It's Good To Come Home Again

Seems like I've been on Highway 81 a long time. I started coaching at Yukon been to Kingfisher, Minco, El Reno, Casady, Minco again, Weatherford, Chickasha, Enid and now back to El Reno. Rocky Carter is the athletic director here and he and I coached together in the 80s. We've been friends a long time. He called me after last season and asked if I knew that there was an opening at El Reno. He called to ask if I knew of anyone who would be interested in the job. He was looking for other coaches or assistant. But I told I was interested. It's really exciting to come back to El Reno. It's the same in a lot of ways. I feel like I'm home. It's it's exciting to be back where I started my head coaching career. I went to Minco High School. I played football, basketball, baseball, track. It was a typical farming community. Everybody played everything. My parents encouraged me to play lots of sports. Most of the parents encouraged it. We all worked some, but we played ball, too. Every job I've taken I expected to stay forever. Each time I left, it was difficult. I never intended to leave Yukon when I was there in 1970. But every time I've moved, it's always been because I thought it was the right thing for me and my family at the time. My family is in this area. My wife grew up here. To be able to get back is like coming home for us. As long as it's fun and I'm in good health I can keep on coaching. You have to have good kids to work with and good assistants. Besides, I don't know what I would do if I wasn't coaching. I knew I was going to be a coach growing up. I remember back in Minco in about 4th grade I went and asked if I could play, I got beat bad. I knew then I would be a coach. I knew I loved the game of football. My dad got me going in that direction. He played at Tuttle in high school and hauled me off to Norman in the 50s. to watch OU. I saw some great football. As you get older in coaching, wins and losses are still important, but you understand that the kids are the bigger part of the picture. These days, kids have a lot on their plate for them to do good and to get in trouble. To have the ability to influence them is a big part of the job for me. I won it in 2000 at Weatherford. It was great. I've been in the championship game four times and won just that one. It's an awesome feeling to be a state champion. You get to that final game you're in the spotlight and there's a lot of publicity. It's fun, but you have to be careful to not get caught up in it at the time. El Reno has always been know for having tough kids. My feeling is that if you stay healthy and get a few breaks, you can be right there competing. It is tough for all those 6a teams that aren't as big. You have an uphill struggle. At El Reno in Class 5A, you have the chance. Austin Box was the best all-around player I've coached. He could play any position and play it well. He knows the game. A fine gentleman. He can play quarterback, he can play guard. You have to have him on the field. Our first round win at Tulsa Washington in 2006 was one of the best wins I've ever had. That was a great run we had. We beat a good Mustang team and a good Owasso team to make the finals. We were just 6-4 in the regular season, but everybody got well and everybody got hot. I've been married 27 years. Lela is a great sports and football fan. She's never missed a game, but she's been sick at a few of them. We discuss a lot of football. We talk about lots of things about football. Sometimes I'll be doing something and she'll look at it from a different angle. She has begged to have a headset for years. I enjoy my free time a lot. I really like to fish, and I'm a bad golfer, but I like it. I like computers. I like learning about them. This season at El Reno I'd like to see our kids improve week by week. Right now in practice, we have the energy, but they need to be patient and by mid season we can become a good football.