This is an opinion piece.
After 43 years as a football coach – most of which came on the high school level – Fred Riley officially hung up his whistle earlier this week.
Does he have any regrets?
“Since the day I announced I was stepping away from coaching, I’ve shot 76, 74 and 76 on the course,” he said. “Not one time did my mind wander to schematic play-calling football stuff. I have a wonderful life.”
Riley retired from public schools in 2018 after 14 years as head coach at Davidson High in Mobile. Since that time, he has been the coach and co-owner – with wife Susan – of the Fairhope Storm, a professional football team on the Eastern Shore.
He announced his retirement from coaching this week. Defensive coordinator Edwin Frazier has been named the new head coach. Kendyl Williamson is now the team’s offensive coordinator. Riley will continue with the franchise as co-owner.
The Storm has always been a ministry for the Rileys, a way to pour into the lives of young men through football. The plan from Day 1 has been for Riley to coach until the team was on stable ground with quality leaders on the staff and in the franchise.
That time is now.
“Truthfully, I was starting to lean in the wrong direction in terms of what we were doing,” Riley told me this week. “I felt like I was getting caught up too much in the winning and the losing and not in the ministerial part of it. It was stressing me and stressing Susan and neither of us wanted that.
“She was thrilled with my decision to step away from coaching. She knew it was time before I did. She didn’t push or prod. She waited for it to be my idea. It’s time.”
Riley retired from high school coaching five years ago as Davidson’s all-time wins leader at 110-50. His teams reached the playoffs 10 times in 14 years and made a pair of Class 6A semifinal appearances in 2008 and 2010.
He also spent two years as head coach at Coffee, five at Robertsdale and one year at Ensley. Riley has 178 high school victories. His Storm teams made the playoffs each year, won a pair of division titles and went to the semifinals once.
“Coaching is a tough business,” Riley said. “It is difficult. You are never going to please everyone. You are never going to win enough games or get everyone a scholarship or provide enough playing time for everyone. If you get caught up in all of it, it can eat you alive. That is why so many coaches get out of it.
“You have to remember your ‘Why.’ Winning championships is fun. Winning is fun. It makes everything better. We might have strayed away from our ‘why’ occasionally, but we always came back to the desire to impact young men’s lives in a positive manner. That’s always been the goal.”
Even without being on the sideline each week of the spring season with the Storm, the goal remains the same to this day. Riley said in his five years with the Storm he has had four players receive full-time job from the franchise’s corporate sponsors and also seen numerous players baptized.
“To be a coal miner’s kid who decided at 8 years old he was going to be a football coach and to be able to see that dream come true, we’ve been very blessed,” he said. “God placed that calling on my heart, and He has navigated us through it and will continue to do that in whatever is next in our journey.”
What’s next is stepping off the sidelines and letting Frazier and company lead the team on the field.
“It was time to do this,” Riley said. “I wanted to get to a place where I thought they could do it better than me, and I think they can now. I think they will run with it, grow with it and do an outstanding job.”
Meanwhile, Riley can keep the overall ministry vision intact and keep his golf score in the 70s.
Back in town
Former Fairhope multi-sport star and current Duke University starting quarterback Riley Leonard will be back home June 17 to host a football camp for grades 1-8. The camp will be held at W.C. Majors Field at Fairhope from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is open to boys and girls.
Leonard is raising money for the Rotary Youth Club and the Buy a Brick Foundation. He will be bringing some Duke teammates with him. Fairhope High coach Tim Carter and his staff also will assist.
Riley is getting some early buzz as a possible darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate in 2023, and his Blue Devils start the season with a huge game against Clemson. To register for the camp, log on to QBREPS.com/camps.
Other news from around the state
Hoover has named Harley Lamey athletic director. Lamey has been the Bucs’ wrestling coach for the past two seasons. Pelham City Schools has named Trey Simpson Director of Athletics.
Ronnie McCarver has resigned as Skyline’s girls basketball coach after 11 seasons. Craig McGill will lead the boys and girls basketball teams, according to Jason Bowen of the Jackson County Sentinel.
Rodney Bivens is the new head football coach at Huffman.
Thought for the Week
“Know that you can be blessed and be a blessing despite your circumstances.”
Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at bthomas@al.com. He can be heard weekly on “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.
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