This article appeared in Berry Magazine, the official alumni magazine of Berry College in Rome, Ga., in 2004.
by Mickey Seward
Just over four years ago, Tyler Coats was planning on fulfilling a life-long dream of attending the Georgia Institute of Technology. He had already been accepted by Georgia Tech, and it was the only school to which he applied for admission.
However, just months before Coats was to begin classes in Atlanta, he tagged along with a friend who was going to try out for the baseball team at nearby Berry College. Coats decided to give it a shot, too.
“I didn’t even know Berry had a baseball team,” Coats said. “At the tryout, Coach (David) Beasley told me they could use me if I could get into Berry. So I applied, and got in. I thought I was through with baseball, but God had a different plan. It worked out for Him and definitely for me. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”
And a lot of other people, too.
Coats went on to become one of the best ballplayers ever to wear a Berry uniform, finishing his baseball career ranked among Berry’s all-time top five in batting average, home runs, runs batted in, hits and bases on balls. As a senior in 2004, he helped lead Berry to a 39-23 overall record and into the semifinals of the NAIA Region XI Tournament. He earned a pair of Academic All-American honors and one Athletic All-American award. The guy who four years ago didn’t even know Berry had a baseball team was doing his part to make sure everyone across the Southeast knew about Viking baseball.
But Coats, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in physics this past spring, was recognized for much more than his abilities on the diamond and in the classroom during his years at Berry. In 2003, he was a finalist for the Top Male Amateur Athlete Role Model award, presented to a student-athlete who competes for a college or university in Georgia, or who resides in the state, by the Boy Scouts of America’s Atlanta Area Chapter. In 2004, he won the award, joining the likes of former Florida State University Heisman Trophy winner and National Basketball Association guard Charlie Ward, former University of Georgia and Chicago Bears kicker Kevin Butler and former Georgia Tech guard and NBA All-Star Mark Price as honorees.
Months after learning he had been honored by the Boy Scouts, Coats learned he had earned a national honor that was awarded to just one student-athlete in the entire National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Coats was named the NAIA recipient of the Coca-Cola Community Service All-American award by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
“It means a lot to me personally to win that award, but I’m mostly glad that Berry is recognized because of it,” Coats said of the Community Service All-American honor. “Our reputation is growing, but it means a lot to represent Berry on a national level and share what Martha Berry stood for, and what Berry is intended to be for its students.”
Along with the honor, Coca-Cola and NACDA donated five thousand dollars to Coats’ charity of choice, Habitat For Humanity.
“That kind of money means more than you can imagine,” Bill Harrison of Habitat For Humanity of Rome said. “We do not often see donations that large. We feel pretty good when someone sends us a one hundred dollar check.
"This donation comes at a time when we are below our reserve threshold for construction," Harrison continued. "With this amount, we will easily be able to cover our material expenses, and it allows us time to improve our financial position.”
Coats became involved with Habitat For Humanity while working with Berry’s Athletes Bettering the Community organization, a group of nearly all of the 200-plus Berry student-athletes which also works at various after-school programs, Boys and Girls Clubs, retirement homes, homeless shelters and many other programs to serve those in need. Coats was the group’s president in 2003-04.
“I’m so proud of how ABC has developed and come along,” said Coats, who was one of the organization’s co-founders as a freshman. “The thing about ABC is it is so in line with the school’s beliefs – service above self.”
“Every team on campus is very well represented in ABC, and everyone has really stepped up,” he continued. “There’s always been that commitment from the student-athletes, and as long as they are committed, ABC will be here as long as the college itself is here.”
According to Dr. Janna Johnson, Berry’s associate athletics director who is also an instructor and advisor at the college and serves as ABC’s faculty advisor, Coats is a prime example of the very commitment that he described.
“Tyler epitomizes the head, heart, and hands philosophy at Berry,” Johnson said. “He has succeeded academically and athletically. He also has a strong work ethic and a commitment to helping others. I believe he will always follow Berry's motto, ‘Not to be ministered unto, but to minister.’”
While he was at Berry, Coats also spent time mentoring an elementary school student, and shared his experiences with other Berry student-athletes to encourage others to serve as mentors.
