I can still see it now. The snow swirling in the final minutes of the TSSAA State Championship Game back in 2000. The Red Bank Lions kept handing the ball to their super-stud running back Gerald Riggs Jr. to seal the Class 5-A state title. The Lions would defeat Murfreesboro Riverdale 27-7 that night, in the middle of a snowstorm 20 years ago. There is one image burned into my memory from that night that is even more vivid. That's the image of Red Bank coach Tom Weathers standing on the sidelines wearing a blue parka with the hood over his head.
Knowing Tom Weathers as I did I preferred to think of him hiding his emotions from his team as the clock counted down the Lions' victory. Though it wasn't Weathers' first trip to the championship game, it would be his first and only championship win. While I was scurrying back and forth to the heated bathroom facilities between reports on Channel 3 that evening, Coach Weathers was in the elements, and enjoying every minute of it.
The Lions capped perhaps the greatest season ever for a Chattanooga area prep football team that year, finishing a perfect 15-0, and outscoring the opposition by an average score of 40-12. This team was as much fun to watch as just about any team I have covered. Recently, a 20-year celebration of that team's state title was cancelled due to the coronavirus. When the fans, former players and coaches finally get together to honor that team, there will be a huge piece of that team's heart missing.
Coach Tom Weathers passed away on Wednesday at the age of 80. He is the third legendary coaching icon from the Chattanooga area to pass away in the last few weeks. Soddy Daisy softball guru Clifford Kirk and East Ridge volleyball and basketball legend Catherine Neely each died just a few weeks ahead of Coach Weathers. There is no way to describe how many lives were touched and influenced by all three of those wonderful educators.
Tom Weathers, just like Coaches Kirk and Neely, was one of the first people I met when I came to Chattanooga back in 1975. I did several of his Lions' games on radio, including the 1978 run to the Class AAA State Championship Game when his team surprised Knoxville Farragut in the semi-finals and then lost to powerful Gallatin in the finals. Year in and year out, you could always count on Red Bank to be in the mix when it came to playoff contenders. Weathers put together a mark of 222-85 in 29 years at Red Bank. Even though he coached at Dade County and at Soddy Daisy late in his career, it was Red Bank where he will be remembered most. His influence there can be traced simply to the size of his coaching tree. Many former players and coaches became successful leaders on the football field due to the guidance of Coach Weathers. Coaches like Bill Price and Ted Gatewood are among those from the Weathers' coaching tree who are mourning his loss today.
Coach Weathers had been ill for quite a while before his death this week. I prefer to think of him, with that huge grin on his face, peeking out from under that big blue parka on the sidelines at MTSU 20 years ago. He was elated that evening, standing with his young men and holding that championship trophy high over his head.
Rest in peace, Coach. You are so loved by so many.
Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com