Longtime, beloved football and track coached enshrined in 2004
We have been told Ben Pumphrey, a member of the “Greatest Generation” and now (sadly) deceased, had two pass plays in his offensive arsenal. They were called “Batman” and “Robin.” Now this would have been a coach I admired. That was my favorite show like it was Coach Long’s. Pumphrey was as respected in track & field as he was in football. Pumphrey never took a job anyone else coveted, opting in stead to accept posts where he would make the biggest difference. In spite of this, Pumphrey wracked up 179-football wins and had numerous championship caliber teams at both Paris High School and Nicholas County. Enjoy this look at a master motivator and amateur psychologist who made every kid who played for him feel special and valued. We could use a few more like this guy, even now!
HB Lyon, Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”
Nicholas County, KY: “Batman” was a television series I caught in syndication as a kid. I called it “Batman and Robin” but Robin was Batman’s sidekick.
Sidekicks rarely show up in the title of a TV show. It was the “Lone Ranger,” not “The Lone Ranger and Tonto.” Regardless, “Batman” was pretty much my favorite show.
What wasn’t to like about two super heroes and their alter-egos committing themselves to heroic deeds. If you were a kid growing up in the 70s and/or 80s, it was the show for you.
The show followed the exploits of two superheroes who both had alter-egos. Batman was millionaire, Bruce Wayne. Robin was his ward, Dick Grayson.
Together, they were the “Dynamic Duo.” Their task was to come to the aid of the Gotham City Police and Mayor upon learning the usual crime fighting methods had been thwarted, once more, by some super-villain. These supervillains, and their henchmen, generally sported names, or nicknames, themed around either the criminal or his or her crime.
The villains were named cool names like Cat-woman (my favorite), Poison Ivy, the Penguin, the Riddler, the Joker, etc. Each episode, the two heroes, Batman and Robin, would follow a series of seemingly improbable clues to discover the supervillain’s plan then determine a way to both thwart the illicit enterprise and capture the criminal.
Among my favorite aspects of the show were the exclamations Robin would utter throughout his dialogue. It was always, “Holy smokes, Batman!,” “Holy mackerel, Batman!,” or “Holy Toledo, Batman!”
My dad used to exclaim something similar to me when I was a teenager evidencing he liked the show as much as I. “Holy Horse-crap, Batman!” he would say to me usually when I would do something outlandishly stupid (which was pretty often). Of course, Dad usually used a term a bit racier than “crap,” but you know what I mean.
This show was intentionally campy and “tongue-in-cheek.” It was also glorious.
I would venture a guess that the late, great Ben Pumphrey was, likewise, a fan. I have heard Coach Pumphrey, who was as celebrated as a track & field coach as he was a football coach, had two pass plays. The names of the two plays? You guessed it,…Batman and Robin!
According to Coach Ray Graham, who we have before featured, Pumphrey would say, “we will surprise the opponent. We will let the Bird Fly.”
One thing is for certain, throwing the football at the time Pumphrey was coaching and thriving as a high school football coach in the commonwealth of Kentucky, was (in fact) surprising. Pumphrey was one of those, “Pound the Rock,” kind of coaches. This was a popular strategy in his day.
Pumphrey had a ton of charisma, a ton of personality, and he won everywhere he went. Pumphrey was the kind of guy around whom other men, women, and children gravitated.
Pumphrey had a ton of charisma, a ton of personality,…
Jon Collins, a.k.a. Jonny Appleseed
You could pick Pumphrey out of a room full of people rather easily. It was as if Ben Pumphrey had some type of perpetual spotlight on him which followed him everywhere he went.
Coach Marshall Ray Graham (Ray) had some fun memories about Coach Pumphrey. We contacted him and he was happy to share some thoughts on his late friend and colleague.
Graham told KGFootball, “Coach would convince his ‘little fat boys’ on the line that they could grab a handful of grass and crow-hop enough to give his fullback a chance to keep the chains moving. Pumphrey was a master psychologist. His players believed they were the toughest guys on earth.”
We have learned those are the guys who tend to make a name in the coaching business. The guys who hold up, not tear down, their talent, their players; these are the ones who end up winning most frequently.