“He let others know how meaningful it is to mentor a young person by sharing his experience with mentoring,” Johnson said. “Tyler is such a great example for me and his peers. He balances school, work, athletics, and community service with patience and a smile on his face. No matter how much pressure he is under, he is kind and respectful of others. “
For Coats, enrolling at Berry allowed him to fulfill two dreams. First, he was able to continue his baseball career. Second, because he came to Berry as part of the college’s dual-degree program with the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech, not only was he working toward a physics degree at Berry, but also toward a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Georgia Tech at the same time.
“The only question coming in was would I need four years at Berry and two at Tech, or three at Berry and two at Tech?” Coats said. “Baseball commitments answered that for me,” said the four-year letter winner. “It turned out that the fourth year was the best year we had as a team.”
Coats began taking classes at Georgia Tech in August, and will need approximately two years to finish his civil engineering degree.
Stepping onto the 400 acre Georgia Tech campus with roughly 16,00 students after spending four years at a school with 70 times more land but 14,000 fewer students might make others somewhat fearful, but Coats is getting along just fine.
“In a way it’s like starting over,” Coats said. “I’m meeting new people and learning about them and how we can help each other, but there’s no way you can meet everybody and grow relationships very quickly.
“But there are a lot of similarities between Berry and Georgia Tech,” he continued. “You still have to wake up and go to class, and there are a lot of opportunities at Berry like there are on other larger campuses.”
Coats has already plugged in with Georgia Tech’s Campus Christian Fellowship, hoping to continue another chapter in a life built on service.
“My belief in God is the main reason I like to get involved,” Coats said. “A huge foundation of the Christian faith is that Jesus commands us to serve others. We are supposed to show people a lifestyle that is pleasing to God and lead by example, not just in what we say but what we do and how we do it.
“One look on the face of a child in a struggling family when you give him a Christmas present, or on a senior citizen at a retirement home when you and your friends sing Christmas carols, and it’s more than worth it,” he continued. “It’s not a huge commitment, but it makes a big difference in their life, and in mine.”
Making a difference seems to be what Coats’ four years at Berry were all about. Not just for him, but for a lot of other folks, too.
“Those were the best four years of my life so far,” Coats said. “I met tons of new people and made lifelong friends. There are a lot of opportunities at Berry that I might not have had at a larger school. You can develop deeper relationships, and I often think about the people I’ve been in contact with who have impacted my life. Hopefully, I’ve impacted their lives in a small way, too.”
When he finishes school, Coats wants to become a builder. If whatever he builds is built on a foundation as solid as Coats’, it just might last forever.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Why Not Me?
This might be my favorite story I've written. It first appeared in a magazine called Texas Baseball News and you can still find it on UTAMavs.com, which is the official website of the University of Texas at Arlington's athletics department. It was written shortly after Gould's death in June, 2001. I hope you enjoy this article about a friend of mine.
by Mickey Seward
It was at a small press briefing early in the spring of 2000 that Clay Gould, then just 28 years old, showed why he would become a role model, even a hero, to so many people, including some much older than him. Gould had just learned that he had cancer, and in a small meeting room in
the athletic department offices at The University of Texas at Arlington, was speaking publicly about the disease for the first time.
"Do you ever ask yourself the question, 'Why me?'" a local newspaper reporter wanted to know.
What followed was so much more than a three-word answer from the Mavericks' head baseball coach. With three words - eight letters - Gould expressed more than any author could in an entire multi-volume set of feel-good best sellers. With three words, Gould expressed his faith in God and a thankfulness for the blessings in his life; his love for his wife Julie and their soon-to-be born daughter Logan; his appreciation and devotion to his family and friends. With three words, Gould told the players who played for him that he was proud of them, and how much he looked forward to the future, no matter how long the future was going to be. And with those same three words, Gould asked a question we all should ask ourselves during our times of struggle.
"Why not me?"
Gould was blessed, and he knew it. He had grown up to be one of the best ballplayers in the history of his hometown university, before moving on to become an all-star outfielder for the Tyler Wildcatters of the independent Texas-Louisiana League. He was on the fast track as a major college coach, taking over at his beloved alma mater at the tender age of 27 years old, just a few weeks shy of 28. He had fallen in love with a model and the two were recently married. A child was on the way. Cancer, Gould reasoned, was just one bad thing that couldn't compare with all the good things in his life.
