Simply Put- "Dowling Is one of the Good guys "

9/25/08 By: Clint Cox

As I stood on the sidelines in Sneads last Friday night, it was fun to watch Pirate Head Coach Don Dowling get his first win. Dowling, who took over as Head Coach this season, saw his Pirates fall in the preseason classic to Graceville and then lose a close game to Cottondale in the regular season opener. The Pirates then had last week off. So he’s had to wait a full month before experiencing the thrill of victory for the first time as the Head Pirate.

I say it was fun to watch him get his first win because I’ve known Dowling for more than 15 years and I believe he is one of the good guys of coaching. In the 15 plus years that I’ve known him I’ve always found him to be a straight up fellow.

It’s no great secret that he was not ready to leave the Marianna Head Coaching job when he was not rehired after the 2006 season. But after 6 seasons the decision was made by the administration to go in another direction. Say what you want about his record while at Marianna (if my memory is right it was about .500), but I can tell you that the overwhelming majority of players who played for him loved and admired him immensely. In my book that makes him a success.

Since I cover Marianna football on the radio each week I am not normally able to attend very many of the other county’s varsity football games. But Marianna was off last week so I headed to Sneads and stood on the sideline with Dowling and his Pirates. I watched as he rode the roller coaster of emotions that coaches ride each game. He was enthusiastic and animated when the Pirates jumped out to an early lead. He then turned to cheerleader and butt chewer when his team was sputtering in the third quarter. And then he returned to his sideline enthusiastic animations when they began to put the game away.

But the most telling reason that his players love him was demonstrated late in the game. One of his team leader’s drew an unsportsmanlike penalty late in the game. Dowling pulled him from the game and chewed him up and down. But just before the game ended I saw Dowling return to that player and put his arm around the player’s neck. I heard the words of encouragement that Dowling relayed to the player, extolling him to be the leader he should be. And I could sense the player’s admiration of his coach in return for those words of encouragement. Folks that’s what good coaching is all about. Simply Put, it’s not about wins and losses in the record books. It’s about wins and losses in the relationships developed with your players.

From the front porch: Coach said that it has been said often, but it remains true, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."