A Tribute: Charlie Huggins

Because it is the beginning of the high school basketball season, I find it appropriate to pay tribute to a Tuscarawas County coaching icon: Charlie Huggins. Saying thanks is something we typically reserve for Thanksgiving Day--noble but oftentimes quite scripted.  Writing this blog, however, allows me the freedom to look back over my life and periodically thank those who have shaped me.  Consider this to be the first thank you--more may occasionally surface as time moves on. Also, this tribute runs longer than my normal blog, but I hope it will hold your attention.  (Note: Most of what follows was originally written in 2000 and has been published in a book my Dover High School students and I wrote entitled We Couldn't Have Done It Alone . . . Volume II.)


As I have made my way, I have had the wonderful opportunity to have thoroughly enjoyed how I have earned my living. Doors have been opened, relationships have been made, and reputations have been established. Obviously, my parents and their upbringing were instrumental in my development.  However, one other person steered me in the right direction. Today, I am paying tribute to a man who influenced me so much.

A taskmaster? Definitely. A teacher? Definitely. A motivator? Definitely. A character? Definitely! It is true I have been motivated by so many people throughout my life, but it is one individual who shaped me, nurtured me, and forced me to see what I could become. That man was Charlie Huggins, the absolute best basketball coach I have ever seen.

The reputation of Coach Huggins certainly preceded him before he became the basketball coach at Indian Valley South High School in the 1970 summer. As a soon-to-be sophomore who loved basketball, I soon realized I would be entering a world I had never before been. In his initial meeting with his players, I heard him explain how the goal was to win the state championship, an ambitious dream yet one that captured my thoughts. Soon thereafter, my classmates and I were making three trips a week to Sherrodsville where Coach Huggins's fledgling basketball camp was located. For the first time, I was in a summer league playing against opponents from other schools and starting on the educational trip of my life. Little did I realize where that trip would lead me.

As my familiarity with the coach increased, so did my respect. I was always in awe of him, and it soon became obvious that if I could only withstand the pressure of playing for him, I would soon join a select club, a somewhat elite club, of those who had survived. He had an aura about him that demanded respect. Whether it was his piercing voice, his impressive knowledge, his motivational tactics, his unceasing baiting of officials, or his reputation for winning, we all knew he was the one who was going to make us better players and better individuals than we had been. Simply put, we believed . . . and that was the key.

I would like to say I totally worshipped the man, but in so doing I would not be telling the whole truth. The fact is I went through periods where I literally could not stand him. In the midst of three-to-four hour nightly practices, I found it so easy to wish I were home doing something else, anything  but standing in that Port Washington gym listening to him rant and rave about our lack of mental discipline. Moments existed when I wanted nothing more than for him to suddenly "pack up and head out of town." While in those situations, I could not understand his motivational tactics. He had a way of knocking each of us down emotionally and then gradually pulling us back up. What I did not grasp at the time was that he truly knew what made each of us "tick" . . . he knew us better than we knew ourselves. So, while he was knocking us down and preventing us from becoming arrogant over our successes, he was successfully uniting our team. Because none of us were spared, he was forcing us to have one common individual to unify our frustrations:  him . . . and not our teammates.

It took me years to understand his strategies, but in time I realized what he had done. He knew each of us was not going to quit, despite our private thoughts of doing just that. Rather, he knew he had what each of us wanted:  a winner . . . and he was so right. When the time came for our mental discipline to be exposed, we met the challenge, time after time. Those long nights of practice, those incessant corrections about doing tasks exactly right instead of almost right, and the constant repetition of drills had accomplished what he had anticipated. We blossomed into an outstanding team, a 51-1 team, and the primary reason was Coach Huggins.

Simply writing about what I remember from my high school days would encompass so many pages that it would be unfeasible to do so. In addition, the winning my high school teams did is not why I am writing my tribute to Coach Huggins. I am writing this to verify why he has been so invaluable in my life. It has taken me many years to sit down and say what I have wanted to this man, so this tribute is long overdue. To Coach Charlie Huggins, I proudly write these words:

Coach, thanks for kicking me (figuratively) in the hind end when I was playing for you. Your persistence in instilling a work ethic has never left me, and I truly realize that self-discipline is such an integral part of individual success.

Coach, thanks for making me learn basketball; I do not mean just the X and O part of the game--I mean the attention to detail, the importance of execution, and the team concept. When I became a coach, I quickly realized how well prepared I was about the fundamentals of the game. Your devotion to these fundamentals truly made you "a man ahead of your times."

Coach, thanks for allowing a highly average player to reach his ability level. Because you realized there was a role for kid who would work hard for you, you made me feel I could be a part of a great tradition; I have never forgotten that you gave me a tremendous opportunity.

Coach, thanks for teaching me about loyalty. You made it clear--without ever saying it--that if I could endure your coaching, I would have earned a special place in your heart . . . and you have never forgotten.

Coach, thanks for showing me how important it is to always be a student, whether that be academic or athletic. Through your continual devotion to your camp, you were always learning the game so that you would have the edge over your competition. That same principle remained paramount in my professional life; I knew I could not sit idly back and rest on my laurels. The moment that would happen is when I would lose my edge . . . I learned that merely by observing you.

Coach, thanks for remaining loyal to your values. To this day, I have never heard you swear, and I have never heard you waiver from your beliefs. I have learned that a strong man is one who lives by a value system, whether it is identical to yours or not.

Coach, thanks for remaining humble through all those years. Anyone who has ever heard your name has an opinion of you--some complimentary, some not--but all know how great a coach you were.  From you, I have learned that the moment success controls me is the moment I begin to become less effective. To continually be working toward success is the sign of humility.

Coach, thanks for your sense of humor. I always knew you would make me laugh in one way or another. That ability to successfully intermix discipline, hard work, and a sense of humor continues to impress me. You had a way of making me realize that when we were done with our work for the evening, we could still enjoy each other's uniqueness. If imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, then I have paid you the most sincere compliment simply because I always tried to do the same in my role as a teacher and a coach . . . and it worked.

For all these years, I had wanted to sincerely thank Coach Huggins for his role in my life, but quite frankly, I had always found it so difficult to walk up to the man and express what I had wanted to say. During the 1998 summer, however, I almost cracked. While working his camp to watch our Dover High School basketball players, I was talking with Coach Huggins when he suddenly interrupted our conversation by saying, "Mikey, you should be proud of yourself.  You've made yourself into a successful man, a great teacher, and an excellent coach.  I'm proud of you."

I absolutely did not know what to say. Quickly, I uttered a thank you, and then both of us were on our way doing something else. What Coach did not realize was that I had waited my whole adult life to hear those words. As I drove home that evening, I could think of nothing but our conversation. Part way home, I realized I had tears running from my eyes. I had won his respect, and his words only cemented the fact that I became who I am today largely because of my relationship with him.

From a skinny high school sophomore to a balding middle-aged man, I have been on an amazing educational trip. The teacher: Charlie Huggins, a man who made his mark on my life and a man whom I truly admire.