BOILING SPRINGS, SC - On Tuesday afternoon Boiling Springs football coach Rick Tate sat down to discuss his past thirty-four years in education to discuss many subjects including his time as a coach, an educator, and his view on how football has changed over those years along with how he hopes that people see his time with the Bulldogs.
The decision to retire was both difficult and easy all at the same time for Tate but he said that it’s a decision that he feels comfortable with once he ultimately made it. ”It’s going to sound weird but the decision was the hardest thing I ever done but also the easiest at the same time,” said Tate. “I think with those feelings it made me realize that I was making the right decision.” Tate said that his tenure at Boiling Springs he has seen a lot from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs but said that all of the times have been special because of the kids he’s had the opportunity to coach. “To be able to go from being on the sidelines of a 0-22 team to go and stand on the sidelines for a state championship game is something special,” said Tate. “Everyone will always reference that 2016 team but there have been a lot of good kids that just weren’t fortunate enough to be here with that team. You remember wins and losses but those things don’t define the men those kids will become in life as they will have a lot more important things in life that will define them. I always tell the football players when I see them later on and they are standing there with their families doing great things in the community it’s always special.” He said that as an educator seeing former students out in the world is great and that his time as a driver’s education teacher gave him some of his most special moments. ”Seeing kids in the community that tell you that you were there teacher how every many years ago is always a special moment,” said Tate. “My most special moment as an educator was as a driver’s ed teacher because you would see a kid that was too scared to even start a vehicle and by the end of it they were safely driving a car on the streets is really rewarding.” Tate said being able to spend his entire playing and coaching career in the same community has been special in which he says he has interacted with many great coaches. ”It has been very special to be able to be here in one place all these years,” said Tate. “I got the opportunity to play for some great coaches like Ray Wilson, Ed Foster, and Eddie Whitt who I was fortunate enough to have come coach for me on my staff when I became head coach. Joe Watson was probably the first coach that truly had am impact on my life as he was my ninth grade football coach and is probably responsible for the career I took in my life. I’ve had so many people to learn from and you take a little bit from each one of those to make the program what you want it to be.” He said that the chance to become a coach was a special moment for him and that the chance he got from former head coach Andy Jones meant a lot to him along with the lessons he learned from other coaches over the years. ”Coach Jones gave me the opportunity to just put the title Coach in front of my name and having that opportunity was meaningful to me,” said Tate. “I think there’s not as much meaning to people about that as there used to be and I think that’s something that the guys becoming the veteran coaches need to take more time of is trying to teach the new coaches on how to do the right thing. Coach Jones put me with a coach named Stuart Thompson and he was unbelievable man who was almost like my second father. He took myself and Wade Cooper under his wings and taught us the right way to do and handle things. At the time we thought it was the stupidest thing in the world but looking back on it now those situations would come along and we’d handle it just like Stuart taught us. My advice to young coaches is to learn from those ahead of you and learn to demand respect from your players because there’s a lot of lack of respect just in general these days and sometimes it needs to be a little more old school.” Tate said that over his thirty-four years of coaching that the one thing that he sees that has changed the most is the outside forces that coaches and players have to deal with now days . ”I’d have to say the biggest change that I’ve seen over these years is the outside forces,” said Tate. “To be perfectly honest we probably ask too much of these high school athletes and they just can’t be kids anymore. It’s like if one school is doing it you’re almost forced to do it just to keep up with the Joneses. We have the passing leagues all summer and then the kids have to go to camp at colleges to possibly get an offer which to me just isn’t a good thing. I know Covid has had some to do with that but I think the colleges should get back to recruiting in the schools and on Friday nights instead of making kids come to camp to possibly get an offer. It has just changed so much over the years.” Over the years Tate has served in many capacities at Boiling Springs when called upon which he said is a value that he learned from his parents and has just stuck to over the years. He has been a softball coach, golf coach, interim head football coach, head football coach, and during the 2020 Covid season he even served as the interim athletic director. “I think that when there’s a need you always need to step up,” said Tate. “I was brought up that if your boss asks you to help out it was your job to step in and help out. If you care about a place you do everything that you can to make it better and I blame my moms and dad for that because that’s the way I was brought up and enough people don’t do that anymore. I never though about saying no because it’s just something you were supposed to do.” He said that he has many plans for next year in retirement that will include a wide variety of things from golf to barbecue. ”If you’re looking for me next year I’d probably start off at the golf course and if you don’t find me there search Lake Blalock to see if I’ve hooked on with someone that has a boat,” said Tate. “I may be doing yard work or selling barbecue but you just might find me sitting on a hill somewhere watching someone practicing football. I’ll be busy somewhere.” When asked if he may be seen next year helping assist his daughter Macy Tate, the head coach of the girls golf team, he said you never know what might happen. ”I‘ve been asked about that already but I just don’t know yet,” said Tate. “That’s one of those people that I probably won’t be able to say no to at the end of the day” Tate said that as he walks away from Boiling Springs as a coach and teacher he hopes that when people think about his time here they think of one word: consistency. “I just hope that people think of my consistency and longevity,” said Tate. “When people came to work in the morning they saw my truck there and when they left at the end of the day they saw my truck still sitting there for whatever reason. I’m proud of the fact that this is the only place I’ve ever been and proud of the fact it never crossed my mind to leave here even though I had some chances at times to leave but it seemed something always happened to convince me to stay here. I think it was all for a reason that it happened that way. I think kids need consistency in their lives and I hope that’s what I gave to people.” Tate said that at the end of the day everything he done was for the best interest of his team in mind and while some decisions may not have always been popular he feels good with how he approached the job. “Naturally in this business there will be people sorry to see me go but there will also be a number of people glad to see me go and that comes with being a football coach and I’m fine with that,” said Tate. ”Everything I’ve always done was always with my coaches and players best interest in heart. Sometimes it may not have been what one player wanted or an individual coach wanted but every decision was made with that in mind and I feel good about that.” -James McBee Comments are closed.
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