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| 1986 Mercer Staff: Chuck Smith, Dick Straten, Jack Robertson, David Buchanan Front: Head Coach, Larry French |
You had to be TOUGH to be on the Mercer Staff in 1986. That is, if your name was David Buchanan. As soon as I would walk through the door for practice, Big Jack was on me. He would have that sweatshirt tied around his neck, and want to know if I had played tennis with Muffy & Buffy at Centre College that day. That was a GOOD day. The tough days... I can't put in print what he was saying. I can't even describe the birthday cake he got me one year. But, the crazy part, 1986 might have been the most fun, ever, any of us had coaching football. That season was the first District & Region Championship at old Mercer County HS. We were a close-knit staff, worked like dogs, and were coaching kids that we had to scrape off the field every Friday night because of the effort they would give when the lights came on. Chuck, Coach French and I are still coaching almost 40 years later. 1986 is a big reason we have struggled to give up this game and way of life. Big Jack is a substantial reason that was a great time and he still looms larger than life when I look back on that staff.
Before we coached together, I knew Jack as a great player at Harrodsburg HS. He played against my Dad's Boyle County teams and I remembered him. If you were around Jack and started talking about how good the Yeasts were carrying the ball, he would be quick to remind you that he was the guy blocking for them!
In 1987, Jack & I were still at Mercer with Coach French. Chuck was the head coach at Allen County Scottsville. Coach French would call Chuck every week to get help with the defense. It would make Jack mad. He would say, "I don't know how Chuck does it. He is the head coach at ACS & the DC at Mercer County!" So, 20 years later, we are all eating together, including the families. I decide to have a little fun. I make the comment, "I don't know how Chuck did it when he was the DC at Mercer and the head coach at ACS." Jack shoots me a look like he is going to kill me. Silence. Finally, Coach French speaks up, "I HAD to call Chuck, David doesn't know anything." Jack gets fired up.. "That's right! David doesn't know anything!" Lol
Just a few years ago, Jack was in the hospital in pretty rough shape. It did not look like he was going to make it. I went to see him. I was emotional. He was as well. I thought it was the last time I would ever see him. A few days later, my phone is buzzing and it says, "Jack Robertson." I answer and say, "Jack?" He says, "David, I got a problem! These nurses won't keep their hands off me!"
We all love Jack, but we also know he could be a handful at times. As he got older and as his health continued to deteriorate, he thought more about others than himself. I would call to check on him. He did not want to talk about that. What he did want to know...Was I having any luck finding a job? How was my team doing? He wanted to make sure that I was ok!
We would talk often on the phone. One of our last conversations, I got to tell him that the 1986 staff really helped me learn how to coach. If you really want to coach, if you really want to learn how to coach, BUILD a football program. I learned alot about the nuts and bolts of coaching football from Jack, Chuck & Coach French back in 1986. The winning was great. But, it was the perfect setup for a young guy to learn how to coach from 3 guys that knew their stuff.
In another conversation over the last few weeks, I got to tell Jack how proud I was of him. As his health issues got tougher, he responded by thinking of others. It was awkward. He didn't really know what to say. But, I could tell he appreciated me saying so. And, I wanted to make sure that he knew that his old friend admired him as he fought some very difficult battles that would have defeated many of us.
At the very end, he really enjoyed being a Bearcat. He would come to practices and games. Our guys were crazy about him. He really clicked with our kids. He would check in often to see how we were doing. One practice, he was right on the sideline with us. For games, he liked to sit near the locker room door so he could talk to the kids when they would come off and on the field. He would tell our guys to make sure the guy across from them on Friday night will be sore on Saturday morning. My bosses took great care of Jack on a Friday night and their efforts sure did mean alot to me. There have been an awful lot of good things come out of becoming the head football coach at Anderson County HS. One of the biggest ways that I have seen God's Work was when He put Jack with the kids that play football for the Bearcats. That was not a coincidence. That was God telling Big Jack, "I love you."
The last time we talked in person was after the Henry County game, a tough loss. He said, "David, you didn't lose that game." I looked at him like he was crazy. Take out a couple plays, you win the game." Now, he and I BOTH knew that was absolutely wrong and we lost. But, in that moment, he was trying to make me feel better. He was trying to encourage me. He was less than a month away from a surgery that was critical to his health and even being able to continue living. But, he was thinking about his old friend, the one that use to play tennis with Muffy & Buffy (not really).
When his back was to the wall, when he had less than a month to live, he was thinking of me. And, that is EXACTLY how I will remember Big Jack Robertson.
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