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12-07-2009, 05:31 AM
’Chuke’ loses battle with cancer at 58
Mark Maynard
Paintsville — The area lost a high school coaching great on Thursday.
Former Lawrence County coach Charles ’Chuke’ Williams, who was 58, died after a battle with lung cancer. He put Bulldog football on the map during a seven-year coaching span from 1994 to 2000.
The Bulldogs went 68-18 ’ winning 80 percent of their games ’ behind a belly option offense that pounded on opponents and routinely was one of the top three rushing teams in the state.
During a three-year span from 1997 to 1999, the Bulldogs went a combined 37-4 and twice reached the state semifinals.
’He’s what the game of football represents ’ a tough, physical, grinding game,’ said Gerad Parker, a former player who is now an assistant coach at Tennessee-Martin. ’That’s the way Chuke coached it. He was very, very disciplined with the way he approached the game.’
Lawrence County’s 36-28 victory over Breathitt County in the 1997 quarterfinals represented the school’s biggest victory.
The Bulldogs snapped Breathitt County’s long winning streak and fans tore down the goalposts and marched them through town.
The ’99 team scored 767 points during a 12-2 season with the losses coming to Sheldon Clark (18-16) and Fort Thomas Highlands (76-36) in the state semifinals.
Parker was a senior in the ’99 season and a top candidate for Mr. Football after becoming the state’s all-time leading receiver.
Lawrence County honored Williams back in September and put him in the school’s Hall of Fame.
As a former option quarterback under coach Walter Brugh at Paintsville, Williams was always looking for the right leader. His quarterbacks at Lawrence County included Jason Michael, Alan Short and Dontae Wright, among others.
Short had a long relationship with Williams, who groomed him to be a quarterback.
’From the time I was in seventh grade, he worked with me on being the quarterback of the future,’ said Short, who is an assistant at Adair County High School. ’I had a long, long history with Chuke Williams.’
Lawrence County’s teams took on the personality of their hard-nosed coach with physical play on offense and defense.
Running backs like Nick Meadows, Mike Copley and Michael West benefited from the belly option reads of the quarterbacks. They usually found gaping holes in defenses.
’We had a run-first mentality,’ Short said. ’That’s his offense and that’s how we did things.’
Short and others who went into coaching believe in Williams’ coaching philosophy. Copley is running the belly option offense at Greenup County, where he went 3-8 in his first season as head coach.
’If it wasn’t for Chuke Williams, I wouldn’t be a teacher or a coach,’ Short said.
Williams also was a head coach at Prestonsburg, Magoffin County, Sheldon Clark and Bourbon County.
Williams is survived by his wife Genia, a son Brandon, and two brothers, R.J. and Tim.
A memorial service will be announced at a later date, according to the Preston Funeral Home.
http://www.dailyindependent.com/localspo...03455.html
Mark Maynard
Paintsville — The area lost a high school coaching great on Thursday.
Former Lawrence County coach Charles ’Chuke’ Williams, who was 58, died after a battle with lung cancer. He put Bulldog football on the map during a seven-year coaching span from 1994 to 2000.
The Bulldogs went 68-18 ’ winning 80 percent of their games ’ behind a belly option offense that pounded on opponents and routinely was one of the top three rushing teams in the state.
During a three-year span from 1997 to 1999, the Bulldogs went a combined 37-4 and twice reached the state semifinals.
’He’s what the game of football represents ’ a tough, physical, grinding game,’ said Gerad Parker, a former player who is now an assistant coach at Tennessee-Martin. ’That’s the way Chuke coached it. He was very, very disciplined with the way he approached the game.’
Lawrence County’s 36-28 victory over Breathitt County in the 1997 quarterfinals represented the school’s biggest victory.
The Bulldogs snapped Breathitt County’s long winning streak and fans tore down the goalposts and marched them through town.
The ’99 team scored 767 points during a 12-2 season with the losses coming to Sheldon Clark (18-16) and Fort Thomas Highlands (76-36) in the state semifinals.
Parker was a senior in the ’99 season and a top candidate for Mr. Football after becoming the state’s all-time leading receiver.
Lawrence County honored Williams back in September and put him in the school’s Hall of Fame.
As a former option quarterback under coach Walter Brugh at Paintsville, Williams was always looking for the right leader. His quarterbacks at Lawrence County included Jason Michael, Alan Short and Dontae Wright, among others.
Short had a long relationship with Williams, who groomed him to be a quarterback.
’From the time I was in seventh grade, he worked with me on being the quarterback of the future,’ said Short, who is an assistant at Adair County High School. ’I had a long, long history with Chuke Williams.’
Lawrence County’s teams took on the personality of their hard-nosed coach with physical play on offense and defense.
Running backs like Nick Meadows, Mike Copley and Michael West benefited from the belly option reads of the quarterbacks. They usually found gaping holes in defenses.
’We had a run-first mentality,’ Short said. ’That’s his offense and that’s how we did things.’
Short and others who went into coaching believe in Williams’ coaching philosophy. Copley is running the belly option offense at Greenup County, where he went 3-8 in his first season as head coach.
’If it wasn’t for Chuke Williams, I wouldn’t be a teacher or a coach,’ Short said.
Williams also was a head coach at Prestonsburg, Magoffin County, Sheldon Clark and Bourbon County.
Williams is survived by his wife Genia, a son Brandon, and two brothers, R.J. and Tim.
A memorial service will be announced at a later date, according to the Preston Funeral Home.
http://www.dailyindependent.com/localspo...03455.html
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