Topic: This post is from from Herdthat...

[W0lfman]

if any of you guys haven't read some of the post made by GK4Herd your missing out.  This is post is a great one...

Maybe we just need reminded. Time sometimes has a way of burying that which is obvious. As a student of Marshall in the 70's, I had a ringside seat to the birth of something special. I was too young to understand the events that changed the face of Marshall football.....making it something more significant then just a game. The tragic crash and loss of life, on that dark and rainy night just three and a half decades ago, reminded us of the finality and brevity of life. Ironically, it would also become a symbol of the birth of something very special. You see, beneath the twisted steel and burning embers of life interrupted, emerged a spirit that would not only propel our team to great heights.......but ignite the passions of an entire community.

Bobby Pruett understood that spirit. His embodiment of that spirit, more than wins and losses, is what I will miss the most. As I listened to the news conference announcing his retirement, I felt like a part of me died. I suppose that it is silly for a middle aged man to grieve the events of a mere game. The cynics and outsiders among us might find it humorist. I don't care. Those of us who understands that which transcends this game to something symbollically more significant, join me in feeling the loss.

Even good stories become old and stale. The higher plane that our program rode on had recently become heavy with the weight of cynicsm. Just twenty-one years ago we celebrated the win that broke the confining chains of failure....and basked in the glory of our first non-losing season since the tragedy that would always define us. Just thirteen years ago we rose to the before unimagined height of a National Championship. I remember standing....unable to leave....soaking in the events below me on the field, long after the time had expired. It was the beginning of a very special time at Marshall. Just when I felt we reached a zenith, a height that couldn't be elevated further, a new peak appeared.......and sure enough we repeatedly scaled it.

There was a naiveness to the legions of followers of the greatest story in college football. With each milepost passed......and with each mountain peak marveled......we slowly become calloused to our own success. I believe in some ways, the frustration with this callousness, is what we witnessed in the powerful and moving resignation of Bobby Pruett. Coach Pruett didn't have to be at Marshall.......he wanted to be. It took him most of his coaching career to find his way back to Marshall. Once here, you could sense that his arrival was the culmination of a lifetime quest. He was finally home again. Now......he could have left for a more prestigious coaching job. He definitely could have achieved greater riches elsewhere. But this was one coach who understood that riches are defined in more ways then just money. It was this understanding that made this job so painful for him to leave.

Maybe he is challenging us. Maybe he is a big enough man to realize he isn't a big enough man to will this program any further. He needs our help. Coach Pruett understands that the engine that drives our success is fueled by the spirit that rose from that Wayne County hillside a few decades ago. By stepping aside, he is reminding us that the magic that is Marshall football needs to be revived. Although I will be saddened by his absence on the field......coaching......willing......leading us forward, I will find solace in his presence beside us in our seats.

Because, really.....he's no different then we are. He's just a guy who loves Marshall for more then just a game.

God Bless you Coach Pruett. Enjoy your family. It is a large one

http://www.herdthat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=489

[HerdZone]

I read that earlier..... All I could think of is if our Program was in better hands.   8)