The Night That Made Me Crazy : September 12, 1986

Steph, Chris, me & Larry... "celebrating" the 1986 Mercer vs. Paris game

From Black Shoes & White Shoestrings (published November of 2014).

I tell people all the time, since I know I am crazy, I am fine. I worry about the people that are crazy and don’t know it. Well….not only do I know I am crazy, I can pinpoint the date that started me on the path that lead to where I am today. That date is September 12, 1986 and I was an assistant coach at Mercer. As you probably guessed, it was a Friday night. But, the surprise is that we WON on the night that started this madness. The final score was Mercer 13, Paris 9.

 

To understand how it came to be a life changing experience, you have to know some of the background information. Our Mercer team had just graduated the best class of football players in school history. 1986 was going to be a rebuilding year. On the night in question, we started four freshmen. We were fortunate to have won our first game versus Knott Central, but in week two, Anderson County had whipped us pretty good.  I wasn’t at the Anderson game because I was at Paris, scouting the Greyhounds.  Paris had been the preseason #1 team in Class A. They were still very good the night we played, but they were playing without their best player due to a broken arm. You probably know his name….Larry Harris. Yes, that Larry Harris that coaches here at Mason County on our staff and became one of my best friends.   His cousin, Lanie Fomas, was still playing for the Hounds. To this day, the fastest & quickest football players I ‘ve ever seen were Lanie and Joseph Jefferson, who would go on to play for the Colts.

 

The bottom line, when the Mercer Scotties rolled into Blanton Collier Stadium we were a huge underdog. Our AD predicted in school that day the final score would be 55-14. And, it got worse. We had two starters in a car wreck the day before. They were ok, but the doctor would not release them to play.  And, it got even worse. Ray Caton, our starting center and defensive lineman who played both ways, sprained his ankle in PE class on gameday. I used at least a roll and half of tape on his ankle when we arrived in Paris.  Our starting corner was already on one leg with a bad ankle. We were in big trouble.

 

The Paris Greyhounds were a dynasty, coached by a GREAT coach and man, Randy Reese.  The atmosphere in that stadium was indescribable. When it worked out that I got to be a small part of Greyhound football two years later, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life and one that means more to me than I can put into words.

 

The Greyhounds were a great wishbone option team. But, our kids did a super job of being disciplined and attacking their assignments. Chuck Smith and our head coach, Larry French, had done a great job getting our guys ready for this game and our kids were all over the Paris option game. Had they been able to pass the ball effectively, we would have been in trouble.

 

To start the 2^nd half, Coach French told our kicker to kick it anywhere but to Fomas. The kickoff hit Lanie in the chest. I don’t know how we tackled him, but we did.  We got to the 4^th quarter and still the score was 9-0. We somehow manage to score, and take the lead 13-9!  The Paris cheerleaders were asking themselves, “Mercer who?  Where is Mercer County?”  I know this for a fact because one of those cheerleaders (Stephanie) turned out to be my wife and the mother of our 3 children!

 

Finally on a 4^th down at the end of the 4^th  quarter, the Paris QB took off on a called pass play. We chased him out of bounds. The officials measured.  Paris had come up short. When Dennis Davis came to the sideline (our QB, one of my best friends, and currently the Mercer County superintendent) I put up my thumb and finger, about a quarter inch apart and said, “Was it this close?”  He said, “Coach, it was closer than that.”

 

That win lead to a district and region championship season, the first ever at Mercer County HS.  It was an incredible experience.

 

So….why did it make me crazy?   Because, since that game, my mindset on EVERY Friday night has been, IF THAT TEAM CAN WIN THAT GAME, THERE IS A WAY THAT WE CAN WIN TONIGHT.  When we don’t win, it is always tough to take and I immediately try to figure out what I should have done differently.

 

Jeff Reese (a sophomore Greyhound in 86), Randy’s son, has become a very good friend. I called him a couple years ago to tell him after teasing him about that game all these years, that I realized that game had ruined my life. His response was, “Good.”  I was exaggerating, but he knew what I meant.

 

Chris Haney was on that team as well and has become a very good friend in addition to Larry and Jeff. And, it is incredible to think Stephanie was cheering on the opposite sideline.  Although, I have to admit, I am not sure I like the idea that Emma may marry a COACH from the opposite sideline.  That thought alone is enough to make me even crazier!

