Hanging up the whistle

By Laura Clark

Published: November 17, 2008

As Tim Crawford paced the sideline early in the Nov. 7 game, he was subdued. He paced the sideline like it wasn’t just the final game of the season, but his final game as head football coach. The players on the field knew, and they battled every play to send the coach out with a win.

Crawford told his players at practice the day before.

“I said, ‘Fellas, this is probably going to be my last game as football coach here at Nelson County High School. Twenty-nine years in one place is enough for anybody.’ And they just kind of sat there,” Crawford said.

“I told them, ‘This is a good thing. It’s not a sad time. Nobody’s getting fired. Nobody’s being run out of town. It’s not any hard feelings. It’s just time.’”

That it was time; that the final game was being played before his eyes was blatant in Crawford’s melancholy expression that hardly wavered as his team scored the first touchdown.

But, like the coach he is, Crawford snapped out of it and began his tirades of “Daggonnit!” As he does, he yelled at the referees, he yelled at his players, and he yelled at no one in particular.

When the final whistle blew, the Govs had pulled out a 29-21 win. Crawford turned to assistant coach Scott McGarry with something like a smile.

A handshake became a hug, and then players promptly dumped icy water on their coach.

The huddle was brief. Crawford simply thanked his players for their performance, which snapped a 5-game losing streak in a 3-7 season.

“It was good to give him a win,” said senior lineman Tyler Price. “He deserves it. He’s coached me all four years, and I love being around him.”

Back inside the coaches’ office, Crawford slumped in a cracked leather chair. He slumped not like a man defeated, but like a man who is weary. From the computer, the sounds of the Stray Cat’s “Rock this Town” segued to Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads.”

Crawford was reflective again, stretching his arms behind his head and searching for a way to describe why he’s stepping down now.

“Look, I’ll never have enough Friday nights. No football coach does,” he said. “Even being on the sidelines in a game like William Campbell, you’re out there and you’re watching your team play. Friday nights are a good payday. But you only get 10 of those unless you’re really good.”

Then, he said, a coach may take it easy through December, but January finds him back in the weight room or taking care of administrative and equipment duties. He worries about the player’s grades, injuries, and so many issues over which he has no control.

He recalled coming to Nelson at 23. He’d coached two years as a volunteer and two years at a private school. Since coming here, he’s been on the sidelines of 296 football games.

“I’m 52,” Crawford said. “Just think about the things people see and they have to go through in 29 years if they work at one place. You’re not going to get along with everybody. Like people who teach for 30 years, I’m kind of set in my ways. I think that the right way to do something is my way.”

Crawford would like to spend time with his wife, Vicki, when she’s not coaching volleyball or softball. And he’d like to spend more time with his mom, Peggy, who had to have surgery this past year.

He’d like to do normal things at normal hours, like go to the grocery or the bank. He’d like to play golf after school when the weather’s nice. And he’d like a true summer break.

So he talked with Vicki, with his fellow coaches, with friend and mentor Billy League. Although he hasn’t made his resignation official, he said people know the official letter is forthcoming.

Crawford coached three of his assistants, McGarry, Mark Wells and Kevin Knight when they were students. He’s coached several kids of former players, too. Coaching is what he knows, and he said this may not be the last time he coaches.

He said he might take a job somewhere as an assistant coach and “not have my phone ring at night.” Or, he said, he might be an umpire again.

“Right now, I’m not sure where the rest of the year’s going to take me. I may be still right here, just teaching school. And I’m a pretty good teacher when I don’t have all this to worry about,” he said, gesturing to the chaos of an office littered with boxes and papers and football equipment.

Quarterback M.J. Wells came in to give Crawford a hug and an “I love ya, coach.”

“He’s helped me a lot,” Wells said after the game. “Through ups and downs he’ll always be one of my best coaches. He’s coached me to the edge, and he’s always going to be there for me when I need him.”

This final win gave Crawford a 19-31 record as Govs head coach. He hopes the next coach will be more successful, and fight for the issues like a youth and middle school team that would improve Nelson’s program. He said the kids are great, and that this 2008 team will be one of his favorites.

“I’m so glad that this group of kids stuck it out and played the whole season,” he said. “I don’t know, until they get in a position I’m in, that they will know how much I truly appreciate the effort that they put forth this week and on the field tonight. It was ... it was something.”

Laura Clark, who writes for the Nelson County Times, can be reached by e-mailing .