the challenge and the camaraderie that football offers. His dad and many others believe that Chris could make hundreds of thousands of dollars as an assistant football coach at the highest level of college football. That’s not even considering the possibility of becoming a college head coaching coach. Chris also knows this. He also understands that happiness and fulfillment are not always measured by dollars. Cutcliffe could have chosen to coach college football, and he would be on the road trying to get his father’s 17- and 18 year-old sons to join his school. He could be looking for work, like many college coaches with recent firings. Chris is instead preparing his Oxford High School team to play in the Class 6A championship match Friday night. The Oxford Chargers will face the Oak Grove Warriors Friday evening at The Rock in Hattiesburg. But that’s not all. Chris Cutcliffe is a teacher of two high-level algebra classes as well as a leadership class. He does not do it because he must. He does it because of his passion and belief in the importance of teachers to society. He is also the Oxford High assistant athletic director. He and Molly, his wife Molly, are parents to six boys under 8. When does he go to sleep? He smiles and says, “Sometimes we don’t,” David Cutcliffe spoke to Chris via cellphone earlier this week while he was on Atlanta recruiting visits. Cutcliffe stated, “I couldn’t be more proud of him.” Cutcliffe said that Cutcliffe has done an outstanding job in Oxford, which he loves. He loves what it is.” Eight years ago, the father recalls having a conversation about his son. His son was just finishing his Masters at Duke and helping his father to achieve football success at a school that hadn’t seen one in decades. Their first child was Molly. Chris informed his father that he strongly considered returning to Oxford High School to coach and teach. David Cutcliffe said that Chris stated that he didn’t want to relocate his family across the country and didn’t believe he wanted all of the time spent on road recruiting. He stated that he believes he and Molly would feel happier in Oxford, where he grew up loving when he lived there. David Cutcliffe said, “Clearly, he thought all of this out.” He asked me, “Dad, are you making a mistake?” He asked me if I was settling. I replied, “No, my son, I’m not settling.” It will be the most rewarding, important, and fulfilling job you can do in the world: coaching and teaching. His mother, my wife, is a great teacher. “I love the fact Chris is every bit as great a football coach as he is a math teacher.” Younger readers might not recall that David Cutcliffe (tutor of both Peyton Manning and Eli Manning) won four bowl games at Ole Miss in six-plus years (1998-2004). He had also helped Phillip Fulmer win a national title at Tennessee. David Cutcliffe was fired from Ole Miss in 2004 after he refused to make any changes to his coaching staff. Chris Cutcliffe was a senior football quarterback at Oxford High in his father’s last year at Ole Miss. He was a quarterback for Johnny Hill, Mississippi Coaches Hall of Fame Coach. This helped the Chargers win the state championship. He was also a math-minded honors student. From the very beginning, he answered the question “What do I want to be when I grow up?” “Coach.” I don’t think I ever said that I would be a football player, nor that I would be a quarterback. Chris stated that he had always believed he would be a coach. Chris Cutcliffe began his career in the coaching business as a student assistant at Tennessee, and later as a graduate assistant for Duke. Cutcliffe was integral to the coaching process at both schools. Chris said, clearly proudly, “I learned the most from the best.” What did he learn about his father? “I think the most important thing I learned was that it was more about how you treat others than x’s or o’s.” His mother, Karen, taught him the same lessons. She would see him in the mall, and a child would come up to her and hug her. This was years after she had taught them. This made a bigger impression than the football victories or trophies. The most important assignment for Class 6A coaches is to coach. Chris also chooses to teach. John Meagher, Oxford’s senior quarterback, said this about Cutcliffe: “Intellectually I really believe, that he is a genius.” Meagher added, “Coach, is such a math-minded type of guy, very analytical.” He sees things on the field that others don’t. After five years as an assistant coach, Cutcliffe is now the Oxford head coach. Cutcliffe’s first team won eight games and lost five. They reached the second round of playoffs. The second team went 8-4 but missed the playoffs. The Chargers finished 9-3 last year and lost in round one of the playoffs. Oxford is now 13-1. They lost to Starkville in August’s second week. They have won 12 consecutive games since then, including last Friday’s victory over Starkville of 25-16 in a rematch for the North State championship. David Cutcliffe has been able to observe all of this from afar. Karen Cutcliffe and he plan to attend The Rock Friday night. He said, “Wouldn’t miss this.” He and Chris chat virtually every day, or night, sharing notes about how their teams are doing. The father said, “We go into strategies, practice schedules and process, all of that. It’s obvious that both of us have become addicted to it. Chris is a young, innovative coach, I can tell you that. Sometimes I learn more from him than I do from him. He speaks using Duke terminology, but I don’t know Oxford terminology. So he uses Duke terminology to explain what they are doing. A few years back, I was concerned when Oxford went up to 6A. It’s a big move, but they’ve grown to it. Chris has a great team. “They’ve improved as a team throughout the year,” said Chris. Father and son both agree on those last two points. Chris said, “I’m sure you hear coaches talking about their team as a whole family. We take great pride in our family aspect. The relationships I love most about this is with our players and coaches. Ask any one of them, and they will tell you. “We really are a family.” Chris Cutcliffe was asked, “What’s the best piece of advice your father ever gave you?” Before he answered, he smiled. “Dad always had told me: ‘Wherever I go, whatever you do. Leave a place better off than you found it.” Chris Cutcliffe took this advice to heart. He doesn’t seem to be ready to leave Oxford, or high school coaching or teaching any time soon.