Coming from a small town in Alabama where football is king, it was not hard for Bobby Young, Jr. to fall in love with football. It was a cold November Friday night during his 9th grade year when he got his first varsity start. Having his first start in November meant playoff time which was like going from crawling to running a marathon all at once. Watching the now 40 year old coach talk about his first days of football you could almost see in his eyes that he was reliving the moment. “When I was told I would get to start for a player that was injured in a motorcycle accident, my first thoughts were, ‘Now is my time. I deserve this chance’.” By Wednesday of that week he said he started to question if he was really ready to go up against juniors and seniors. Could David really slay Goliath?
During the game, he was getting run over by the older more experienced defensive linemen he was facing. An aggravated and frustrated 9th grader emerged by making a late hit and costing the team a fifteen yard penalty which lead to them having to punt. Recalling the moment now his brow became furrowed and his balding head dropped toward the floor. As he came off the field the head coach said, “Son, I know you are getting beat up out there but we do not play like that.” With his head down he sensed the heat from someone staring at him. “I was trying to look up while keeping my head down,” Young remembers. He could see his father’s feet standing at the fence. His father was a short man with a crew cut that gave away his military back ground. He motioned for Bobby to come over. Before his dad could say a word he knew the disappointment his dad had in him because that was not the way he was being raised. After a few choice words so quiet only Bobby and his dad could hear, he was sent back to be with his team and finish the game. On the bus, on the way home his coach told him, “Lift your head up boy. There will be more games. Sometimes we have to learn things the hard way.”
His love of football is what brought him back to education as an adult. “I served in Desert Storm as part of the ground forces. Being over there made me realize how short life was and that I needed to be doing something I loved,” he told me. Upon returning to the United States he did just that. Realizing that coaching football would make him happy and becoming an educator would allow him to do to two things he loved - coach football and teach history. “Playing football taught me about hard work and dedication.” Football practices were long, hot and humid in South Alabama. Players would be sweating as they walked to the practice field.
Former players remember Coach Young as hard but always fair. “At the end of practice he would tell us to do our homework, get a good night sleep and kiss our mama’s.” Another recalls when he refused to do his work in math. The teacher sent a note to Coach Young, as most teachers would do when someone was having a problem even if they just needed some extra help with school work. “Before practice, we sat on the steps near the practice field and Coach would talk to us about practice and take care of any business,” the former player said. “He reached into his pocket and pulled out the note. ‘Mr. Johnson, please stand.’ He called you mister when you were in trouble.” Johnson recollects swallowing hard as Coach Young began to read the note out loud as his teammates looked at him. When his coach was finished reading the note, he folded it back up, looked up at “Mr. Johnson,” lowering his sunglasses so everyone could see his piercing blue eyes. “I guess you forgot you are at school to get an education and that playing football is a privilege.” He then had everyone else line up and started practice. Players would often run hills for different things; not doing homework, being late to practice, having a detention or forgetting part of their uniform. “Coach said ‘Thirty hills’, (this was about 10 minutes of running) ‘then come and find me,’ and he walked to the field. I was thinking that I was getting off easy.” Finishing his hills, he jogged over to his coach. Coach Young asked him why he was going to school and before he could answer Coach Young sent him running to one of the three sheds that surrounded the practice field. Johnson ran from shed to shed stopping in between as Coach Young reminded him that school is where you get an education and not just somewhere to play football.
“I have always stressed to young athletes that getting your education is the most important thing you will do in your life. With an education, they can achieve anything; it is not about finishing high school but looking beyond high school,” a semi-smiling Young answered. He feels he brings his hard work ethic from football and his love of education to the classroom. “After returning from the Persian Gulf, I started working as a teacher’s aide in the special education department while I finished my degree. Working with those children taught me about the kind of teacher I wanted to become. I take history and make it relevant to what is happening today.” He talks about a president’s project that is more than what the students have read about the president. “Yes, they give the background information but I also require that they tell me what they thought was good and bad about how the president handled things; what they would have done differently if they had been that president?” With his arms folded over his chest, he explained that he hates to see any child not educated. Feeling that the youth are the future of our world he thinks teaching is his calling. “I coach because I love it. I teach because that is what I am supposed to be doing.”
When asked about family time he wrinkles his face and the short hairs on his head seem to stand on end. “It takes so much time to be a great teacher who coaches. At times, I feel my family gets shorted.” The love he feels for his family is very apparent in his eyes. As far back as he can remember they have always supported what he has done. His son was the equipment manager and tutored players. His daughter has been his “water boy” and helped her mom launder and mend uniforms. “My wife has cleaned throw-up and mopped the floors when the plumbing in the locker room had issues. I would not be the man I am without my family.” Long hours, hot days, students trying to cut class and family time that is different from most, Bobby Young, Jr. feels he is living the life he was meant to be living. He had several coaches in high school, each coach leaving a lasting impression while molding the would-be coach as a person and teacher.
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