"That's just how he was," said Jeff Curtis, Gould's assistant coach for two years, and the man who was named to replace Gould as head coach on July 12. "That just shows how strong he was and how he understood what was going on. That's an amazing quote. How could a 28 year old make a comment like that? It's amazing. He's amazing."
That statement, those three words, demonstrated the strength and character that Gould displayed until 1:08 p.m. this past June 23, when he passed away at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas after a 16-month battle with colon cancer. Never once during that time did the second word of Gould's now-familiar three-word reply disappear from his own rhetorical question.
Ironically, while the Texas-Arlington skipper was enduring his worst times in the hospital that he never left after checking in late in April, his team was on its way to a Southland Conference Tournament championship, and ultimately to its first-ever win in an NCAA Regional game. The Mavericks came out of the loser's bracket and swept SLC Tournament host Lamar to hoist the tourney trophy for the first time in team history, as K.J. Hendricks, nicknamed "The Pest" by Gould during fall practice for his pesky play on the field, earned tournament MVP honors.
Less than a week later, senior second baseman Craig Martin, UTA's all-time hits leader who signed with the Evansville Otters of the independent Frontier League following the season, belted a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift UTA to a 7-6 win over the University of Houston in the regionals. Those close to the UTA baseball program call the win the greatest moment in the team's history. Some say it is the highlight of the school's entire athletic past.
"They had a dream season last year," said Butch McBroom, UTA's director of development for the athletic department, who served as the school's head baseball coach from 1974-1999 before handing over the reigns to Gould on June 11, 1999. "It was one of those years where everything fell into place for him, and it couldn't have come at a better time."
Although Gould missed the regionals this year, he's been there before. As a UTA player, he led the Mavericks to the 1990 and 1992 tournament, both held in Austin, Texas, the site of his first ever coaching victory. In fact, Gould is the only member of all three of UTA's NCAA regional teams.
Even though Gould was in a hospital bed at the end of the year, there never was a doubt that these Mavericks were his team, and won with his attitude. UTA won with toughness and determination.
The team made its mark early in the season, and developed a reputation from local and national media as giant killers. UTA defeated then-No. 4 Arizona State on Opening Day in Tempe, Ariz., then ruined No. 20 Texas' season lid-lifter for the second straight year a few days later. The Mavericks started the season 19-4 and finished the season with 39 victories, second most in school history. The team had captured the imagination of the Dallas-Fort Worth area media and the hearts of the Arlington community.
Nobody expected success so soon for a squad made up of 18 newcomers and picked to finish sixth in the SLC pre-season coaches poll. Of course, nobody expected success so early for Gould, either. It didn't come by accident.
"He knew baseball," said Darin Thomas, another of Gould's assistants at UTA who was promoted to associate head coach the same day Curtis was named head coach. "He was one of those people that, when he went to a game he didn't just go to shoot the bull. He didn't like to go around and shake hands and visit all the time. He liked to watch baseball. He was always saying, 'What would you do in this situation?'"
"There's a lot of people who are positive and energetic," Thomas continued. "But he coupled that with knowledge. His first year (when Thomas was still an assistant coach at Seward County Community College in Kansas), I can't tell you how many times he called and said, 'What would you do?' He wasn't afraid to get advice from people he trusted. He was constantly trying to get better in every aspect of his job, and in life."
Gould, it often seemed, enjoyed being underestimated by others and relished the opportunity to prove doubters' opinions of him wrong. He was too young and inexperienced to be successful, many said.
The Arlington native was able to successfully combat the criticism and the lack of head coaching experience with a tireless work ethic and a positive approach to coaching that utilized his proximity in age to his players. His excitement was evident and contagious.
"We didn't want to take four or five years to get it done, because everyone was looking at us," Curtis said. "He was one of the youngest coaches in the NCAA, and had two young guys coming in as assistants. There was a little bit of pressure involved, but he took that and ran with it and made it a motivational factor."
