Paul Rains went 209-129 over 29 years, going 1-1 in title game appearances
🎶Lord, I was born a ramblin' man
Tryin' to make a livin' and doin' the best I can
And when it's time for leavin', I hope you'll understand
That I was born a ramblin' man🎶
Songwriter: Forrest Richard Betts
Released: The Allman Brothers Band, 1973
Paul Rains last stop was Great Crossing in Scott County, Kentucky. He led that particular high school to its first ever victory. Along the way, the Williamsburg native enjoyed stops at Hazard, Montgomery Co., Madison Central, Lexington Christian Academy (LCA), Mercer County, Letcher County Central, Lexington’s Paul Laurence Dunbar, and then his final stop at Great Crossing. The veteran coach, with more than 200-wins and a state title (Lexington Christian Academy, hereafter “LCA”), has been before described as a journeyman coach. We’re Allman Brothers Band fans, so we would prefer to call him a “Ramblin’ Man.”
HB Lyon, Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”
Georgetown, KY: We are Allman Brothers fans around the magazine. We are Paul Rains fans too. There are some similarities.
Forrest Richard Betts was a long time member and guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band. Matter of fact, he was a co-founder of the band which formed in 1969. Betts was considered crucial to the band’s commercial success.
Betts, a.k.a. “Dickie Betts,” was a singer, songwriter, in addition to being a guitarist. Betts both wrote and sang lead on the very successful hit single, “Ramblin’ Man,” released in August of 1973.
The song was inspired by a 1951 song of the same name by Hank Williams. It was the only top 10-single, peaking at number two (2) on the Billboard Hot 100, of the band’s illustrious career.
I can tell you, as a writer myself, that we most often write about our experiences. The song claims the author’s father was a gambler in Georgia who wound up on the wrong end of a gun. The lyrics of the song further claims Betts “…was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus, rollin’ down Highway 41.”
How true any of this is, is dubious at best. It could be completely fictional; or, as right as rain.
We could probably research this and find it out. Not much remains secret these days if folks really want to know. We will refrain, it isn’t too important to our present purposes.
Judging by the many stops Rains made in his coaching career, Coach Rains probably identified with the lyrics of the song as much or more than any of the rest of us. Rains, described as a journeyman by a publication writing of his retirement, had both a highly successful and nomadic career in high school football.
The Williamsburg native coached, through the years, at Hazard, Montgomery Co., Madison Central, Lexington Christian Academy (LCA), Mercer Co., Letcher Co. Central, Paul Laurence Dunbar (Lexington), and, ultimately, Great Crossing. That’s a ton of “stops.”
Rains’s final career mark, Great Crossing included, was 209-129 (29-years) and 1-1 in title games. At one time, Rains had over 200-wins and only 98-losses; but, starting a program from “thin air” at a high school can “even out” even the greatest of records.
Rains told the Herald-Leader and its writer, Josh Sullivan, that “I have been fortunate enough to accomplish all my professional goals at the high school level. I have thoroughly enjoyed my years in coaching, and the opportunity to make a positive impact in young men’s lives.”
The two-time Coach of the Year (COY) also related in the same article, “The experiences and memories are priceless and I will always cherish them. Despite many various championships and victories on the field, I have always felt that [the true] measure [of] my success as a coach is not seen until at least 10 years after these young men graduate and we are able to witness the type of men, fathers, and community leaders they have become…” We have seen this measuring stick and sentiment in other features, from other all-time “greats.”
Still, Rains will always seem much more “associated” with his tenure at LCA. Part of that association stems from his success while there and the other part stems from the rather peculiar reason the school had for cutting him loose.
Rains will always be viewed by many as LCA’s football coach, partly for his great success there…
Friday Night Fletch
Rains was hired on at LCA in 2003 following Dave Garrett posting a 1-9 in 2002. Rains immediately went 8-3 his first year at the helm. In year two (2), Rains guided LCA to a 14-1 record and a championship in 2009.
The ’09 season was capped off by Rains running Joe Morris and his Mayfield Cardinals out of the stadium in the title game, 55-19. The Eagles had been to the title game in 2007, dropping a three (3)-point, nail biter to Noah Rash and his Beechwood team, 38-35.
Rains was let go at LCA, reputedly over his being photographed holding a beer and that photograph being published to “Facebook.” There was nothing underhanded about the event. Rains didn’t appear inebriated.
This was simply a photo of him, an adult, drinking an entirely legal beverage while being unquestionably old enough to consume beverages of the kind. Pretty innocuous by today’s standards.
Why this became such a cause for concern is anyone’s guess. Looking back on the situation, I wonder if the school would make the same decision? Looking back through the prism of history, there appears to have been some ramifications for having taken such a dire and drastic action.
As far as, “I wonder if the school would make the same decision[?],” don’t answer that. The question was intended to be entirely rhetorical. The answer is meaningless anyway. What is done, is done.
For his part Rains was completely professional about the situation. Rains never expressed any bitterness. Rains didn’t go on any commonwealth-wide “bad mouthing tour” regarding the school or its decision. Rains knew for what he had signed up in taking the head football coaching job at LCA in the first place. Coaching at LCA is a bit different than coaching at other schools.
Termination aside, the 2009 title is the school’s only KHSAA football championship. LCA has been to title games since, but have come up short each time. LCA has lost some title game appearances in some rather unlucky, snake-bitten fashion and on multiple occasions.
Doug Charles took the Eagles to the title game in back to back seasons, losing to Beechwood and Noel Rash both times. Both games, though, could have gone either way [2020, 24-23 (OT), and 2021, 23-21].
Who knows, the Eagles may be working through the high school version of the “The Curse of the Bambino.” To refresh your recollection, or for those who have never heard of such a curse, it was thought the 1920 sale of Babe Ruth, nicknamed “The Bambino,” to the New York Yankees cursed the Boston Red Sox franchise, so thoroughly, it couldn’t win a World Series, post-sale, until 2004.
The Red Sox, prior to the Ruth-deal, had won five (5) of the first 15 World Series titles in Major League history. Ruth, a member of three (3) of those championship teams, was both a proficient pitcher and sometimes-slugger. Ruth won, on the mound, two of the six games of the 1918 World Series.
After dealing Ruth, the Red Sox didn’t win another series title for 86-years. LCA hasn’t won another championship since firing Rains over the publishing to Facebook of his drinking a beer in 2009. Under “The Curse of the Bambino” theory, look out for Fall 2095.
We are sure it won’t be quite that severe. We hope.
Rains went on from LCA to have successful stops at various other high schools in various degrees of enrollment. That is what makes a Paul Rains, a Paul Rains.
Coaches like Rains have seen about everything high school football can show a person. Rains coached every type of kid. Rains handled the full accoutrement of career adversity.
At the end of the day, in the words of Dickie Betts, “[Rains] was born a ramblin’ man/ [who was] trying to make a living just doing the best [that he could].” There ain’t nothing wrong with that!
Now, with the career safely in the rear view, it’s Miller-time. Enjoy a cold one on us, Coach. Heck, we may even buy it for you.
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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Finely written- love your truth and style!
Thank you so much. Like coaching, writing can be a thankless vocation from time to time.