Charles "Sparky" McEwen (born April 28, 1968) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He is the head football coach for

Davenport University Davenport University is a private university with campuses throughout Michigan and online. It was founded in 1866 by Conrad Swensburg and currently offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees; diplomas; and post-grad certification prog ...

, a position he has held since 2017. McEwen played professionally as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for one season with the

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Ferris State University Ferris State University (FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1884 as Big Rapids Industrial School by Woodbridge N. Ferris and became a public institution in 1950. ...

. He was also head coach of the Rampage and

Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz were an arena football team. The team began play as a 2004 expansion team of the Arena Football League's minor league af2 before becoming a member of the AFL in 2010. Formerly a tenant of the Ford Center from 2004 ...

Early life

McEwen attended Creston High School in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

College career

McEwen played for the

Ferris State Bulldogs The Ferris State Bulldogs (FSU Bulldogs) are the athletic teams that represent Ferris State University, located in Big Rapids, Michigan, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sporting competitions. The Bulldogs compete as members of the Great Lake ...

from 1987 to 1990. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 1987. He played quarterback for the Bulldogs from 1988 to 1989. McEwen recorded 2,183 career yards and 17 touchdowns on 155 of 297 pass attempts. He converted to

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in 1990, recording 18 receptions for 259 yards and one touchdown.

Professional career

McEwen played for the

of the AFL in 1998, appearing in five games and recording four touchdowns on 477 passing yards. He had a 2–1 record as a starting quarterback.

Coaching career

McEwen was head coach of the Creston High School Polar Bears of

from 1996 to 2003. The Polar Bears won three City League titles from 2000 to 2002. In 1999, he helped the Polar Bears to the team’s first winning season since 1978 as well as the school’s first appearance in the state championship game. McEwen first served as an offensive assistant and scout for the

in 2000. McEwen was later

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for the Rampage from 2001 to 2003. He was assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for the

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

in 2004. He was head coach and director of football operations for the Grand Rapids Rampage from 2005 to 2007. The Rampage attained a record of 13–35 during his tenure. McEwen was head coach of the

from 2008 to 2010. The Yard Dawgz were promoted to the AFL in 2010 and finished the season with a 6–10 record. McEwen became wide receivers coach of the Ferris State Bulldogs in 2012. In February 2017, he was named the head coach of the

Davenport Panthers The Davenport Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Davenport University, located in Caledonia Township, Kent County, Michigan, Caledonia Township, Michigan, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II level of the Nati ...

Head coaching record

AFL

af2

Note: McEwen took over after six games after

Gary Reasons Gary Phillip Reasons (born February 18, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Northwestern State Demons from 1980 to 1983 and was ...

resigned, the Yard Dawgz finished 6–10 overall.

College

References

External links

Davenport profile

Stats Crew - Playing record

Stats Crew - Coaching record
{{DEFAULTSORT:McEwen, Sparky 1968 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Davenport Panthers football coaches Ferris State Bulldogs football coaches Ferris State Bulldogs football players Grand Rapids Rampage players Grand Rapids Rampage coaches Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz coaches High school football coaches in Michigan Players of American football from Grand Rapids, Michigan African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen