Great article on Coach Tom Turner

[imported_DAWG]

'Low-life single-A' era ends
Wednesday, March 01, 2006

By GEORGE THWAITES
Times-News



I always knew this day would come but I never thought it would come so soon.

As of today, Appalachia head coach Tommy Turner - who led his Bulldogs to five state football championships - has officially retired.

This is a sad moment for this sportswriter yet, thankfully, not nearly as sad as it might have been.

Turner suffered an acute medical emergency after last fall's regular-season game with J.I. Burton, after which it was rumored that he had died.

He hadn't, of course. But the dramatic incident made clear that his coaching days were drawing to a close.

Turner indicated he'll probably stay close enough to the program to "still hear the pads pop." But he admitted he is no longer physically able to devote the time and energy to the program that he believes his kids deserve from a head coach.

Like Indiana Jones, Turner's biggest problem isn't the years - it's the mileage.

Over the years I've been privileged to share just a small fraction of those miles. I reported on four of the five Group A, Division 1 state titles won by the Bulldogs on Turner's watch. The first VHSL state championship game I ever covered for this newspaper was Appalachia's 1989 win over Madison County.

Back then, I was so ignorant I didn't even know I was ignorant. I was stunned that Appalachia beat Bath County in the semifinals. How did I ever get sent to cover a state championship football game in a little town where the people had accents just like the narrator on "The Waltons"?

Turner proceeded to educate this ignoramus by beating a Madison squad Appalachia had no real business beating. It was a simple game plan, brilliantly executed. The best offense in the world can't outscore you when you drive the football for 10-minute possessions.

Madison is where the mythology of Appalachia the Eternal Underdog was born. In subsequent years, Turner coined the humorous phrase "low-life single-A" to describe the football dynasty he'd created.

During the 1990s Appalachia fielded several teams that were quite frankly good enough to beat a lot of Group AA squads. In terms of athletic ability, some of those teams probably qualified as Cadillacs. In their own minds, those teams were beat-up 4WD pickup trucks for which there was no such thing as a smooth road. They always played like they had something to prove. And they usually proved it.

As a coach, Turner was both innovative and idiosyncratic. For instance, he never traded game films. Whenever possible, his teams were always tardy, showing up at the stadium in the last minute after warming up elsewhere.

Over the years the dramatic late entrance became par for the course for most of his Lonesome Pine District opponents. But not for Surry County in the 1996 title game played at Bullitt Park.

All through warmups, the Cougar players' heads swiveled for a glimpse of the dreaded Bulldogs. They'd probably heard the urban myth that Appalachia kids were so tough, they held live practices on an asphalt parking lot.

When the band bus showed up, the Surry kids all stopped in the middle of their drills and stared. Cougars coach Willie Gillus was visibly annoyed with his troops. His team was effectively being pre-terrorized for the 40-14 pounding they were about to receive.

After the game, Gillus remarked that Appalachia set a standard for physical toughness that all Division 1 teams had to emulate if any intended to win a state championship.


Despite the tough factor, Turner's offenses were remarkably diverse. Appalachia could do a lot more than merely run the ball down your throat. Turner's gamesmanship has been often cited by his colleagues. Fellow Hall of Famer Nick Colobro has more than once testified to Turner's unconventional cunning.

Turner's defenses - which bore a strong outward resemblance to the wide tackle six - were difficult to fathom in an era dominated by the logic of the 40. As Strasburg learned in the 1992 state title game, that funky defense could prove the wrack and ruin of an all-state quarterback.

Turner's teams could dish it out. Appalachia's 72-7 drilling of Middlesex in the 1994 state championship game was, at the time, the state's most lopsided title win in history. Turner's teams could also take it. After the Bulldogs' 70-0 loss to William Campbell in the 2002 state finals, there was nary a complaint from Turner.


Turner was the kind of coach that confounded his rivals one minute and made them laugh the next. There is more to Turner's career as a coach than many people will ever know, certainly more than anything I could dare fit into a newspaper column. Those are stories for other people to tell.


Several years ago, Powell Valley coach Phil Robbins privately shared one of those apocryphal tales of Turner's generosity, then concluding: "Don't you ever, ever let anyone try to tell you that Tom Turner is an (expletive deleted)."

No sir. I never will.

[Big_AL]

great article thanks for sharing that. I know i will miss tom he is a great man and one heck of a football coach.

[larry_legend]

Also just great tradition. I don't know if anyone else noticed this but i kinda cracked up, anyone see the spit bottle he kept in his back pocket during the regional championship game. That was just classic Tom Turner

I've given George some crap over the years.
But that was one fine article.
Thanks Coach Turner for all the memories and fun over the years.
May your retirement be full of all you want it to be. You have earned it.
Thanks for that lvoe of the game, yet that old fashion work style.

[imported_neutral]

Happy retirement Coach Turner.
May God Bless you and your family.

[NotSoSilentBob]

I'd love to know what that deleted expletive was.

Yeah, I wondered if he would skip the "chew" that is always there. Daddy Dawg stepping down. A new era begins. Thanks Coach Turner, the kids have learned a lot more than football from you. And thanks from an adopted Dawg, just for being around.