Jr. An Exceptional Coach

ISBN: 979-8-3509-1798-7
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 272 Seiten

'An Exceptional Coach' tells the story of a legend in coaching in the state of Alabama and nationally. Kirby Williams has won 8 state championships in 11 years and three USA National Championships. Williams takes the journey to the college game at Western Alabama University, where he builds a program from the ground level, a first-year program, to the opportunity of winning big in the college game.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Jr.,

Leseproben

Chapter 1 Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character,
but if you must be without one, be without strategy. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Late November 2011 “Not a fan of this, not at all,” Chris Dawkins said assertively to Western Alabama University president Charles Conners. “Why do you like this guy as our football coach? He’s never coached a college game in his life. I don’t know if I can trust him to win us championships. I want a proven winner. What is it you like about him.” It wasn’t really a question. Rather, more of a demand. Dawkins was the head trustee at Western Alabama, a college in the western Alabama town of Townside, a small, bucolic hamlet with two-story stucco houses featuring big shudders, and immaculate green lawns covered with bright red and yellow roses and well-manicured flower beds. It was a postcard small town, population ten thousand. The peaceful, serene appearance of the town was the polar opposite of the intensely competitive spirit of its people. The townspeople lived for their high school and college football, particularly their football in Tuscaloosa, which was just thirty minutes down the road. But they were proud of their town and their university, too, and they took this hiring of their new football coach at the Western Alabama University very seriously. They were starting a football program at Western and this was the most substantial thing to happen in this town, in, well, possibly ever. The only other event that would come close in importance to this happened back in the 1960s in the town’s mayoral race. That was when Yellow Dog Democrat Caleb “Cat” Winston came to blows with Republican Kip Houston after a heated debate at the Townside High School gymnasium. ********* Winston and Houston were in a shouting match during their debate over property taxes. Winston, a Southern Democrat, held different political opinions and positions than the democrats were doing in modern times. He wanted to lower taxes to give all income classes a tax break. Houston wanted to keep taxes level to support the government operations, which were running on a shoestring. Winston told him in the debate that, “You’re walkin on thin ice, Mr. Houston. You better watch your mouth.” “I’m not going to keep taxing my people,” Houston fired back, “Is that a threat you’re making? Because if it is, we can take it outside. I’m trying to run a solvent government and you want to ruin it.” The moderator thought he had calmed down both candidates during the debate, but Cat was far from over it. He was known for his ferocious temper and had gotten in quite a few fistfights in his day. He was not backing down from anybody, especially a man he loathed for his attacks on him personally, though Winston was just as scathing in his attacks on Houston. Cat was full of pride—many in the town said he had way too much pride. And he was as mean as a western Alabama rattlesnake. Some people were a little worried that there might be a fight in the gymnasium, but tempers seemed to settle down later in the debate. Cat appeared calmer, but he was actually seething inside and was not going to let go of this challenge to his manhood. He was going to take care of this once and for all. And he didn’t just mean in the polls. Cat stopped Houston outside the gym after the debate and said, “I’ve had enough of you, Houston. I’m not putting up with this anymore. You’ve attacked me enough.” “What are you talking about, Winston?” Houston shot back. “You’re the one who attacked me. Just get over it and lick your wounds from getting your backside kicked in the debate. You don’t stand a chance in this election. Look at the polling. You’re sunk.” Cat was through with the threats. He was going to end this mayoral race right here. He didn’t care about the consequences. He had pure hatred for Houston. “You’re a dead man, Houston,” Cat said. With that, Cat pulled out his Smith and Wesson .38 Special and blasted Houston in the chest. Houston went down. The cops ran up and grabbed Winston from behind his back while women were screaming and men were tending to Houston, who was clearly dead. The cops threw Cat into the patrol car. Cat spent the rest of his life in the state penitentiary, while many, including Houston’s family, shouted for his execution. The case went to the Alabama Supreme Court, where the defense attorneys argued for leniency due to insanity. Ultimately, the judge, being a more compassionate man, who