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By Ed Flink
News Times
Disguised as an angry old man, he barged into a team meeting one day
wearing a costume mask., a trench coat and fake hands.
He proceeded to yell and bang his fist on a desk, puzzling a room full
of
Pomperaug High football players.
"They didn't now it was me," Coach Chuck Drury recalled.
"I said, 'That's
the type of mood I'm in, and that's the type of mood we're going to play in.'
Then I whipped of my mask. They were all pumped.
This was Drury, who also happens to be a school disciplinarian, playing
pranks on his Panthers to motivate them before facing New Fairfield during
Halloween weekend.
"That was definitely coach Drury," junior quarterback Joe Pugh
said with a
chuckle. "He's a fun guy to be around and it's fun to play for him."
...Drury rarely screams at his players. He already has their respect.
And this
fall, the South-West Conference gained added respect for Drury and the
Panthers. He guided Pomperaug to an 8-1-1 regular-season record, the best
in school history, and its first appearance in the state playoffs.
For his efforts, Drury is the News Times football coach of the year.
Drury, a physical education teacher, resides in Bristol with his wife,
Clare,
and their four children. He grew up in West Hartford playing defensive end
for Northwest Catholic High and Southern Connecticut. A teacher at
Pomperaug for 24 years, he initially coached the Panthers from 1976-87
before stepping down.
"It was a combination of things," Drury said noting he had two
sons playing
football at other schools, and was coaching wrestling and track at the
same time.
"I was probably a little burned out and decided I needed a little
bit of a
change," he added. "I was very reluctant to do it, but I did."
Former Immaculate High coach Bob Slavinsky took over, and immediately
recruited Drury to be an assistant.
"Bob was hired in the morning. That afternoon we sat down and he
asked
me to stay on," Drury said. "And it worked out great. It was like going on a
retreat."
When Slavinsky resigned to take an administrative job in the Ridgefield
school district, Drury regained the head coaching duties in 1996. The
Panthers were 6-5, 6-5 and 6-4 the past three seasons. This year,
everything came together.
Pomperaug set the tone for it's success in the opener, a near-miraculous
24-21 comeback against Brookfield, which went on to win eight of it's next
nine games and qualify for the state playoffs. The Panthers rallied after
trailing 21-9 midway through the fourth quarter.
Following a 21-21 tie with Stratford and a 26-14 loss to eventual league
champion Masuk, the Panthers closed the season with seven consecutive
victories.
"Things went our way," Drury said. "We worked very hard
to prepare for
every opponent. If we caught a break, we capitalized on it, and we didn't
give too many things away. We protected the ball pretty well."
"When we needed the big play offensively or defensively, we came up
with
it, and it usually was in the fourth quarter."
The Panthers practiced three hours per day, always outdoors regardless
of
how cold or rainy.
"Our field becomes like chocolate pudding," Drury said.
"We'd bring out one
or two footballs, that looked like beach balls and we go and play."
Only two Panthers were two way starters; Drury tried to involve as many
players as possible. Last year he took a chance on Pugh, an untested
quarterback who rewarded his coach's faith with an outstanding season
this fall.
"I love playing for him," Pugh said, "He gave me a real
chance to start last
season as a sophomore. He gives everyone a fair look, and he prepares us
well for games. He really worked us hard this year and it defiantly paid off.
He does it without being an ogre.
"We have such a good relationship with him that he doesn't feel he
has to
scream at us to get the point across," Pugh said.
Said Drury; "I've always been a good motivator in any sport I've
coached.
I've always had tremendous enthusiasm. I'm always saying something
positive. I'm a positive person. I think if you demand the best from every
kid on every play and you show them respect you're going to get that
back."
"It's rare that I've lost it. So when I lose it, it sticks with
them for a while.
They know it's there and they don't want the bomb to go off. They see my
eyes. When I look at them they rear back a little. I don't have to say
anything. They know me and they know what to expect from me."
"I think I've seen that look before," Pugh said.
It's the look of a winner and not even a ... defeat to Fitch in the
Class L
state semifinals could spoil a splendid season.
"I told the kids we got beat by a very good football team,"
Drury said of the
eventual state champions of Groton. "But I liked it, I liked being there. I
want to get back. I told the kids at the banquet that it's over now and it's
time to move on. It's time to raise the bar again."
After school recently, Drury was in the hallway talking to three
students.
Suddenly, they all broke out in laughter as Drury delivered the punch line of
a joke. The coach/disciplinarian/comedian was at it again.
"I think you have to be who you are," he said.
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