The Actor

"Kyle--You Became a Great Coach"

We had a young guy on our '79 championship football team. When you looked at this youngster, you wouldn't have seen a future in athletics. He was about 5'6", and weighed 112 pounds. In our entire season of play, his statistics showed one tackle assist. I once heard that he felt "picked on" during his freshman year on the football team. (When I see his face now, I can't tell that ony of the players damaged his good looks.)

Something traumatic in his life occurred the next year--his father died and he was hurting very badly. He had to try to be a man on their little farm, and it was frustrating for him.

This young guy disappeared from our school. Every now and then we would hear something about him.

Sometimes it is not easy to recognize eaglets. This young guy spread his wings and became one of the all-time great coaches--even if the outcome of his games is known before the TV presentation----

Can you believe this young eaglet is now the famous KYLE CHANDLER, the coach on the TV series FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS?

 The Visionary

We had a little girl named Betty from a small mill town in our county. One of our coaches tried to get her to play basketball, but her parents were afraid she would get hurt. After much discussion with the coach, her parents agreed to allow her to play, and she showed great promise as she performed in junior high school. She led her team to the state finals her senior year in high school. After a stellar college career, she still wanted to be a part of the game that she loved. One day I received a call from Betty wanting to ask me what I thought about coaching as a profession. I told her that she would never get rich (in money), but that money could not buy the experiences and thrills which she would get in working with young people, watching them as they developed into reponsible adults, and helping them turn their hopes and dreams into realities. After a lot of thought-provoking time, Betty decided to teach and coach. After several years she was so successful that she became the head coach of a college in Virginia.

Betty studied and worked hard to become a better coach, and she tried to join a large college coaches' association, but she was told they didn't allow women in the group. After much prayerful thought, she sought out several prominent college coaches and helped form a group called the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Today, that organization has grown to several thousand members under the leadership of a little mill-town girl that loved basketball. And---they do have hundreds of men in their women's coaches association who share her dreams of becoming better coaches!

 The Investment

Several years ago I had another young player who came from a very well-to-do family. We had something that turned Jim on, called "basketball". After a very successful high school career, Jim attended Vanderbilt University where he was studying to be a physician. During a basketball practice, Jim was stepped on by a teammate. Being fed through a straw, losing weight, he was told that he needed to drop his aspirations to be a doctor. Jim stated that he had learned to compete in high school and would never quit.

Many years later, my wife and I had a chance to visit with Jim and his family at his palatial home on a coastal island. He had become a very successful cardiologist in Savannah, GA. As we left his house on this beautiful spring day, I couldn't help but feel that my investment of approximately 2,000 hours in Jim's life during his high school career had paid off.

But then, my thoughts turned to some of our young players who had not met with much success in their lives. The following Sunday in church, I told the story of our visit to Jim's daddy, conveying my mixed feelings about my contribution in his son's life, but also my apparent failures with some other young people who had not as yet met much success in their lives. His dad responded, "Coach, you gave all these young people the same opportunity. Some of them just didn't choose to fly very high."

 The Writer

When you go to the dictionary for a definition of “unique”, you’ll find that it is “something which has no like or equal.”  Darrell Huckaby is unique in the lives of the thousands of people who know, read and have enjoyed his writings.

Darrell Huckaby has been like that in our lives.  Darrell first came into our lives as a five-year old child who fell in love with our Rams.  It wasn’t long before he was writing things about the young Newton County players.

By the time Darrell reached high school he was completely colored in “Ram blue & white.”  His loyalty was unquestioned as he was listed as our team manager—but make no mistake, this young man was as valuable as any of our great players!

You only have to look at our video site and watch our sideline activity during our Decatur game in the state tournament to see his enthusiasm as a teenager—a trait he has carried throughout his life.  I could write a book about “Darrell’s antics” that are unparalleled, but I’ll try to keep it simple.

On one occasion in an important semifinal region contest, he got after the referee about what he thought was a terrible call.  He was very upset when he penalized our team by receiving a technical foul. With tears in his eyes and expecting a lashing from me, he apologized profusely.  I remember hugging him and thanking him for saving me from an embarrassing technical foul as he beat me to the punch!

I didn’t realize then that this young boy had a photographic mind that would capture a memory of so much about our life—of so many things important to us.  Years later Jan and I were talking about the things he could remember about what had happened in the past.  Jan remarked,—“he even remembers things that didn’t happen.”

Many people like to try and compare Darrell’s writings to the great Lewis Grizzard.  This is ridiculous as they are both great writers with their own following.  Lewis hasn’t written an article in 18 years since his untimely death, and people 30 or younger have never read a current article written by him.
  
When Lewis was a young sports writer in his early days at UGA in Athens, he wrote several articles about our teams, and I spent some time with him and have read most of his books, but don’t ever make the mistake of not understanding the differences in the two writers.  At times, after partying into the night, most of his friends would go home to their families, leaving him to ponder life alone for many of his adult years.

Darrell has never been alone.  He has had his lifetime mate, Lisa, beside him even though when you look at her expression in the caricature of her on the cover of his book, “All 50”, you wonder if she really wanted to travel down all the paths he took her.  The love of their life has always been their children, Jamie, Jackson and Jenna.  Also, he has the support of his in-laws and close neighbors, former coach Bennie Potts and his wife, Bitsy.

