In 39 years of coaching, many kids and athletes have been under the leadership of Mike Lunsford.
And when asked about how many wins he has accumulated over those decades of coaching, Lunsford can’t tell you off the top of his head, but he can tell about the people and kids he has made relationships with over the years.
“I have won a whole lot of football games, but that is not the thing that I will remember, I have to have someone look that number up,” said Lunsford with a laugh. “The kids and what they meant to me, that will stick with me. And I hope that I meant to them, what they meant to me.”
This past week, Lunsford, who coached football at both Hampton and Cloudland, along with a coaching stint over the Lady Highlanders basketball program, announced that he was retiring from coaching.
Lunsford said that since his announcement he has had many former players reach out to him.
“A lot of the kids from the past three years have called and texted me,” said Lunsford. “That is the number one thing, and that is why you do it.”
During his time as a coach, Lunsford accumulated 225 wins in football and over 70 wins as a basketball coach. In 2001, he led the Highlanders to the state football finals and in 2015 he led the Bulldogs to the state football quarterfinals.
After such a successful career, what made Lunsford want to call it quits?
“It just felt like it was time,” said Lunsford. “This past year, was a trying year. We got through it. But some of the personal things I had going on took some of the joy out of coaching that I have had in the past.
“Sometimes, I had to force myself to go to practice during the football season,” added Lunsford. “I felt like was giving the kids a disservice. I didn’t feel good about how I was coaching. It wasn’t the Mike Lunsford of years past.”
Even though Lunsford won’t be on the court or the field as a head coach in the coming years, the Lunsford name will still be among the coaching ranks in Carter County. Lunsford’s son, Michael Lunsford, is currently the head football coach at Hampton High School, Michael said that his father has been a major influence on him and his coaching style.
“A lot of the reasons that I am coaching has a lot to do with him,” said Lunsford. “The enjoyment that it brought and how many lives that he has touched and how he affected people had an impact on me.”
Starting in 2016, with Mike Lunsford coaching at Cloudland, Michael would have to take to the field to coach against his dad when the Bulldogs and the Highlanders faced off against each other in their annual county showdown. Michael took a moment to talk about not having to face his father now that Mike has retired.
“It will feel a little more normal and a little less awkward,” said Michael. “I won’t be as anxious. There will be some relief.
“Trying to beat him is tough,” added Michael. “You automatically assume he knows everything you are going to do. He knows his stuff about as good as anybody can know it. A lot of stuff that we do is stuff that came from him in a sense. It has been trying, but also a great challenge. In my mind, he is one of the best.”
Like mentioned above, Lunsford has had many players play under him. One of those players is former Hampton standout Coby Jones, who is now at Johnson University playing basketball for the Royals. While at Hampton, Jones played football under Mike Lunsford and quarterbacked the 2015 Bulldogs during their deep postseason run. Jones would set many records as a quarter for the ‘Dogs and said that Mike Lunsford made a big impact on him as a player and a person.
“He was a greater teacher than he was a coach,” said Jones. “In any aspect of the game, he was a teacher and not just a coach. He taught not the way to play football but the way to live. Every day in practice he was constantly just motivating you to play better, giving you the will and self-motivation to get something out of yourself.
“He always said he wanted to make a better man more than he wanted to make a better football player,” added Jones.
As for Lunsford’s future in coaching, the fire may have died down for now, but the embers are still glowing. Lunsford said that he has no immediate plans to take up a head coaching or assistant position, but you never know what the future may hold.