The motivation worked. In July, Gould and Florida International University coach Danny Price were named co-South Central Regional Coaches of the Year by Rawlings and American Baseball Coaches Association. Gould and Price will now have their names listed on the ballot for National Coach of the Year.
Gould is one of the few people to earn major awards as a coach and as a player on the collegiate level. He was the 1993 Southland Conference co-Player of the Year and a nominee for the Golden Spikes Award, presented to the nation's outstanding player, the same season. Yet it was the way he touched the hearts and made a difference in the lives of people that will be his lasting legacy.
"His players loved him," said McBroom. "He was a players' coach."
Gould's age made him close to his players, and he could relate to what they were going through. After all, he went through the same things himself just a few years before. When he became a man, however, he put childish ways behind him.
"He was the rebel," said McBroom. "He did a complete 180 degree change. He was always the kid that we had to make get his hair cut or take his earring out. Then he turned around and was just as hard on his kids in those areas as I was on him."
He cared for his players, and he made sure they were in good hands while they were away from home.
"He treated players the exact way that every parent would want their son to be treated," Curtis said. "He was honest with them and up front with them. He treated them like an adult, and wouldn't let them get away with things that their own parents wouldn't let them get away with. I think if parents could see how their sons were treated by Clay each day, they would have been very impressed."
Gould did more than just teach his players and his assistants. He taught those who had been his teacher.
Texas A&M head coach Mark Johnson, speaking to the nearly 1,500 people at Gould's funeral, said that whenever he visited Gould in the hospital, it was with the intent of cheering up his former graduate assistant coach and helping to keep Gould's Christian faith strong. However, the situation always seemed to reverse itself, Johnson said, and it was the pupil giving strength to the mentor.
Johnson was one of many that spoke about faith with Gould over the past few years. It was because of faith that Gould and Courtney Cash became friends. Cash had served as the team's chaplain since the mid 1990's and had known the young coach since Gould was McBroom's assistant. When Gould was promoted, Cash asked Gould if he could continue as the chaplain. Gould not only said yes, he asked Cash to do more than what he had been doing with the team previously. Cash became a regular in the team's dugout, not only at Allan Saxe Stadium, but also on the road.
"I think Clay understood that he wasn't a preacher," Cash said. "But he felt that it was important that the guys had access to God's word and to ministry. Being with the team was important for me, too, because I have been able to share Christ and build relationships that will last a lifetime. I would not have had that opportunity if Clay didn't open that door."
Cash spent a lot of time with Gould and his family while Gould was in his final days on earth. While a 29-year old father lay on his deathbed, it was he, Cash said, that gave strength to those surrounding him.
"I felt privileged to be a part of that time in Clay's life," Cash said. "To the world, it appeared that this was such a tragedy. But I was really able to see what kind of man he was during this time."
"I saw a strength among his family during the toughest time in Clay's life, and that came from him," Cash said. "They were beneficiaries of his strength."
The original question seemed to be so small, so simple. "Do you ever ask, 'Why me?' A yes or no question, really. Those that heard the question had no idea what it would come to be. The reporter probably had no idea that he had asked about Gould's faith and relationships, his accomplishments and his future.
Gould's answer was an ironically simple, yet profound, question of his own.
Those that knew Gould on a personal basis sometimes ask themselves the question he never did. "Why did it have to be Clay?" They don't know why he was chosen, they just know he was chosen and they miss him. In the weeks and months that passed following that press briefing, Clay Gould never stopped asking himself and anyone who asked him about his illness the question he posed that day.
"Why not me?"
Maybe the answer to their question is the very fact that Gould had the faith to ask his.
by Mickey Seward
It was at a small press briefing early in the spring of 2000 that Clay Gould, then just 28 years old, showed why he would become a role model, even a hero, to so many people, including some much older than him. Gould had just learned that he had cancer, and in a small meeting room in
the athletic department offices at The University of Texas at Arlington, was speaking publicly about the disease for the first time."Do you ever ask yourself the question, 'Why me?'" a local newspaper reporter wanted to know.