Pumphrey’s coaching career began at his alma mater in Carlisle County. Pumphrey then coached at Millersburg Military Institute in Millersburg, Kentucky.
Along his career path, spanning some 45-years, would be stops at Paris, Lexington Dunbar, Bellevue, Nicholas County, Montgomery County, and Harrison County together with several others.
Pumphrey, who has passed away (April 11, 2006), was once quoted as saying, “I made sure I left every school (at which I coached) in better shape than I found it. I left good coaches and athletes who continued to improve.”
Ben Pumphrey lettered a single year at Carlisle High in 1940. From that uninspiring beginning, Pumphrey would umpire baseball and coach both football and track & field for the next 45-years before being enshrined in the KHSAA (Dawahares) Hall of Fame in 2004.
Pumphrey spent a career at spots not many people coveted. Like Hoover Niece and others of his ilk, Pumphrey found a way to thrive at places where thriving was novel.
They asked Coach Pumphrey once why he took jobs off the beaten path, at programs which traditionally struggled. He told the inquisition, “because I wanted to make a difference.” So he did.
Pumphrey would make a considerable difference. Pumphrey would win some 179-games at schools not known as “football schools.” Pumphrey always appropriately apportioned the credit where it was due.
“Coaches don’t play. Students play,” Pumphrey once wrote. “However, that student needs proper direction. I have coached many teams and many people who won many honors for me for which I could never repay them.”
For a legendary football coach, Ben Pumphrey took a unique path. Pumphrey was born in 1924 in Nicholas County. He graduated from both Carlisle High and the University of Kentucky. At UK, Pumphrey would be the first-chair trumpet in the marching band.
Pumphrey, a member of this country’s “greatest generation,” flew 26 bombing missions over Japan in World War II. Pumphrey would go on to coach football and track & field at 11-different high schools.
Pumphrey had a dream for every kid he ever coached and taught. Pumphrey told them how great they were; big or fast, slow or fat. They believed him.
Pumphrey was a master motivator. Pumphrey was a tremendously well respected teacher of mathematics. The mathematical mind lends itself well to football. We have noticed that writing this series.
In the end, Pumphrey led two (2) of his track & field teams to KHSAA titles at Bellevue. Pumphrey would win nearly 180-games as a football coach.
In football, Pumphrey would maintain a Kentucky-wide reputation for being among the more colorful coaches in the business. Everyone loved him. Everyone wanted to be around him.
Pumphrey volunteered to help kids long after retiring. On the football field, Pumphrey coached some of his more successful teams at both Paris High and Nicholas County.
Pumphrey led Paris to seasons of 9-1 (1961), 10-1 (1963), and 10-2 (1964). At Nicholas County, Pumphrey fielded teams which finished 10-2 (1976) and 11-2 (1977). His overall record ended up being 179 wins, 146-losses, and seven (7) ties.
There is a final thing which bears mentioning. Pumphrey was adept at developing all-state football players. During his career, Pumphrey developed 16 athletes who were awarded All-State distinction.
There are so many places and programs where winning a berth on an All-State team is easier than others. Where Pumphrey was coaching, that was an astounding number; like his 179-wins.
There are ways to be included and enshrined as an all-timer which many Halls of Fame recognize. Some of these coaches enshrined have tremendous lengths of service to the KHSAA or its member institutions. Others, not so long, but sport careers marked with unbelievable track records of success and a seemingly obscene number of titles.
All of these guys seem to have some glaring similarities. These guys believe in serving the kids and communities they call home. These guys put their teams and communities first, sometimes over their own families which makes some of these wives, children, and grandchildren as deserving of recognition and enshrinement as the coaches.
These guys do things the right way, the long way, supplanting short cuts with hard work, commitment, “buy-in,” and patience. These guys all believe in fundamentals, integrity, honesty, hard work and other such stalwart characteristics parents hope their sons learn from their involvement in high school football. It’s the lessons football teaches which overshadow any simple accounting of a player’s or coach’s won-loss ledger.
In the end, guys like Ben Pumphrey mold futures and change lives. In the end, we’re better off for having known them, for having crossed their paths.
“Holy Horse-crap, Batman! Thank God for the Ben Pumphrey-types.”
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball and KPI Newspaper Group, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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