Bob Lutz: Football may or may not be in Tom Young’s rear-view mirror

Tom Young decided to stop coaching football after last season, his 44th year of doing so. He became a coach at Hanover just out of college at Nebraska Wesleyan after playing eight-man high school football in Adams, Neb.

He coached long enough, and was successful enough, to become the second-winningest coach in Kansas high school history behind Silver Lake’s C.J. Hamilton.

Young took 343 wins with him into retirement after nine years at Hanover, three at Wellington, 21 at Derby, two at Leavenworth and nine at McPherson. He has three state championships and, as far as I’m concerned, qualifies for that rare and subjective description as a living legend.

And, as you might guess, Young still has the itch to coach. He’s far enough beyond the retirement decision that the incredibly long hours with practices, games and film sessions – don’t seem so incredibly long anymore.

“I think it was the hours that led me to retire more than anything,” the 66-year-old Young said. “But I was still enjoying the teaching part of coaching football. I never did get bored or burned out with the on-the-field stuff.”

Young and his wife, Sheila, are living in Derby, not far from McConnell Air Force Base. They have a bunch of grandchildren – nine – and tried to plop themselves in the middle of all of them.

“We have a couple of our kids in Andover, one in Derby, one in Hutchinson and one in Lake Dallas, Texas,” Young said. “Now we’re pretty centrally located.”

Young isn’t trying to hide from football. It’s not that kind of retirement. He’s not taking up other hobbies to distract him from the only profession he ever knew.

He goes to high school games on Friday nights, watches college football from morning through night on Saturdays and tunes in the NFL on Sundays or whenever there’s a game on television.

Eventually, he thinks he might like to help his son, Jason, coach in Texas. Jason is the defensive coordinator at Lake Dallas High.

“Maybe for a season, a part-time thing if the opportunity presents itself,” Young said. “We’d probably rent an apartment there because we’ve bought a house here.”

It’s interesting to talk to people who have just retired or are contemplating doing so. With some, it’s a seamless transition. Others struggle mightily with all the free time.

Young seems somewhere in between.

“I never really use the R-word,” Young said. “There’s always a possibility I might get back into it. Several coaches called me over the summer, but I didn’t want to do anything this fall. I wanted to try it without football and see what that was like. Yeah, I miss it a lot but on the other hand I don’t miss the long hours.”

Young returned to watch McPherson’s season opener against Salina South, then went to watch his son’s team play in Dallas. He went to the Augusta-El Dorado game to support his friend Bill Shaw, now the defensive coordinator at El Dorado. And last week he went to watch Kapaun Mount Carmel and Bishop Carroll.

“I knew that was such a strong rivalry,” he said. “And what a great atmosphere for that game. I really enjoyed it.”

Young specialized in building programs. Hanover had won two games in three seasons when Young arrived and McPherson had three winning seasons in the 17 years before Young arrived. He even made a difference at Leavenworth, which had won eight games in eight seasons.

Wellington and Derby, of course, were established programs when Young arrived. But he made them even better.

“I realize that to have success takes a really strong work ethic,” Young said. “But also, you just have to admit that some of it is just plain luck and being in the right place at the right time. I recognize that and I was able to coach in some really good places.”

Young doesn’t watch football like you and me. After so many years of coaching and breaking down film after a game, he yearns for a rewind button when watching a game in person. He looks for intricacy and subtlety. He feels more like a scout than a spectator.

At home, Young has some landscaping projects he wants to get to soon. He works out three or four times weekly at the Derby Recreation Commission and keeps telling himself he should start hunting and fishing again, but he hadn’t followed through.

He’s a football coach who is trying to learn how to not be a football coach anymore. Some days are better than others in that mission.

“I’m also trying to get into the Royals,” Young said. “I’ve never been a big baseball guy, but this summer I’ve forced myself to watch some baseball.”

He does so, no doubt, with football on his mind.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Football may or may not be in Tom Young’s rear-view mirror."