knew that Cat was mentally off, kept him out of the electric chair and confined him to a mental institution. Cat’s son tried to get him out of the psyche ward a couple of times with his own gun. But he was arrested and slapped in jail himself for twenty-five years. After Winston had received psychiatric counseling for five years and somewhat recovered mentally, he was then resentenced to life in prison. He died in prison in 1995, a lonely, angry man. He never apologized to the Houston family. ********* The town had come a long way since that catastrophe, but there was still a gap between hard-nosed toughness and some of the kindest, most honest, church-going people you would ever want to meet in the state of Alabama. However, the working-class people, who constituted much of the town, were more than a little touchy about their favorite sport. To them, it was the only sport that mattered. Basketball was not really on the radar for most people in Townside. There were some who were passionate about the hoops, but most of the townspeople lived for football. The locals’ intensity was always high for football, but it started ratcheting up in summer and was at its highest intensity point come late August. It never leveled out all season, and Townside was not a pleasant place to be after an Alabama loss. You won or you didn’t survive in Alabama. Some of the locals would not put up with losing. Their high school team was not cut any slack either, especially its head coach. High school football was also a religion for many in Townside and Coach Clem Dixon won multiple state championships in Class 3A in the early 1990s. He had a couple of seasons in a row in the mid-1990s when he didn’t make the state playoffs, and those two years were extremely difficult ones for him, his wife, and his two children. The hard-core fans in town wanted him out and made it known. They would turn up at his house late on Friday nights after losses, yelling at him from the front yard, and even sending U-Haul vans to the house. There was one time when a fan threw a brick through one of Dixon’s windows, and Dixon put the guy’s head in the dirt after landing a couple of blows. The insurance company fixed it for no charge. He still had a lot of friends in town despite the idiots. Dixon was a strong man physically, but also ran people off with his shotgun. When someone came to his house to harass him, he would confront the obnoxious person physically. Luckily, the sheriff was a good friend of his and protected him and his family from the trouble as much as he could. Dixon could handle himself, though. He was as tough as a wrought iron furnace. He was amazed that these people didn’t understand that in high school football, you had to play with the hand you were dealt. There was no recruiting. Other schools might have done it, but Dixon would have none of that. He was a man of integrity, and played by the rules. He had less talented athletes during those two years, and there was nothing he could do about it except prepare and coach the best he knew how. He hadn’t forgotten how to get the job done. It was just about the lack of talent on those particular teams. Many coaches around the state considered him one of the best, if not the best, in the 1990s and early 2000s, along with a young up-and-comer coach from Atwater who took over the Southeastern Alabama program 2001. After those two down years, Dixon came back and won state titles two years in a row in the late 1990s. He was certainly off the hot seat and became the toast of the town. Dixon thought it was incredible really, the way people were. But he had a lot of friends in town; good people who stood up for him. So, he put up with the idiots as best he could. He won another state title in 2001 and then was ready to retire in the mid-2000s. He had had about all the fun he could take. He decided to hang it up and have some peace and quiet after the 2006 season. In the previous years, he had enjoyed trips to the semifinal years and one more championship in ‘06. That gave him four titles for his career. He was a total winner and a first-class gentleman. College football was the townspeople’s passion, too. Probably more so than prep ball. Once Nick Saban took over the Alabama program in 2007, and enjoyed almost immediate success, the fans in Townside became even more intensely loyal to their team and their coach. Their personalities for the week were determined by the previous Saturday’s outcome. Usually, they were happy. Alabama won most of the time. There were not as many Auburn (Auburn University, or AU) folks. There were some, and they were just as passionate. But they had to keep a low profile a lot of times because the Alabama fans were vindictive towards them. There would be arguments in bars if the Auburn fans got excited when ‘Bama was losing. The ‘Bama fans always outnumbered AU fans, so it wasn’t a fair fight. The Auburn fans would stand their ground, but they were simply outnumbered. The Auburn fans just didn’t have the manpower to match up with the Alabama fans. Some...