‘Coach’ helps recall memories

Some of the most enjoyable memories of my years in coaching – 34 years, to be exact – are replayed on the USA television network at 6 a.m. weekdays in the hilarious reruns of the TV show, “Coach.”

The program aired on ABC from 1989-1997, starring Craig T. Nelson as head coach Hayden Fox of the Minnesota State Screaming Eagles college football team.

For the record, a lot of what reappears in terms of realism in coaching and playing sports often doesn’t appear believable on television or in the cinema. Not so in this one.

“Coach” is strictly comical, with a few life lessons and sentiment tossed in.

I remember my first and only football coaching assignment. It fell to me quite by accident because one of the junior high assistant coaches quit the first night in Indiana, and I was asked to replace him.

The authenticity of “Coach” and its specificity for detail in coaches’ meetings and sideline staff banter always leave me smiling.

Right down to the show’s theme song turned MSU’s fight song, there is a flavor of gridiron detail in this half-hour comedy.

Of course, adding comic veteran Jerry Van Dyke, who plays lovable assistant coach Luther Horatio Van Dam, to the cast was a brilliant move. Van Dyke and Nelson are a perfect match, and as head coach and head assistant, they mix well. The two remind me of the relationship head coach Jim Robertson and I had in rural Indiana.

After spending a career of primarily being head coach, I look back to always appreciating the lighter sideline moments. Even today, some three years away from coaching, I still appreciate the tension-breaking moments in the huddle or on the bench.

Although I don’t miss my days in football, I do miss the camaraderie of the staff.

I was an offensive coordinator for our Boston Terriers football squad. Much of what the head coach knew and imparted to our team went way over my head, but I was a good soldier, and I always did what I was told.

Toss into the talented cast of “Coach” actors such as Bill Fagerbakke, who plays Dauber Daubinski, the eight-year graduate who becomes an assistant – he’s a riot – and Shelley Fabares, Fox’s love interest Christine Armstrong, who is best-known for her role as Mary Stone on “The Donna Reed Show” and her smash hit “Johnny Angel” – yes, you’re humming the catchy melody, aren’t you? – and you have the makings of top-notch TV.

What you really have are a lot of football memories wrapped up into one 30-minute piece of replayed TV.

I have many fond memories of my Indiana coaching days. I was nervous about assuming a position as lofty as a football coaching job.

I never played a down of organized football. Nor did I ever have the privilege of playing for the venerable Gerry Hodge, Bangor High’s illustrious gridiron mentor.

What I did have, however, was the joyful experience of being around paid professionals who excelled in other aspects of athletics that I was not trained in or even played, for that matter.

Yes, “Coach” is a good show for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is its ability to strike a positive chord in those who love these games.

30-Second Time Out

All this hubbub about the nefarious videotaping habits of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick reminds me of what Red Auerbach used to say to critics about the opponent’s steaming hot locker room during Celtics spring playoff basketball in Boston at the original Garden.

“It’s an old building.”

BDN columnist Ron Brown, a retired high school basketball coach, can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net