We give a shout out to Flomaton head foot- ball coach Doug Vickery for his efforts to see that his players have every opportunity to suc- ceed at their next adventure after high school.
It's easy to pile high school coaches with praise when they when championships. Everywhere they go people are patting them on the back, probably paying for their coffee in the morning and buying their lunch.
People love winners. It's easy to congratu- late winners.
As we interviewed Da'Shun Odom this week about him signing a football scholarship with Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kan., one of the first people he talked about was Coach V.
Odom used up all the eligibility he had with Flomaton High School last year. He was a vital part of the Hurricanes' championship run.
But Coach V kept him in mind. Coach V reached out to the coach at Hutchinson and we can only imagine what he told him - “We've got a guy who graduated last year that can play”.
We imagine that the conversation contin- ued with the fact that Odom could not only help them, but they could help Odom get back on the football field and show his talents.
Coach V is probably not much different from many high school coaches, we simply know him better than most. We have known coaches in the past who simply turned their attention elsewhere when students played their last games with them.
We watched Coach V get tears in his eyes during the ceremony announcing that Daquan Johnson had signed a football schol- arship with Duke University. They weren't fake tears, they were the tears of a proud father who had watched one of his children succeed.
Not knocking other coaches, but we do see the care Coach V has for his players. It goes beyond the weight room and football field. Granted, he wants to build good football play- ers, but he also wants to build good men whose football careers may end with the last whistle in high school.
Thanks Coach V.
