Front Porch FootballMike Young: Forever a Wofford Gentleman
by Chris Paschal
In November of 2017, the Wofford Terriers came into Columbia, SC. They were to take on the Gamecocks in football. South Carolina was 7-3 and in position to have a pretty dang good season (all things considered) under second-year head coach, Will Muschamp. A loss to Wofford would have set the program back a couple of years. As a South Carolina fan, I knew that. I knew losing to Wofford would look horrible to recruits and destroy all Muschamp had worked for up until that point.
But I didn’t care.
I showed up to Williams-Brice Stadium wearing my Wofford visor and raising hell for the Terriers. While I knew the negative impact a loss to Wofford would be for South Carolina, I also wanted little-old-Wofford to show the big boys how it’s done. I knew the players on that team. They were my friends. My classmates. Wofford folks not only love Wofford, but they are also about as loyal to one another as a basset hound is to their owner.
Mike Young
Nobody was more loyal than Mike Young.
For those of you from Alabama, or Tennessee, or some other parts of the South, Mike Young was the head basketball coach at Wofford College for over 17 years. During that career, Young won 299 games and five Southern Conference Championships. Not only that, but he took our small school from Spartanburg and beat the likes of Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Georgia, and even North Carolina. But it wasn’t the wins and losses that made Mike Young special.
He was one of us.
Coach Young didn’t hide in his office or in the gym. He would walk around campus, he taught PE, he was active in the community. My sophomore year, my brothers, my dad, and I went up to Raleigh to watch Wofford take on NC State. It was a great trip for a lot of reasons, but most significantly because the Terriers beat the Wolfpack in a classic.
After returning from Christmas Break, almost a month after the game had taken place, I saw Coach Young walking out of the cafeteria. He wasn’t close, but he was within shouting distance. Like an idiot, I yelled out, “Wofford owns NC State.” Instead of ignoring me, or waving, Coach Young stopped (probably confused on why I was yelling at him, or wondering what I had said) waited for me to walk over to him, and said, “that ball game was something else, wasn’t it.” I told him I had actually gone with my family, to which he replied, “well your family needs to come to every away game.”
That little moment might not seem like a lot, but for so many of us, it was moments like that which made us huge fans of his. He had time for all of us. He cared about all of us.
Maybe he cared about all of us because he grew up in a small, rural town. Maybe he cared about all of us because he was around so many of us every day. Or maybe it was the Wofford spirit that so many of us have just by walking around campus everyday. Whatever the reason, it is real and authentic.
Virginia Tech
Earlier I mentioned that nobody was more loyal than Mike Young. That may seem weird since he has decided to leave Wofford College for Virginia Tech. It may seem weird because he left the school that took a shot on him so many years ago. It may seem weird because Coach Young is leaving behind a talented Wofford roster in a brand-new, spectacular arena.
But y’all, it isn’t what he is leaving that makes him loyal. It’s what he is taking with him. When Mike Young was interviewed earlier today, he said what he liked about his new Virginia Tech players was that they had great body language and that they looked him in the eye. He looked for those things when speaking with them is because he still has a piece of Wofford in his heart.
Coach Young also mentioned that telling Wofford and his old team goodbye was one of the tougher things he has ever done in his life. It’s because he cares about our college. It’s because he is a part of our college.
Mike Young had opportunities in the past to leave Wofford for more prestigious offers and he didn’t. He stayed and built our school of 1,600 students into one of the best mid-major basketball programs in the country.
But at this point in his life and in his career, he had to leave. He had done all he could at Wofford. It was time for him to return back to his home in the Virginia mountains, where it all started, and try and win at the highest level. I think he can do it, and I am praying that he gets it done.
From this point on, while he might not be coaching the ole gold and black, he still represents us. Every win for Mike Young is still a win for Wofford. Spartanburg’s favorite son is now on the biggest stage.
I can’t wait to cheer on the ole Wofford Gentleman.
Great article and right on. I would hope to get someone as near a Mike Young as possible. His shoes will be hard to fill but the team should be good with the right motivation.