It’s quickly becoming a recurring theme of your Friday doses of Robservations.
At 55 years of age, most high school head football coaches have a longer past on the sideline than a future. More than 30 years of blowing whistles and charting plays usually finds coaches anxiously anticipating retirement. They’ve had enough.
But the excitement and enthusiasm shown by Henry County Coach Joe Gaddis last week in the Patriots’ heart-stopping 27-26 win over Melrose was more akin to that of a first- or second-year coach than of a seasoned veteran.
The come-from-behind win over tradition rich Melrose thrusts Henry County into the 4A semifinals this week for the second straight year. But instead of again preparing for Hillsboro, the Patriots will be entertaining Maplewood. It’s the first time the Nashville school has reached the semifinals since 1975.
Gaddis, who has led teams in Tullahoma (1987 semifinals), Oak Ridge (1991 state championship), Pascagoula, MS and Decatur (Austin HS), Ala., before moving to Paris three years ago, says he has no plans, immediate or long-term, to retire from the only profession he has ever known.
When asked if he’d stop coaching when it quit being fun, his response was, ‘it’s never not going to be fun. I enjoy it too much.’
He coaches with the same vigor and enthusiasm as most head coaches half his age. One would think that leading a group of high school players into combat more than 300 times, the energy level would be more subdued.
Not with Gaddis. Less than five percent of Tennessee’s active high school coaches in Tennessee have more games under their belts than Gaddis, who prepped at Jackson Central in West Tennessee. His approach to each game reveals a passion in his heart and fire in his eyes as though a state title was riding on the outcome.
‘The biggest challenge in coaching is more mental than physical,’ says Gaddis. ‘I enjoy motivating people and can’t stand negativity.’
The love and energy level he displays on Friday nights rubs off on everyone around him. His players, fellow coaches, administrators at Henry County and even fans of Patriot football in Paris have caught the fever.
Big Red Pride is found all around town. A sea of red flows throughout the crowd, one of the loudest and most supportive groups of fans I’ve seen in some time. The pride Gaddis has instilled in the football team has permeated throughout the school and into the community.
‘When Joe came to Paris, he brought a passion and zeal for football and for kids in general that we have not seen in a long time,’ explained Henry County Director of Schools Rick Kreisky, whose twin sons Matt and Will coach at Oakland and Mt. Juliet, respectively.
‘That love for kids has spilled over into the classroom, the hallways and into the community,’ continued Kreisky. ‘The entire community has caught Joe’s enthusiasm and love for kids. It’s really made a positive influence around here,’ he added.
Football coaches, the ones who do what they do because of the passion they have for young adults, are responsible for much more than winning games on Friday nights in the fall.
Yes, they teach math, science and history. But more importantly, they teach all of us important life lessons we won’t soon forget. Winning games on Friday night is just a bonus.
”
Murphy Fair has published ‘Tennessee High School Football’ for the past 20 years. His Web site (murphyfair.com) gives high school fans further insight into the prep football scene.