Like Lewis, Darrell has his own following of thousands of fans all over the country, but none more fervent than in his home area of Newton-Rockdale County.  So, many people who were feeling abandoned because of the void left by Grizzard’s death should cool it, and enjoy Darrell’s writing while we have him.

Darrell and I have shared a major part of our lives.   He and his very supportive parents attended almost all of our games, and Darrell even wrote some articles and poems about our teams early in his life. Darrell used to love to talk to Bob Greer about the "Blab Slab" and sports.
 
When Darrell entered high school he wanted to be a player, but he ended up finding other ways to be an important part of our basketball program for four years.  He was like having another coach that could figure out what needed to be done, before you could tell him what to do.

Darrell and I shared another common love—the Bulldogs of UGA.  I gave him the highest recommendation possible for him to be a part of the Georgia basketball staff where he did an excellent job as their manager.  His four years in Athens at UGA helped cement the love he had for the “Dawgs” and his family and fans have reaped the benefits for years. 

After graduating from UGA, he entered the teaching/coaching profession.  He was an excellent teacher/coach with a lot of love for his players, which he continues to give in his teaching of young people today.  Even though he was an outstanding coach he gave up that part of his career in order to have more time for his first love of writing.  I actually taught with Darrell in two different schools after his coaching career ended and personally observed the respect his students had for him and his teachings.

Any student who ever stepped into Darrell’s classroom came out with a better understanding about the history of our country.  In fact, as I think about it, if we could send Darrell to Washington for a year we might be able to get back for our children and grandchildren the great country and opportunities that we once knew.

By giving up coaching, it gave Darrell more time to write from his vast reservoir of stories and experiences.  I always encouraged him to write full-time, but he felt that he wanted to be in front of his students and he needed the funding to take care of his family.

His writings have had an effect and influence on thousands in many places and in many ways.   I remember one of my friends at UGA telling me about their defensive coach who was being harassed by a lot of Georgia followers about their porous defense.  The coach had previously stated that he the only thing he read in the newspaper was Darrell Huckaby’s articles.  One day when Darrell wrote about his defense, my friend told me that this “tough” guy actually shed tears when he read Darrell’s article and said, “Even ‘Huck’ has turned against me!” 

The tough coach felt that many people had turned their back on him.  One thing that we can know is that there are thousands of us who will never turn our back on Darrell Huckaby.  He has always remembered his humble beginnings in a little mill town, but with great support from his family and his early mentor, B. C. Crowell, he has enjoyed a life appreciated and admired by many.     

On many occasions I’ve called on Darrell to speak to my teams, to “run errands’ for me, to do many other things such as taking my players to the Kentucky H.S. State Tournament while I was out of the country, make sandwiches to take with us on some of our trips, etc. (the list of his contributions is too long, but you get the idea---).  He has never failed me.

Darrell has been having some health problems in recent months and he needs our prayers and support.  Even before Darryl had health issues, I’ve always thanked my Maker for Darrell Huckaby and the major role he has played in my life.   Get well, Darrell, we need you!  Something I’ve never been ashamed to say (and have said to Darrell on many occasions)---We Love You!

Granny

The Strength of Love

One morning I was cleaning the gym floor and I heard sounds coming from our stands in our stadium. I looked out the window of the door and saw one of our most popular teachers and she was sobbing away.

I went to her and said, “ ‘Granny’, what’s wrong?” She continued to sob and said, “Nothing.” I put my arm around her shoulders and said in a rather stern voice, “What’s wrong with you?”

She then proceeded to tell me her story. Her eldest son had been gone from home for over a year. He had taken up with a girl and had adopted the “hippy” life. He would call home ever so often, wanting money, and they would send it to them. She continued: “We told him that we were not going to give him any more money, but we love him---and if he would come home, we would do anything to help him straighten out his life! I feel that we will never see him alive again. The lifestyle they have chosen will end their lives.”

I knew that there was only one thing I could do to help solve her problem, so I told her, “I know someone who can help us. Let’s pray.” So, with tears flowing from our eyes, we asked God to heal this relationship and bring her son home.

Every month or so I would ask “Granny” about her son, and she would tell me he called. “He would tell about the beads they were selling. Every time he called, I would tell him how much we loved him and we would help him if he would come home.”

This went on for almost a year when one day her face was aglow with happiness. I asked her what was going on. She said, “My son has promised to come home. He said he loved us, that he was tired and wanted to give up his nomadic life, and, again, that he loved us.”

I asked about his female companion. She proceeded to tell me he felt if they continued with their lifestyle, doing the things they were doing, they would both end up dead. She told me she was going to attempt to contact the girl. Granny said, “I don’t know how to contact the girl, but I plan to call her mother.”

About a week later she came to the gym and told me more of the sad story. Granny had called the girls’ mother and the woman told her, “I don’t ever want to hear that girl’s name again! She has hurt us so bad that we gave up on her. Please don’t call us again!”

Well---Granny’s son came home and they began helping him to enter a new life. He wanted to get a job and maybe go back to school. He was on his way back---thanks to the love his family gave him.

A few months later, Granny told me that her son had received the news that his “hippy companion” had died of an overdose of drugs.

The point to be taken from this story is: WHEN WE HAVE FAITH AND LOVE, WE HAVE HOPE!