RICHLANDS UNSUNG HEROES
BY: BRIAN WOODSON, December 4. 2005, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Greg Mance has been here before. Some of his best friends have not. Until today.
“We've got some assistant coaches on our staff that have never been a state championship game and I'm excited for them,” Mance said. “This is my third one and I can remember what it felt like the first time to go as a player. To this day I can remember everything.”
In 1980, Mance played for Giles, helping the Spartans win the Group AA state title with a 33-32 win over Park View-Sterling. In 1992, Mance was an assistant at Richlands when the Tornado earned a Division 4 state title with a 19-10 win over Orange County.
Thirteen years later, Mance is shooting for the trifecta, as the Richlands’ head coach leads the Blue Tornado into today’s Division 3 state championship game against Turner Ashby
“That would be nice,” Mance said. “I have never thought of it like that, but I could hit for the cycle.”
Mance was like the rest of the Richlands supporters as the clock ticked down last Saturday. The Blue Tornado survived a late missed field goal by Liberty to hang on for a 23-20 win and advance to Lynchburg.
“When we got the ball back with seven seconds left, the first thing I thought of is we're going to Lynchburg,” Mance said. “At that time, you're excited for the town and the community.
“The (fans) come out here and they're our 12th man. I know they take a lot of pride in our football team and our football players.”
While parents and other supporters of the Richlands football team were busy last Sunday making travel plans, the Blue Tornado coaching staff was ignoring the NFL games on television and preparing for today’s game. It was a much better feeling than last year when Richlands lost to Salem in the state semifinals, and never got the chance to play in week 14.
“I'm excited, I know our coaching staff is too,” Mance said. “We were up here nine hours (last) Sunday putting in the game plan and everybody is just ready to go.
“This is our ultimate dream. We talked about it last year, we came up one game short of this game last year and we all kind of made the commitment. We (had) some kids coming back, and we thought that if we busted our hind ends and we made the commitment as a coaching staff and the kids made the commitment, we could get back to this point.”
They did, and they are. Mance said this opportunity means just as much to the coaching staff as it does the players. Some of Mance’s assistants have been here before, including Terry Weiss, Dennis Palmer and Jeff Tarter. Weiss was the head coach at Richlands in 1993, leading the Tornado to a 7-3 record. Palmer has been the defensive coordinator at Richlands for more than a decades, while Tarter is nicknamed ‘Little Frank’ because of his passion for special teams, much like Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer.
The rest of his staff includes Ronnie Davis, Michael Davis, Mike Henry, Frank Daugherty, Chris Altizer, Brad Strong and James Cochran. Mance is glad to see them all get a chance at state glory.
“It's the best group of assistant coaches, it's the strength of the program,” Mance said. “We went to two 7-on-7 camps this year. Jeff Tarter took two trips on his own to take them to Penn State for a Nike camp and took them to a kicking camp in Tennessee.
“Everybody works and everybody is committed to one thing and that is winning.”
Like most teams, the assistant coaches are the unsung heroes of any team. The players get the headlines, the head coaches deliver the quotes, but the remainder of the staff are largely anonymous. Except to the players, the head coach and anyone else who wants a successful football program.
“People don't realize it, but they come up here four days a week in the summer, and they don't make a dime for that,” Mance said. “They're here in the winter, they're here in the spring at 6 a.m. in the morning, opening the weight room for these kids. They're here after school, and nobody gets paid.”
Their payday could come today. A state championship.
“I tell people that the strength of our program is the dedication and work ethic of our football players, and our assistant coaches,” Mance said. “They do a great job of coaching and our players love them. They're dedicated and committed to winning.”
Email: berry1974@adelphia.net
