My take: Jack Elway was a coach, mentor with a passion
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It's funny how things sometimes work out for the better. A football injury prevented me from accepting a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps. Devastated, I decided to accept a driver's ed teaching position at Port Angeles High School. That is where I met Jack Elway. Jack was five years older than I. He also taught students to drive, and he was the head football and basketball coach.
Jack started to teach me how to be a coach right away. One time, after coaching the junior varsity team against Forks, I was taking a shower when the shower curtain suddenly opened. Jack turned on the cold water and started lecturing me in a loud voice that could be heard throughout the locker room. While I was standing there stark naked, he said, "You will stop using the word I, and you will use the word we when you talk to our football players. Do you understand?" His message about the pronoun "I" impacted my whole life as a coach and writer.
Another time Jack asked me if I wanted to be a head coach. After I indicated yes, he wanted to know if I could coach all 22 positions. I mistakenly questioned him how guards were different from one side of the ball to the other. Just before he left to be the head coach at Gray's Harbor JC, I passed Jack's final test on offensive center play.
Jack's platform for coaching was built on developing a blueprint for everything. "You take nothing for granted," he said. At every clinic, I would take notes for him while he scrimmaged one-on-one in the bar. Every time, he would find a coach who had information he wanted. They could be seen drawing plays on tablemats and napkins.
For all his hand-eye coordination, Jack couldn't run. Once he accepted my challenge to a footrace over about 30 yards. I beat him because the sole of his shoes started flopping about halfway through the race.
The Hoquiam native was an all-around athlete with a great shooting eye in basketball. Jack's shots were all swishes. Bob Klock, his childhood friend and fellow coach, said he couldn't be beaten in cork ball or playing H-O-R-S-E. However, Jack had serious high-school injuries that hurt his chances to be a quarterback at Washington State University, so he turned to coaching.
When it came time to evaluating personnel, he had few peers. Just 48 hours before he passed away, Jack was helping the Denver Broncos with their draft picks. Talk about influence: At noon on the day of his funeral, the Broncos closed shop so coaches, players, staff and management could attend. Two of Jack's prize pupils, Mike Price and Dennis Erickson, missed spring practice for the first time to attend his funeral. These two passing coaches owe a lot to his genius.
Jack Elway didn't just coach football; he was a football coach. Football coaches scrimmage every day in their minds, and their passion or dedication to learn the game never stops. When Jack spoke, everyone listened. Forty-three years ago, I listened. This man was one of the last of a dying breed of coaches who see the game for what it really is
On Easter morning, I lost my mentor. So long, Coach.
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