A Coaching Tribute

October 29, 2007

By: Brian Carroll

Every week between Labor Day and the beginning of November, Havenfootball.net  is happy to bring you live coverage of high school football here in Delaware County.  And while we as broadcasters, you as fans, and even the players are sometimes easily swept up in the big plays, statistics, playoff possibilities, and wins and losses, I wanted to take a moment tonight to mention an element of the game that is often more difficult to quantify. 

It can’t be measured as easily as points on the scoreboard, or average yards per carry.  In an increasingly “gotta-have-it-now” society, its impact cannot be noticed quickly enough for the local newspaper to meet a deadline; we won’t read about it tomorrow morning.  And though our Internet broadcast now allows anyone on the planet to get a taste of Strath Haven football anytime they’d like, it’s a relatively small number of people who will have a chance to experience a truly unique, potentially life-changing opportunity that will extend well beyond the time when we wave goodbye to the football season.

This idea of which I speak tonight is the bond that develops between a coach and his or her players.  Again, it’s difficult to measure from the outside looking in.  Further, it may be asking too much of a 15-, 16- or 17-year old teenager who has practiced all week simply to remember a particular technique, position, or play, to really stop and think about how their daily interaction with their coaches might affect them beyond this season, beyond this school year, or even 10 years from now.

Fortunately for the teenaged participants in tonight’s contest, they and their families can feel confident that the examples set by their particular coaches is nothing short of exceptional.  Conestoga players, parents, and fans can know that Head Coach John Vogan has managed year after year to endear himself to players, colleagues, and even media members with his polite disposition, fantastic sense of humor, and genuine care for his student athletes.  Speaking from personal experience, when I spend a few minutes prior to each game speaking with opposing coaches week after week, I can tell you there is no other coach in the Central League who I find more enjoyable, honest, and humorous than Mr. Vogan.  Knowing that we are only moments away from kickoff, it would be understandable to get a quick, brusque response from someone preoccupied.  But I can say I’ve been privileged enough to spend just a few minutes each season with ever-courteous Coach Vogan, and have never walked away from the conversation with anything less than a smile.  I can only hope that his players on the football field in the fall, and again on the baseball diamond each spring, would take time to appreciate those moments that leave them smiling, as well.

On the opposing sideline tonight, of course, is Strath Haven's Coach Kevin Clancy.  For outsiders, the numbers alone can be a simple evaluation tool.  240 career wins, more than any coach in the history of high school football in Delaware County.  A state record 94 consecutive wins within a district.  10 District 1 titles.  4 straight trips to the PA State Finals, including two PIAA State Championships.  Numerous players receiving college scholarships to high-profile football programs.  What is somewhat less documented, however, are the countless players who still come back from those colleges during the off-season or breaks just to say, “Hi!” and “Thanks!”  It’s not every day that we can read about Coach Clancy and his fantastic assistant coaches in the newspaper, but it is every day that they are arriving early to unlock the weight room, or contact college recruiters to put in a good word for a player.  While we can watch the traffic on our website go through the roof from September to Thanksgiving, we don’t often stop to think about the hours that a husband and father of children of his own spends leading the children of others during team workouts in March and April, or summer passing leagues.  Ladies and gentleman, all those wins, all those statistics, all those college scholarships and measurable numbers do not happen accidentally.  The nature of the beast in high school athletics is constant change, constant turnover, with new players taking the field each season.  Thus, the consistency and integrity shown by this coaching staff at Strath Haven, both on the field and off, is nothing short of remarkable.  My advice to the Panther players, fans, and community:  Take advantage of it, and enjoy it.  Access, experience, and character like this are hard to come by.

I must admit that choosing this moment to recognize the impact of coaches is no accident, either.  While it certainly seems fitting to notice the contributions of Coach Vogan and Coach Clancy, tonight’s broadcast is dedicated to another coach who, ironically enough, shared a remarkable commonality with the two leaders patrolling the sidelines tonight. 

Coach Richard Butts, formerly of Hatboro-Horsham High School, was my high school coach.  Like Coach Vogan of Conestoga, he spent 16 autumns on the football sidelines, then impacted thousands of other student athletes with 25 seasons in the baseball dugout before retiring in 2001.  Like Coach Vogan, Coach Butts was a man of remarkable physical stature; his 6’5” frame was imposing, to say the least. Yet his quick wit, soft-spoken nature, and seemingly endless patience provided me and countless others lessons we still reference today.

Like Coach Clancy, Coach Butts also can be measured in terms of sheer numbers and success.  18 years as a Head Baseball Coach translated into a school-record 231 wins, eleven playoff qualifiers, six league titles, one district title, and two state tournament appearances.  Numerous players moved on to play in college, and a few even professionally.  Like Coach Clancy, Coach Butts would go the extra mile to make things easier for his players, as I can still picture him shoveling snow and ice off the parking lot after a March 1994 storm threatened to keep his infielders from taking their daily dose of ground balls.   His approachable, service-oriented demeanor also translated to his family, as his wife of 40 years, and now his son continue in the teaching profession today. 

Amazing, then, that here I am, many years removed from my high school playing days, and still remember and utilize some of the seemingly small, yet oh-so-important lessons Coach Butts was able to impart.  On some days, I need a little extra patience, like when Coach Butts kept plugging me into the lineup of a state playoff contender, even as I started my senior season in a horrendous hitting slump.  As I manage and interact with co-workers each day, I can recall Coach Butts’ subtle rules that helped in unifying a group of individuals—no facial hair, no names on jerseys—“We are a team.  There are no individuals, no standouts here.”  Coach Butts was strict enough to “hit balls at you all night until you catch it with two hands,” and easygoing enough laugh as loudly as anyone when 16-year old boys were behaving like, well, 16-year old boys.  He was tough enough to give a fiery pre-game speech when the team needed to “get your heads screwed on straight”.  Gutsy enough to call for a suicide squeeze play in a tie game with an archrival, with an 0-2 count that same struggling hitter. Humble enough to apologize to his players when he waved a runner around third who was thrown out by 10 feet.  And human enough to choke up with tears when 8 seniors saw their careers end just one run short of a state playoff berth. 

Most importantly, is that I am not alone in these recollections and lessons Coach Butts imparted.  Upon hearing the news that Coach Butts lost his battle with cancer this past Tuesday, my email account has suddenly been speckled with messages from former teammates who are still laughing about the same funny, inspiring, and poignant stories that affect them today.  Even for those of us who were unable to attend what was a standing-room-only crowd at services for Coach Butts on Friday and Saturday, these recollections remain a stunning tribute to the lasting impact of the relationships high school athletics can build.  I’ll be forever thankful those relationships in my own life, and the role that my Coach, Richard Butts, played in developing them.  And whether the name is Clancy, Vogan, their dedicated assistants, or leaders in other sports, my hope is that student athletes of today would be blessed as richly with a similar experience, and that they would then take a moment to recognize the time, energy, and selfless care given to them by the person they call, “Coach”.

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