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Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Wolves are Worth the Wait
Central Oklahoma, OK
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By: Andrew Gilman
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Photo(s) By: Wes Sharp
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Edmond Santa Fe coach Lonny Cobble has been the coach for the Wolves since 1993. He’s been to the state tournament nine times in that span but has no state championships to show for it. And yes, he wants to win as bad anyone.
Everybody makes fun of how small I am. Everybody. The very first year I was a head coach, the umpire started the game and told me, ‘Son you are gonna have to get a helmet on.’ I told him I was the coach. People still make fun of my height. It doesn’t bother me. And yes, I’m really 5-foot-7.
I don’t have any aspirations of moving. If I got a chance to coach in college, I’d take a hard look at it. But I like Edmond. I don’t know if there’s another job in high school I’d take. I think I have a good job and I enjoy it.
I grew up in Tuttle. I loved it. I had a great childhood. My dad was my coach in seventh grade. He never made me do anything I didn’t want to, but if I started something, I had to finish it. I never could quit anything.
I played football in high school. Defensive back and receiver. I started my junior and senior year. I loved football. I lived for Friday nights, but knew I wasn’t going to have a career.
My favorite player was Johnny Bench.
I played second base, but no one wanted to catch. I just thought it was a great way to get on the field. From then on, I just was always a catcher.
The hardest thing about coaching is the parents. You know what? The kids know who should be playing and they see practice every day. Parents don’t. I look at it like this: One of these days, if I coach in college, they won’t ask if everyone is happy and if everyone got to play. They look at whether you’re successful. You want to have a good record. I don’t know if there’s another job where everyone is only concerned about being happy and nothing else.
One part of it all that people don’t understand is that coaches want to win as bad as everyone else.
I’d love to win a state title. I’m having fun, so if we don’t, that’s OK. I’m having so much fun coaching. I love being around the kids.
If we can ever get over the hump, we’ll all take a deep breath. Last year I thought we were the best team. But we get uptight and get nervous. I tell my coaches to relax and have fun and I try not to put pressure on them.
Maybe I need to get tougher and do things different at the state tournament. We play all the same teams in the season and we beat them. I don’t know what’s different about the state tournament.
I’m there for my players. I want them to know that. I want them to feel welcome. We don’t have just four kids in our house. We feel like we’ve raised 1,000 of them. The kids know that they can come to coach Cobble’s house and they are welcome.
I always knew I wanted to be a coach and a teacher.
I told my wife that when I quit, it’s not the game I’ll miss. There will always be games for me to go see – college or high school or pro. What I’ll miss is the bus rides with the team and being around all the kids and laughing with them and the things they do.
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