Chris Pope's tenure as football coach at Palmyra unquestionably a success
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
OK, ok, so Emerson wasn't talking about the Palmyra football program under Chris Pope with his famous quote about success, but he may as well have been.
For there is no question that Pope, who stepped down as head coach last week after 14 seasons, has left the Cougars in much better shape than he found them when he took over a floundering program in 2007.
And he did so in a way that I am fairly certain earned him more respect and affection than criticism or betrayal.
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At least I hope so. I mean, how could you not like Chris Pope?
Easily the most polite, accommodating and ego-less football coach that I've ever run across, Pope took a long-struggling Palmyra program to the district playoffs four times during his tenure - and had it in contention for the postseason a few other times -and helped engineer the biggest win in Palmyra's history - a 34-31 triple overtime triumph AT Manheim Central in the opening round of the 3A district playoffs in 2011.
I'll remember that game, Palmyra's first-ever district football game, forever for a number of reasons - including that I had about 20 minutes on a tight deadline to write about the greatest high school game I have ever covered. Yikes. I still don't know if it made any sense.
Another reason was I saw the win as confirmation that nice guys don't always finish last, as the old saying goes.
Sometimes, they walk into a hostile environment, look the bully right in the eye and knock him on his can.
I'm being a little overly harsh in referring to Central at that time as a bully, but there is no question that they were an intimidating program compared to a then postseason newbie in Palmyra.
But the Cougars had a few tough guys of their own that year in 2,000-yard rusher Preston Bare and middle linebacker Jon Hicks and they took the fight to the Barons, rallying late to force OT, then winning it in the third OT on Matt Smoluk's field goal that fluttered through the uprights.
The head coach of the Cougars was another tough guy Palmyra had on its side that night. Certainly tough-minded, for sure, because if he hadn't been Palmyra wouldn't have even come close to victory.
At various times over the years, I remember thinking that Pope was just too nice a guy to be a successful high school football coach. And if that win at Central didn't convince me otherwise, something that happened a few years later certainly did.
As I often did, I stopped by a practice to speak to Pope for a preview story. We usually talked after practice, so I would usually show up towards the end and just watch the last part of practice.
It was usually fairly low-key stuff to watch, but on this day Pope was becoming frustrated with a player who kept making mistakes during a drill.
So he let him know about it - loudly. Nothing out of line, mind you, but Pope was just about screaming at the kid, who I have to believe got the message.
I'd also have to believe that moments like this were rare, because in his 14 years as head coach, I never heard a negative word about Pope from any Palmyra player or coach.
In this day and age, that's pretty rare.
And another example of what it means to be a success.
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Pope's tenure as football coach at Palmyra unquestionably a success
