Over the past 15 years, here are seven of the most influential coaches in high school athletics who have helped me navigate what has been a beautiful life.
Bob Williams
The first time I met Coach Bob, he was very soft-spoken and extremely humble. He never took credit or prided himself for his coaching accomplishments on the basketball court, but he always spoke very highly of his players. One of the things I noticed the most about him in my time covering his program was that after every game the most important thing to him was to greet his wife and family with loving hugs and kisses. He cherished his time on Earth and dove headfirst into his calling as a teacher, coach, husband, family man and friend. At the Best of Preps banquet two years ago, I will never forget him giving me a big hug and asking how my wife and newborn daughter were doing. Williams died last July.
Staff photo / Bob Williams talks to the Walker Valley boys' basketball team during a timeout in a game at Cleveland in February 2017.Trey Hicks
Those who support you in your passions and cheer you on are certainly friends worth keeping around. Coach Hicks has been exactly that from the moment I met him. He knew my dream was to attend the University of Tennessee and cover UT athletics in college, and being an avid fan of the Volunteers himself, he helped me stay focused on attaining those dreams. When I wrote my first story on the Chattanooga Lookouts for the Times Free Press, he was the first to text me and tell me how cool it was to see my name in the local newspaper covering minor league baseball.
Josh Templeton
Not many human beings are good at expressing or opening up about their emotions, but Coach Templeton is someone I respect so much for being 100% genuine all the time. He wears his emotion on his sleeve and is someone who has impacted so many people at such a young age. He taught those in his program and so many others about what it means to have a warrior culture. Life is not about how many times you get knocked down, but how you respond and get back up. This is one tough dude who embodies what toughness and being a warrior is.
Bumper Reese
Red Bank's winningest baseball coach has made a profound impact on my life. I still remember him sitting our entire team down in the locker room before a game my junior season and getting every one of us to tell each other what our roles on the varsity team were. From then on, we clicked as a unit and were steadfast in our roles. He taught us tough love at times, too, as we struggled on some days at practice to complete 21 outs, but he helped us overcome adversity and find what we were good at.
Lance Rorex
This is another special human who genuinely cares for others. Rorex was a player I often read about in the TFP when I was younger, and I looked up to him for his star play at Lookout Valley. His character is off the charts, and he has been a true blessing for Silverdale Baptist Academy's campus and athletic program. He has a gift to make you feel at home when you talk to him, and he cares about each of his players as a complete person instead of just their athletic talents.
Reggie Tucker
To know how much Coach Tucker cares about the youth and his community shows in the simple fact that this past August marked his eighth annual Back 2 School Backpack Giveaway. He cares so much about building relationships with his players and preparing them for success in life and basketball. Whenever I get on social media, you can see how much he devotes his time into helping others, which includes getting his players seen by college coaches. He is a strong role model for so many and has as big of a heart as any.
Steven Redman
Being a girl dad, Coach Redman is someone I really look up to as he has done an excellent job raising his two daughters. There is no greater joy than being a parent and seeing your children succeed and reach milestones. He has also done a great job with his players and gotten the most of their talents at Signal Mountain, with his Eagles boys' basketball team winning 19 games this past season
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.