Published: August 20, 2008 09:58 am      

Coming back for more

85-year-old coach returns to Marlow sideline

MARLOW — MARLOW — Retirement for one person may not necessarily be retirement for another. Consider the case of Marlow’s Bill Carter.

It was 27 years ago that coach Carter arrived in Marlow after retiring from coaching and teaching in Texas. Looking to stay busy, he offered his services to then head coach Darvis Cole who took him up on his offer. Now, at 85 years of age, Carter remains a fixture on the sidelines and is one of the most beloved people associated with the program.

“This is a good place to be,” Carter said. “The people are good and the school is top-ranked. The administration and teachers are all wonderful.

“This is the easiest thing because I love what I do. It couldn’t be any better. I’m a Marlow Outlaw.”

In Carter’s time as a defensive coach for Marlow, he has worked for seven different head coaches. Bobby Wortham, a tailback on the team when Carter arrived in 1981, is now a member of the coaching staff. With the turnover in coaches, Carter has kept his place of honor on the coaching staff, adjusting to each newcomer.

“I have never had a favorite among the coaches,” Carter said. “But when they said that Barry Foster got the job, I just thought that we finally got a guy just like us and he sure knows football. Barry, as well as Daryn Brantley and Dave McKay, are good people and it rubs off on the team.”

Coach Carter’s origins in Marlow began shortly after the start of World War II. Carter had been raised in Weatherford, Texas, and attended Junior College there. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Carter tried to enlist in the Marines but had to get his mother’s signature. His mother had moved to Marlow and that is where he came and stayed for a while after his mother refused to sign the release. Working at the grocery store while waiting to get drafted, Carter met the woman who would change his life.

“I was working in the grocery store as a clerk when this guy and a girl came in,” Carter said. “It turned out to be his cousin. I asked him if she was married and he said no. I said she will be.”

Bill and Evelyn were married Oct. 30, 1942, and he was shipped out not long after. After returning from the war, Carter was offered a scholarship to Abilene Christian College, where he attended with the help of the G.I. Bill, playing football and running track. Both sports would play a major role in his life as he would coach both at the highest levels of Texas high school football.

He won two state championships as an assistant football coach and two as a head track coach, one at Iowa Park and one at Amarillo Tascosa. Carter also competed in track events and recently set a world’s record in the pentathlon for men 85 and older at the Senior Olympics in Spokane, Wash.

“I have also set a world record in the 80-84-year-old division,” Carter said. “I have my training down like I want it. The biggest thing is that you don’t get injured.”

His training regimen starts with jogging a quarter-mile and stride some 100’s. I run four 200’s and then jog a half-mile every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursdays, I lift weights and throw the javelin and discus, mainly working on form.”

Carter has competed in the Senior Olympics in each of the last 15 years, save the competition in 1994 when he was battling prostate cancer and last year when he injured his back.

“Competing just makes me feel so good,” Carter said. “I love to compete and the good thing is you make a lot of friends. The bad thing is you go back and a friend will be sick or have died.

“The Lord gave me this talent and then said ‘this is what you do with it.’ I can’t back down from that.”

As a defensive coach, Carter specializes in teaching kids not to back down. This year, he is working mainly with the noseguards and is excited about not only their potential, but with the kind of athlete that Marlow is putting out.

“The kids respect me and I respect them,” Carter said. “I have some guys that are going to be good. They work hard and listen. I like that. Many of the places that I was, we had good kids but there would always be two or three that had to shape up or ship out. We don’t have that here.”

Although Carter is 85, it can be termed as years young instead of years old. The fire to coach kids and compete still burn bright in his heart. And, he is always ready to answer the bell at the start of football season.

“I am going to continue to coach ’till they don’t want me anymore or until I physically can’t,” Carter said.

For the athletes of Marlow, that is welcome news, and they like that.