‘A Program in tatters…’

By RICK WATSON

Patriot Sports Columnist

Years ago, the great columnist Dan Callahan wrote a classic piece in The Southwest Times titled “The Pride of Pulaski County”. It was a detailed account that neatly explained the special relationship between a community and the football powerhouse program that Coach Joel Hicks had built at Pulaski County High School.

Friday nights in Dublin were not just another home football game at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium, they were a local cultural event and the envy of every surrounding school.

Fast-forward 52 years after the first football season of the newly consolidated Dublin and Pulaski high schools, and that pride is nowhere to be found. The Cougars finished a winless (0-10) season as they walked off the field at Hidden Valley last Friday night. The Titans had not won a game in nearly three full seasons, yet ended that streak against Pulaski County. A Hidden Valley team that had lost to Salem 84-0 the previous week. And alas, completed the first Cougars winless football campaign since 1975, the second year of Dave Brown’s program.

So how did it all get to this point? How has any of this program destruction been allowed to transpire? Are there no administrators, coaches, or school board members concerned enough to enforce change in this losing culture? These are questions that I have for myself because I do not know any of the answers. As a former player for Coach Hicks, and as someone who has broadcast many Pulaski County football games over the years, I am invested. This is a program that I grew up with, that taught me the mantle of hard work, and life lessons that have been a huge part of who I am every day of my life.

The Cougars have only 14 wins over the last five seasons, with one playoff appearance. It seems very easy to immediately blame it all on the coaches and the players, but I think that is a convenience as opposed to acknowledging the deeper dive. I have seen and heard many people placing the blame on the kids in the program and questioning their work ethic and commitment. I think that notion alone is careless on its face and is a generalization to deflect responsibility.

Again, I ask questions in this column that I cannot answer, so is there a genuine belief throughout the community that the failing is all on the players? Is there a true rationalization that this is going to fall on the backs of 14-17-year-olds? That seems short-sighted at best and incredibly irresponsible at worst. I think the better question has to be: would these same players be more motivated if the program was stable and in a much better place? Kids are smart and if they see the lack of dedication and commitment to the program from adults, then why should they then show any themselves?

 

This is not a column directed at anyone’s job, security or demands of firings. This is a plea with confidence that the ship can be steered in the right direction once again for Pulaski County football. We have tremendous examples within many programs right here in the New River Valley. Look at Craig County, look at Auburn, also at Carroll County, and in Blacksburg. These were programs that either missed seasons because they did not have enough players or had lengthy losing stretches themselves, but yet here they are winning lots of games today.

I have to believe there are still enough people who live here and who grew up through the rise to power of Pulaski County High School football who want to see it return to prominence. The forefathers at the origin of the consolidation understood the special relationship between community pride, and its football program. School administrators, business leaders, and parents who were driven enough to create a booster program unequaled at the time, executed that recognition perfectly.

Those young men in their sparking gold helmets and burgundy jerseys who walked down those stairs from the Fieldhouse to Joel Hicks Field on Friday night were heroes in their community. They provided inspiration for everyone in the community, regardless of age or football knowledge. It angers me to think that this is just going to be shrugged off and not be given the attention it deserves. It is past time to restore this program that now completely lies in tatters.

There should be no politics or pressure by anyone to feel like the Cougars should be denied the effort to rebuild. There doesn’t need to be any finger pointing for people willing to maximize this effort. It’s all far too important to ignore and it’s time to restore the echoes of the past. I will offer my own assistance in any way that I can to aid in bringing back “The Pride of Pulaski County.”

Go Cougars!!

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