It’s a tale of two cities. Close-by cities Sylacauga and Pell City will join on Saturday, March 29, to honor a football coach who influenced hundreds of students in both.
The Museum of Pell City will be the site for Coach Pete Rich’s 90th birthday celebration. It is in suite 200 on the second floor at 1000 Bruce Etheridge Parkway, from noon to 3 p.m.
The birthday observance will be preceded by the museum’s 11 a.m. opening of a tribute exhibit to Rich and coach Will Glover, Pell City’s winningest coach of all time. The title of the exhibit is COACH.
More here.
Rich ended his three-decades-long football coaching career as a coach of his alma mater, the Pell City Panthers. Before that, he was assistant coach from 1961 to 1969 under legendary head coach Tom Calvin at Sylacauga High School.
A Pell City hometown boy, Pete Rich grew up in the Avondale Mill Village back when the mill was active. Interestingly, Sylacauga also has an Avondale mill village, and its mill is also now inactive—a tale of two cities.
Rich played football for Pell City High School and worked at the mill during the summers. He graduated from Southern Miss in 1957 and started coaching football, baseball and basketball at Jones Valley High School.
He began coaching at Sylacauga High School in 1961, where he stayed for eight years. That was plenty long enough to influence hundreds of players and physical education students there. They still remember, and many will be there on March 29, traveling the short distance to Pell City.
He had a homecoming from Sylacauga to Pell City to become head coach in 1969. After five years as the head coach, he stepped down to be closer to the players as defensive coordinator — fewer administrative duties and more personal interaction. That was Coach Pete Rich.
He retired from coaching in 1991, having served on the coaching staff at Pell City High School for 22 years.
In total, he coached for 34 years, touching the lives of thousands who consider him a friend and mentor.
Now, students from Pell City and Sylacauga will gather for Coach Rich’s 90th birthday. He has been blessed with an abundant life, as have those who were students under him.
In Pell City, Rich was known as “the architect of building character in the players he coached. (His legacy) will live on in the values instilled in their teams – character, discipline, teamwork and leadership.”
The football stadium at Pell City is named for him – The Coach Pete Rich Stadium.
Sylacauga writer and former city council member Tom Roberts said of the coach, “Coach Pete Rich was a wonderful friend, neighbor and mentor/coach to a lot of kids back in the day in Sylacauga, before becoming a true legend in neighboring Pell City.”
One of his players from Sylacauga High, Wayne Stephens, is uniquely positioned to know and appreciate Coach Rich. Stephens played under Coach Rich, coached under him, coached against him and then covered him when Stephens was in the broadcast booth. He can tell some Pete Rich stories. Expect Wayne Stephens to be telling some on March 29.
Stephens said of Rich, “He is loved and respected by athletes and students at two different schools across many years of coaching. He also has the respect and friendship of many other coaches over the years at Pell City and their opponents.”
Pell City writer Roxann Edsall said:
“His fame is less about statistics and more about relationships.
“His biggest victories are still being realized in the lives of the young men he inspired in his 34 years of coaching high school football. And those former football players, many whom are now retired from successful careers, say Coach Rich was a powerful force in shaping them into the people they are today.”
Many of Coach Rich’s former students have gone on to successful lives totally outside of athletics. One of many examples is Alabama State Senator Lance Bell (R-Pell City), who played guard from 1987 to 1989 under Rich. Sen. Bell said: “Coach Rich was like a second father to me. He taught us about discipline and about life.”
“He was a father figure for all of us,” adds former tight end Leslie Smith. “He is bigger than life. I mean, the man still lifts weights at 88 years old!” Coach Rich has had that weight room at his home since he started coaching Pell City football in 1969, and it has always been open to any of his players.
“Coach truly saved my life,” chimes in Bobby Watson, tight end and linebacker from 1975 to 1978. “He got me into weightlifting when I was 18 years old,” he tells. “That habit saved me later in life, when, in 2014, I suffered a bilateral quad rupture. I was told I’d never walk again.”
Watson credits Coach Rich with teaching him the value of strength training through weightlifting. Weightlifting, rehab exercises and sheer determination, he says, helped him to regain his mobility. Not only is he walking again, he is now a strength coach and strength coordinator for the Trussville YMCA.
Sammy Brown, played defensive end during the ’74-’75 season and again the next year. He gets emotional talking about Coach Rich. “He was always open to listen. I could go to his house and sit outside with him and when I left, it felt like a huge burden was lifted. He cared so much about others.” When Brown later had a wife and children of his own, he said Coach would often come to his home after his own family Christmas and share in the Brown family celebration.
His former players are devoted to him and, when you meet him, it’s easy to see why. When he’s involved in a conversation, he is committed to it. He does treat people as if they are the most special person in that moment. His sense of humor is part of his charm. He’ll often start a story off with “I ought not tell this …” and then chuckle as he tells it.
Coach Rich admits to working his boys hard, but it was second nature to him. “I made sure my kids worked hard. It was just the way I was raised,” he says. “My mama always made sure I worked hard as a kid. I remember coming home from school one day and mama said to get ready because I was about to be picked up to go out and help plow the fields.”
Although he had plenty of opportunities to advance in the world of coaching, he was committed to his community and remained with Pell City High School.
He and his wife, Gwen, raised their two children, Lori (Billingsley) and Brian, in Pell City. “We always had people around the house, either visiting my dad or using the weight room,” says Brian. “It was like Grand Central Station, but it was good. Both Mom and Dad are great. I feel like I won the parent lottery with them!” Brian did play some football and basketball, but tennis turned out to be his best sport.
Former player Jerry Posey was not quite as blessed in his childhood experiences. His dad suffered from alcoholism and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Coach Rich, he says, was one of the first positive influences in his life. “I was from the housing project, and he was from the mill village,” said Posey. “He treated everyone the same. He was an unbelievable influence for me.”
Watch for something at the 90th birthday celebration. Watch to see if Coach Rich gathers his former players into a huddle. Then, he leads them in prayer, just as he did before each game.
Contributions to this article by Discoverstclair.com, Roxann Edsall
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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