What followed was so much more than a three-word answer from the Mavericks' head baseball coach. With three words - eight letters - Gould expressed more than any author could in an entire multi-volume set of feel-good best sellers. With three words, Gould expressed his faith in God and a thankfulness for the blessings in his life; his love for his wife Julie and their soon-to-be born daughter Logan; his appreciation and devotion to his family and friends. With three words, Gould told the players who played for him that he was proud of them, and how much he looked forward to the future, no matter how long the future was going to be. And with those same three words, Gould asked a question we all should ask ourselves during our times of struggle.
"Why not me?"
Gould was blessed, and he knew it. He had grown up to be one of the best ballplayers in the history of his hometown university, before moving on to become an all-star outfielder for the Tyler Wildcatters of the independent Texas-Louisiana League. He was on the fast track as a major college coach, taking over at his beloved alma mater at the tender age of 27 years old, just a few weeks shy of 28. He had fallen in love with a model and the two were recently married. A child was on the way. Cancer, Gould reasoned, was just one bad thing that couldn't compare with all the good things in his life.
"That's just how he was," said Jeff Curtis, Gould's assistant coach for two years, and the man who was named to replace Gould as head coach on July 12. "That just shows how strong he was and how he understood what was going on. That's an amazing quote. How could a 28 year old make a comment like that? It's amazing. He's amazing."
That statement, those three words, demonstrated the strength and character that Gould displayed until 1:08 p.m. this past June 23, when he passed away at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas after a 16-month battle with colon cancer. Never once during that time did the second word of Gould's now-familiar three-word reply disappear from his own rhetorical question.
Ironically, while the Texas-Arlington skipper was enduring his worst times in the hospital that he never left after checking in late in April, his team was on its way to a Southland Conference Tournament championship, and ultimately to its first-ever win in an NCAA Regional game. The Mavericks came out of the loser's bracket and swept SLC Tournament host Lamar to hoist the tourney trophy for the first time in team history, as K.J. Hendricks, nicknamed "The Pest" by Gould during fall practice for his pesky play on the field, earned tournament MVP honors.
Less than a week later, senior second baseman Craig Martin, UTA's all-time hits leader who signed with the Evansville Otters of the independent Frontier League following the season, belted a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift UTA to a 7-6 win over the University of Houston in the regionals. Those close to the UTA baseball program call the win the greatest moment in the team's history. Some say it is the highlight of the school's entire athletic past.
"They had a dream season last year," said Butch McBroom, UTA's director of development for the athletic department, who served as the school's head baseball coach from 1974-1999 before handing over the reigns to Gould on June 11, 1999. "It was one of those years where everything fell into place for him, and it couldn't have come at a better time."
Although Gould missed the regionals this year, he's been there before. As a UTA player, he led the Mavericks to the 1990 and 1992 tournament, both held in Austin, Texas, the site of his first ever coaching victory. In fact, Gould is the only member of all three of UTA's NCAA regional teams.
Even though Gould was in a hospital bed at the end of the year, there never was a doubt that these Mavericks were his team, and won with his attitude. UTA won with toughness and determination.
The team made its mark early in the season, and developed a reputation from local and national media as giant killers. UTA defeated then-No. 4 Arizona State on Opening Day in Tempe, Ariz., then ruined No. 20 Texas' season lid-lifter for the second straight year a few days later. The Mavericks started the season 19-4 and finished the season with 39 victories, second most in school history. The team had captured the imagination of the Dallas-Fort Worth area media and the hearts of the Arlington community.
Nobody expected success so soon for a squad made up of 18 newcomers and picked to finish sixth in the SLC pre-season coaches poll. Of course, nobody expected success so early for Gould, either. It didn't come by accident.
"He knew baseball," said Darin Thomas, another of Gould's assistants at UTA who was promoted to associate head coach the same day Curtis was named head coach. "He was one of those people that, when he went to a game he didn't just go to shoot the bull. He didn't like to go around and shake hands and visit all the time. He liked to watch baseball. He was always saying, 'What would you do in this situation?'"
"There's a lot of people who are positive and energetic," Thomas continued. "But he coupled that with knowledge. His first year (when Thomas was still an assistant coach at Seward County Community College in Kansas), I can't tell you how many times he called and said, 'What would you do?' He wasn't afraid to get advice from people he trusted. He was constantly trying to get better in every aspect of his job, and in life."
