It's the easy way out, the nice thing to do.
But sometimes, like with North Meck High's Mike Bradley, it's really the case.
As far as wins go, there are many who have won more than Bradley, who announced last week that he is retiring after 32 years teaching and coaching in North Carolina. And there will always be detractors who say a program that has gone 10-24 in three years needs new direction. If you're talking only numbers, there's some validity in that, of course.
In reality, there's more to the story, just as there is when you look at his 12-32 record in Hopewell's first four years, when at least a third of those losses were basically unavoidable for a new school beginning football at the 4A level. More so than the first-year Hough team of last season, the 2001 Titans were just outmanned.
When he took the reins at North in 2009, Bradley also knew challenges were on the horizon. He coached the Vikings through a time of significant change, when many North students were reassigned to Hough and the number of those reassigned to North from West Charlotte — as far as the number of football players coming over — was comparably low (though it should be noted that Terrence Clyburn, North's best player this year, came over in the reassignment).
All of that is not to make excuses for Bradley. It's just to tell the part of the story hidden by the numbers.
Bradley is one of the coaches whose impact truly cannot be quantified solely by the scoreboard. The same would be true even if his teams had won three state titles and eight conference championships, even if the Vikings had performed like Mallard Creek, if he won every game in the Hopewell-North rivalry he has dearly loved.
Class act
Better than most coaches, Bradley has, throughout his 11 years at Hopewell and North, demonstrated that football is only part of life's puzzle. He's seen the big picture. Many say the same thing because it sounds good, when in reality they don't believe it or want their players to, either. Bradley, however, has cared and still cares for every player who ever wore his team's uniform.
Bradley is a man overflowing with passion and personality, and his players and assistants have always responded positively to him. His team speeches are part stand-up comedy routine, part college lecture and part intimate father-son conversation.
Outside of football, Bradley is an accomplished history teacher. His students, again this year, have shown significant test score improvement in his class. And Bradley is as invested in a kid learning about Reconstruction or World War II as he is about seeing a cornerback properly defend the fade route. You hear about the definition of a student-athlete. Bradley has been the definition of the teacher-coach.
"Every year was different," says Bradley. "The issues you deal with are different, the kids are different. To me, it was never monotonous. It was never boring. I was never one to have a calendar on my desk saying it was so many years until retirement."
Just during his time at Hopewell and North, Bradley has had more than his fair share of heartbreaking losses on the gridiron. Some of them have cut him deeply. When Bradley cannot find the words to describe his feelings, you know that he's feeling the pain.
But Bradley, a still-young 53-year-old who says he likely will coach again down the road, has always bounced back and encouraged his players to do the same. On Mondays following tough losses, he's been upbeat and ready to motivate his team to give football another shot. It's a football-wrapped life lesson: Life is not always easy. That doesn't mean you quit. Keep fighting. And enjoy the ride.
"Bradley was consistent and constant," says North Athletic Director Kevin Wilson. "He's always so optimistic, even this past year (when the Vikings were 1-10). His work ethic never changed. He was focused on the kids."
Bradley is not only the type of coach you rarely find, but the kind of general good guy who, regardless of what he does, is going to have a positive impact.
Now the time has come for him to move on and try something else. While he's excited about the new business venture in his future, he's also human. Bradley knows that the next August will not quite seem like August, when he's not out in the bright sunshine, blowing a whistle and whipping young men into football shape. It's all he's known.
And without Bradley around, it won't seem like August to plenty of others, either.
