Sprinkled throughout are scores of sportsmanship shoutouts, clinics he’s spoken at and educator of the year mentions.
There are even won/loss records.
It’s the kind of colorful life print that makes you reflect on just what you’ve accomplished in comparison.
I winced.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “By the time you’re 63, you’ll have plenty of things, too.”
Nice try; I know better.
Place will bring more than 40 years of those kinds of honors to Withrow High School, where he was named head football coach this week. He’s as renowned in these parts as any coach ever has been. It didn’t hurt that he led Chaminade Julienne to the 2002 Division II state championship.
Two of his CJ players — Javon Ringer and Brandon McKinney — are still active in the NFL, whenever it returns to life.
Withrow was in a pinch, losing its former coach earlier this month. That late is disaster. Then it belted a home run.
“We were able to bring in the best coach who could pick things up where we left off and progress us, take us to a different direction and grow it, and he’s got a proven track record for that,” Withrow AD Darren Braddix said.
Place is as fixated on inner-city youth as he is a spread offense and shutdown defense. A lot of those awards were for his work in character education and motivation. He’ll continue to work those fields at Withrow, also.
Think this nation could use a few more people of that ilk?
It really doesn’t matter what Place accomplishes — or not — at Withrow at this point in his coaching career. He’s already a winner at what matters most.
Contact this writer at (937) 225-2381 or mpendleton@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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