By Dixon Bledsoe
With the arrival of fall comes blitzes, stunts, fly sweeps, memories and memories in the making.
Butch Fergus has memories of a championship season – 1991 when Silverton High School won the state championship in football. Jim McIntire, Silverton High School Class of 1986, played four positions – middle linebacker, fullback, punter and kicker and was a teammate of Jim Hobbs, a varsity tailback and cornerback. Mark Hannan, now principal of Silverton High School, knows full well what it takes to make a large group of athletes work in synch. He was an offensive and defensive lineman from 1981-1983 at Silverton High School.
For Fergus, McIntire, Hobbs and Hannan it is now all about handing off the pigskin to the next generation – their sons. All four fathers are now coaching their sons for the Future Fox football program, as part of the Mid-Valley Pop Warner league. And they love it, despite the challenges coaching their progeny presents.
“Coaching a team with my son Justin on it has been almost as much fun and a learning experience as playing back in the day. The best part is seeing these young players learn life lessons like overcoming adversity, pushing themselves and how to win and lose,” Hobbs said recently as the eighth-grade Black team was about to take the field against the Lebanon Warriors.
Justin, 13, a fullback and defensive end, is like most teen boys – a man of few words.
“I like having my dad as my coach. It makes me try harder.”
For Hannan, coaching his sons Kellen and Cooper is what dreams are made of.
“My dad coached us and it was wonderful. I have always dreamed of coaching my own boys and it is just like I imagined,” Hannan said.
The Hannan boys are having a ball, too.
“It’s very fun to have him as our coach because he’s a good sport and supports us even when we get our butts kicked,” 8-year-old Kellen said. He is an offensive and defensive lineman like his dad. Ten-year-old Cooper Hannan is a quarterback and linebacker.
“We like having dad here to cheer us on and keep us going. And I really love dad coaching for us because he knows what he’s doing and corrects us, then works with us at home,” Cooper said.
Butch Fergus and Owen Von Flue both played on the 1991 state championship football team for Silverton High School. Now, they both coach their sons. Fergus said he enjoys working with his son, Miles, and has some sage advice for fathers coaching their sons.
“You have to have a lot of fun and keep things separate between being a father and a coach,” Butch Fergus said. “It isn’t wise to be overbearing, but it’s better to help show them all the opportunities they’ve been provided and hope they take advantage of those opportunities.”
When asked how it was to have his father as a coach, Miles replied, “It was kind of weird at first. I called him dad and coach – a little of both. But now it is a lot of fun.” Miles, 13, is a defensive end and tackle.
“Coaching a son is both a challenge and very rewarding,” said Jim McIntire, whose 13-year-old son Logan is a defensive lineman and plays some linebacker. “I coach the offense and he is on defense, so I don’t get to coach him much on his positions, but it is definitely a rewarding thing.”
Logan agrees, “It is really fun to have my dad here. He knows so much about football and I learn a lot from him.”
When asked if the game has changed much, Jim Hobbs concedes, “The biggest difference I see is the increased emphasis on training in the off-season, and the level of commitment it takes to be competitive at the high school level.”
The best advice he has ever given Justin? “Play every down like it is your last. But the worst advice I’ve given him? Any advice given on the ride home after a loss!”
All of the coaches have a great deal of respect for the support given from John Mannion, the head football coach at Silverton High School, and for how all levels from the Mighty Mights to the eighth grade Black team seem to be better synchronized for continuity throughout the system.
And Mannion knows a thing or two about playing football and coaching a son. A quarterback for San Rafael High School from 1982-85, Mannion went on to coach his son, Sean, for three years at Foothill High School in Pleasonton, Calif.
Sean Mannion is the starting quarterback for Oregon State. On coaching sons, Mannion does not profess to have all the answers, but his advice is helpful for parents coaching their children.
“Enjoy it. It can be nerve-wracking because it is a totally different dynamic. Be positive, because it really helped Sean and me get to a whole other level as father and son,” Mannion said.
“It can be a great thing, but the best advice I can give on coaching your kids, boys or girls – Don’t take it home. Big mistake,” Mannion said. “You can’t live it 24/7. Coach your kid like any kid on the field, but at home, be the dad, not the coach.”
