Former NFL quarterback Joe Theisman once said, “Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.”
Yogi Berra, perhaps the most quotable athlete of all time, said, “No one goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.”
While the following quotes from local coaches and athletes during the 2019-20 school year are not necessarily funny, we’ve ranked these as the best 10.
From comments after crushing losses, triumphant wins, death and a global pandemic, and even one about race relations, Tipton County-area student-athletes and coaches had plenty to say.
“I address it at the beginning of the season, that’s it. They do a good job for the most part. If I catch wind of it, we’re going to have a one-on-one talk. If you bring shame on this program it’s a quick ticket out of this program. I can count on one hand the social media problems I’ve had.”
– MUNFORD FOOTBALL COACH NICK MARKLE, about his players’ use of social media
“It was amazing, it was amazing. And to do it here on this night against a team we lost to, to come back and get the win, it was amazing. We just had to come in and play for my brothers, guys like this here (Caleb Winfrey).”
– JALEN FAYNE, after Covington defeated South Gibson 14-10 in the playoffs
“It was always on our mind, but in my case I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t want to upset somebody and bring back those memories. It was always fresh. You had a game to focus on, but what was on your mind was Chase and Steve-O. You can’t get over something like that. You can’t talk about it or release your emotions because you don’t want to upset anybody.”
– MUNFORD BASEBALL PLAYER TRISTAN GOURLEY, concerning the death of teammates Chase Suggs and Steven Kendrick
“They kept saying, ‘We have to start off strong. We don’t want to have to make a comeback.’ They did more talking than I did at that point. They said, ‘Let’s make some history,’ and they did.”
– ROSEMARK VOLLEYBALL COACH AMY WEATHERINGTON, after her team beat six-time defending champ Webb School in sub-state action
“You get to be a kid being a coach. You really do. There’s a lot of headaches but you get to hang out and be one the guys, hang out with your staff. I don’t know of any other job where you get to give a speech before you run out of the tunnel and get the guys fired up. There’s nothing like it. I’ll miss that, getting to lead those kids out.”
– TRA FOOTBALL COACH COLLIN PINNER, talking about resigning as head football coach
“I just had to calm myself down and do what was best for the team. I had to think about the team and do what I was supposed to. do.”
– MUNFORD FOOTBALL PLAYER JESSE SAVAGE, after kicking the game-winning field goal in a 30-27 double overtime win over Kirby
“Wins and losses are what they are. There’s so many things you can’t control. Things don’t always turn out storybook, but there’s going to be a time when we’re dog piling and that’s when we’ll honor them. I can’t tell you when that’s going to be, but when we do we’ll say, ‘This one’s for y’all.’”
– MUNFORD BASEBALL COACH SCOTTY YOUNT, talking about his team trying to honor Steven Kendrick and Chase Suggs, who died in vehicular accidents
“The biggest thing was, ‘That’s not assistant coach Kirby, that’s the man running things now. That’s kind of gone. They know who the voice is down here. They find that out pretty quickly.”
– COVINGTON FOOTBALL COACH J.R. KIRBY, talking about becoming the head coach
“We’re not giving up until they say it’s over … I know the four us (seniors) would be just devastated. For three years you look forward to being a senior, all those special nights and getting to lead the team and all of sudden it’s just unexpectedly taken away. It’s awful.”
– COVINGTON SOFTBALL PLAYER LEAH BEASLEY, talking about the possibility of COVID-19 cancelling the softball season
“It was really tough at first. Me, personally, I didn’t think that I belonged. Then everybody was super nice and it’s just like a big family over here. It’s actually fun. I enjoy coming here every day. There’s not a day I don’t want to be at this school because I like it so much.”
– TRA BASKETBALL PLAYER ALEX ANDERSON, when asked what is what like transferring to a nearly all-white school