The Three Monsters and one BEAST : When a Coach Changes Jobs

October 1995- Paris

I can't be sure, but I think I have seen them, all three, over the last three months. At a minimum.... feel pretty confident I saw Monster #1, twice. I really don't know for sure, but it looks like even if you make alot of money, those monsters are still there. 

Most of the time, when a coach changes jobs, there are 3 monsters fighting in the coach's head and heart. 

Monster #1: The grief over leaving the previous job, most of all, the people and relationships. 

Monster #2: The excitement and anticipation of a new opportunity. 

Monster #3: The overwhelming amount of work that goes w/ starting over...day 1. 

JCB, me, Trosper, Larry Harris

Along with the 3 monsters, comes the moment my Dad always warned me about. Paris, Mason & Mercer, he told me, "At some point, you will ask yourself, 'What in the hell have I got myself into?' When that happens, don't worry about it. Just keep going. Keep working." 

For my Dad, those moments were when he came home from his first scrimmage at both Boyle and Mercer.  He was overwhelmed. But, both of those programs got much better and much faster than he would have anticipated in the moment. 

I can remember that moment, for me,  at all four places when it happened.  At Paris, it was in the weightroom (Lance Cordray was in there lifting) right after Mr. Goins had told me I was going to replace Coach Gruneisen, who was leaving for Bourbon Co. HS. As bad as I wanted to be a head coach, that was not a good day. At Mason, I was sitting in the office w/ Coach Hester, ordering equipment. At Mercer, it was walking up the sidewalk of the complex, looking over at the practice field... realizing that starting over after 19 years at one place, was going to be a workload like I couldn't imagine.  

At Anderson County, it was a year ago, today, April 11th. I had just got my keys. Without going into detail, the dang equipment room was a nightmare. A couple old coaches bailed me out. I called Sam Harp, a KY HS football legend who had been at Anderson. He is also incredibly well-organized and I knew he would have figured out how to make it work. He started laughing. I said, "I've got to put what's valuable in the equipment room and the rest in the laundry room." He said, yes, that is the only way to make it work. 

The other old coach that got me through that moment was my Dad. Although he is no longer alive, I could hear his words and hear him laughing at me. I could also hear him saying to me, simultaneously,  "You are nuts for jumping back into this" and "You are right where you need to be, doing what you were meant to do."

Back to these three monsters. For me, the day I left a program,  Monster #1 was by far the biggest.  The emotion of the ending is hard to put into the words. The relationships. The shared trials and triumphs. The collective accomplishments and disappointments. The sheer number of hours and days! When a shared mission that is pursued daily, with all you have in your heart, soul and guts comes to a sudden end...no words can do it justice. 

One of the positives about leaving Mercer without a job was that I only had to fight Monster #1. Taking the Anderson job meant that I only had to deal with two monsters. Amazing how much that helped both situations. 

Leaving Paris for Mason, and then Mason for Mercer...brutal. 

Ledger Independent: Interview from Office- The Day I resigned at Mason Co.

My former Pastor, Paul Gibson, told me once, "The bigger we love, the bigger the grief." Monster #1 is tough beyond words... but turns out....that is a great thing. 

Monster #3 can eat Monster #2. Monster #3 needs strict parameters. For Anderson County, this was improved. But here is the foundation of the : Transition Plan .

To me, only a fool would start a new job without a very clear, organized plan for day 1 and week 1, in addition to what must be done ASAP.

October, 2023- Anderson Co. 

So, which monster wins?  For me, they grow into one single BEAST.  That Beast only gets bigger every year. But, it is a GOOD BEAST!  This Beast becomes all the people you love, going back 55 years to my Dad's first team at Boyle. It grows into hundreds of stories... the people at ACHS are learning to avoid me or they are in for at least two stories per conversation.  The conversations and interactions with the players and the coaches on your team stir memories.... didn't this happen in 1994?  Is this the same conversation from 2003?  The Beast is so powerful, it reminds me on a daily basis of how incredibly blessed I am that I still get to do this.  When you are paying attention, you see God's love wrapped up in the totality of this good beast. But, as good as this beast is, it can also be exhausting and overwhelming. That is why I call it a Beast. But, it is a wonderful beast. I can tell you this.... I am going to keep it alive as long as I can. 

I really don't know, but I sort of think Coach Saban and Coach Cal may have felt the same way. 

*Nick Saban photo by David Carpenter