As a movie buff, it was always interesting to play the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game with buddies. For anyone who doesn’t know, the object is to find the shortest path – taking no more than six steps – to connect any actor with Kevin Bacon, using films those actors appeared in.
If ever there was a local version of that game, Baylor assistant athletic director and golf coach Gary Partrick would be the ideal centerpiece. Name a Chattanooga-area coaching legend, and it’s a safe bet that within a very limited number of steps, a direct connection can be made with Partrick, who earlier this week became the state’s first recipient of the TSSAA’s Distinguished Service Award for this year.
As the main target for Bill Price’s passes at Red Bank, the pair of lifelong friends helped the Lions reach the 1978 state title game. When his football playing days ended, Partrick knew his career choice would be to follow the lead of his high school mentor, legendary Lions coach Tom Weathers.
“Everything I’ve done is me trying to emulate Coach Weathers,” Partrick said. “I may not have always succeeded in that, but it’s been my lifelong goal. He was my frame of reference for what a role model is. All I wanted was to come as close as I could to having the type of influence Coach Weathers had on so many.”
It was during his second season as a recruiting assistant for Austin Peay’s football program in the early 1980s that Partrick was actually the one recruited away from the college game, convinced by East Ridge legend Raymond James to take what would seem to be a step back and join the Pioneers staff.