Central casting coaches are a cadre of homegrown athletes

Central casting - If your ball cap is not on the last notch, you are probably not on the Sussex Central football staff. They got them some big ol’ boys roaming the sidelines on game day. On Dec. 19, coach John Wells, in his 25th year as head football coach, won his fifth state championship, and before you jump, “Fredman don’t know what he talkin’ about” – I'm factoring in the three softball state championships in 1995, 2005 and 2008. Coach Wells, an Indian River graduate, lost in the softball finals in 1996, 1999 and 2006. A John Wells-coached football team, in addition to two state titles in the last three years, lost in the finals in 2000, 2006, 2007 and 2008. That is 12 state championship final game days over 25 years where Jon Boat Johnny Wells has rocked his cargo shorts. 

“Radio Nowhere” - Bruce Springsteen sang that song lamenting the sameness across America, but if you want local culture, look to Sussex Central sports and you will get a dose. This past season, Tommy ”T Buck” Marvel, the PA announcer, sang “Blue Christmas'' after the game with Milford as Pink Lloyd Mears held the down marker. Homegrown coaches on the staff include Nutter Marvel (defensive coordinator), Gary Layfield (running backs), Mark Booth (offensive line), Nick Heald (defensive assistant), D.J. Long (quarterbacks), Sean Hopkins (defensive secondary), J.T. Tober (defensive assistant), Justin Revel (freshmen), Joey Warren (freshmen) and William Blake (freshmen). John Wells, Joe Lacaluso and Chris Lail are not SC graduates. The middle school coaches are Jesse Long (Millsboro Middle), Clay Heald (Georgetown Middle) and Jacob Miller (Georgetown Middle); all are SC graduates. Information was provided by coach Derrickson Layfield Jr.,  who is married to Sarah Hudson, whose mom is a Cannon. Gary’s brothers are Brad, Sussex Central principal and DIAA board president; Rodney, who is on the Indian River school board; cousin Scott, head wrestling coach at Sussex Tech; and Scott’s dad Don, a retired football official. Many past coaches including Joe Booth, Buck Booth, Bradley Layfield, Chuck Hudson, Leroy Mann and Nik Fair are SC grads. Let's stop there before we all end up in Redden Forest.

Championship-caliber teams - I’m being honest when I say I wouldn’t trade one overlooked player off a championship-caliber team for an all-state, all-conference player from another team. Championships are built on chemistry, and the better the team, the more likely some individuals get lost in the afterglow of accolades. There are mad dog proud players who, if you hit them with honorable mention, you are likely to get carpet bombed with expletives – that’s how it works in my family. Oversight and under-appreciation happen if you play on a team that has too many good players. That’s why I like Athletes of the Week. It's a celebration of one person but not at the expense of another. 

“The Winter of Our Discontent” - A novel written by John Steinbeck, published in 1961. Writing this column on the day of the winter solstice – the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere – I am hoping for no discontent in the afterglow of a successful shortened fall sports season in which 11 Delaware state champions were crowned. Call me irresponsible, but just give me my chair on the corner of the wrestling circle as the tangential teller of tales. And move me up the vaccine list of non-consequential essential muppets because there is no way to contact trace my travels, and if I get “The Rona,” I’m sinking faster than an Amish doggie paddler in an ocean rip current. 

Mac Truxon - The football official and assigner whom everyone rimming the field liked and respected passed away last week. Mac was a lesson in how to be in charge and congenial. I just remember him talking to coaches and photographers and ball boys. I wish I had known him better, but the job of officials is to stay mostly unknown. That's why you never see them hanging around after games. 

Coach Jimmy Flynn - A former Delaware assistant football coach and head men’s track and field coach for 18 years (1961-79), Jimmy passed away Dec. 17 at the age of 87. Coach Flynn also established the women’s track and field program at Delaware. Jimmy was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame, UD Athletic Hall of Fame, Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame, and Western Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. He is survived by six children and 16 grandchildren.

Snippets - Day after Christmas: no Slam Dunk, no Battle at the Beach wrestling tournament, stay home with a decorated tree but no visits from family and friends. No wonder so many people get a “puppy of the pandemic.” Hopefully it will not be later rehomed on the range. Go on now, git!