Gould, it often seemed, enjoyed being underestimated by others and relished the opportunity to prove doubters' opinions of him wrong. He was too young and inexperienced to be successful, many said.
The Arlington native was able to successfully combat the criticism and the lack of head coaching experience with a tireless work ethic and a positive approach to coaching that utilized his proximity in age to his players. His excitement was evident and contagious.
"We didn't want to take four or five years to get it done, because everyone was looking at us," Curtis said. "He was one of the youngest coaches in the NCAA, and had two young guys coming in as assistants. There was a little bit of pressure involved, but he took that and ran with it and made it a motivational factor."
The motivation worked. In July, Gould and Florida International University coach Danny Price were named co-South Central Regional Coaches of the Year by Rawlings and American Baseball Coaches Association. Gould and Price will now have their names listed on the ballot for National Coach of the Year.
Gould is one of the few people to earn major awards as a coach and as a player on the collegiate level. He was the 1993 Southland Conference co-Player of the Year and a nominee for the Golden Spikes Award, presented to the nation's outstanding player, the same season. Yet it was the way he touched the hearts and made a difference in the lives of people that will be his lasting legacy.
"His players loved him," said McBroom. "He was a players' coach."
Gould's age made him close to his players, and he could relate to what they were going through. After all, he went through the same things himself just a few years before. When he became a man, however, he put childish ways behind him.
"He was the rebel," said McBroom. "He did a complete 180 degree change. He was always the kid that we had to make get his hair cut or take his earring out. Then he turned around and was just as hard on his kids in those areas as I was on him."
He cared for his players, and he made sure they were in good hands while they were away from home.
"He treated players the exact way that every parent would want their son to be treated," Curtis said. "He was honest with them and up front with them. He treated them like an adult, and wouldn't let them get away with things that their own parents wouldn't let them get away with. I think if parents could see how their sons were treated by Clay each day, they would have been very impressed."
Gould did more than just teach his players and his assistants. He taught those who had been his teacher.
Texas A&M head coach Mark Johnson, speaking to the nearly 1,500 people at Gould's funeral, said that whenever he visited Gould in the hospital, it was with the intent of cheering up his former graduate assistant coach and helping to keep Gould's Christian faith strong. However, the situation always seemed to reverse itself, Johnson said, and it was the pupil giving strength to the mentor.
Johnson was one of many that spoke about faith with Gould over the past few years. It was because of faith that Gould and Courtney Cash became friends. Cash had served as the team's chaplain since the mid 1990's and had known the young coach since Gould was McBroom's assistant. When Gould was promoted, Cash asked Gould if he could continue as the chaplain. Gould not only said yes, he asked Cash to do more than what he had been doing with the team previously. Cash became a regular in the team's dugout, not only at Allan Saxe Stadium, but also on the road.
"I think Clay understood that he wasn't a preacher," Cash said. "But he felt that it was important that the guys had access to God's word and to ministry. Being with the team was important for me, too, because I have been able to share Christ and build relationships that will last a lifetime. I would not have had that opportunity if Clay didn't open that door."
Cash spent a lot of time with Gould and his family while Gould was in his final days on earth. While a 29-year old father lay on his deathbed, it was he, Cash said, that gave strength to those surrounding him.
"I felt privileged to be a part of that time in Clay's life," Cash said. "To the world, it appeared that this was such a tragedy. But I was really able to see what kind of man he was during this time."
"I saw a strength among his family during the toughest time in Clay's life, and that came from him," Cash said. "They were beneficiaries of his strength."
The original question seemed to be so small, so simple. "Do you ever ask, 'Why me?' A yes or no question, really. Those that heard the question had no idea what it would come to be. The reporter probably had no idea that he had asked about Gould's faith and relationships, his accomplishments and his future.
Gould's answer was an ironically simple, yet profound, question of his own.
Those that knew Gould on a personal basis sometimes ask themselves the question he never did. "Why did it have to be Clay?" They don't know why he was chosen, they just know he was chosen and they miss him. In the weeks and months that passed following that press briefing, Clay Gould never stopped asking himself and anyone who asked him about his illness the question he posed that day.
"Why not me?"
Maybe the answer to their question is the very fact that Gould had the faith to ask his.
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