Even in high school sports, life reminds you.
It reminds you to take the bitter with the sweet, because both will inevitably come.
It reminds you to cherish every moment and every person you meet along the way, because without question, no season lasts for ever — and that’s not just a reference to a sports season, either.
Sometimes seasons end when a student-athlete has completed his or her four years of high school, climaxing with graduation and moving on to whatever life has for them next.
Sometimes it’s a coach who realizes his or her time at their school has come to a close. And whether by retirement or a better opportunity, that coach must say goodbye.
Then, sometimes, seasons end when a life has been taken from us. Such was the case when the Westside Patriots football family lost assistant coach Tim McClain.
I’d just seen Tim recently during the Westside boys basketball state championship run. Last time I made his acquaintance, we slapped hands and exchanged “bro hugs,” and kept it moving.
In those moments, you just assume that you’ll see each other again.
At the grocery store or gas station around town. Maybe when spring football starts up in a couple of months. But you don’t ever think that the last time you see a person is going to be the last time.
Coach McClain was a fixture in Augusta’s sports community. Before joining coach Lee Hutto’s staff at Westside, McClain led the Glenn Hills football team for three years, and was actually one of just two coaches to lead the Spartans to a non-losing record in the last 14 years.
McClain accomplished that when he coached Glenn Hills to a 5-5 mark during the 2013 season. The only other time that’s happened for Glenn Hills was when former coach Nick Collins did it in 2017. McClain also had stints at Laney, Butler, Jefferson County and Richmond Academy before coming to Westside.
But as with any human being who just happens to be involved in athletics, McClain’s legacy is bigger than wins and losses. All you have to do is put his name in a social media search bar and see how many people in and around the Augusta area were positively impacted by McClain’s presence.
From coaches who coached with him to coaches who coached against him, to student-athletes, school faculty and staff, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone with anything less than glowing reviews of the life he lived.
“I coached with Tim McClain. I coached against Tim McClain. I coached with Tim McClain again,” said Rodney McFadden in a Facebook post. “Tim McClain helped me get my present coaching assignment. We traveled to coaching clinics, we scouted football games, we went to sporting events and simply hung out together…last week, we laughed on the phone for at least an hour. This week, you completed your earthly assignment.
“We started as co-workers, turned into being great friends, and we ended up being like brothers.”
You could almost literally copy and paste McFadden’s sentiments and put a dozen other names behind the comments, and nothing would change.
That’s the kind of person, man and coach McClain was. And that’s why his passing has left what feels like a huge void in the Augusta area’s sports scene, not to mention McClain’s own family.
As a pastor-sportswriter, I’ve done my fair share of funerals and provided more than a little commentary on a person’s passing, whether through a eulogy preached in a church or an article or column published in a newspaper.
You’d think that after all that, death wouldn’t strike me as hard as it often does — especially the ones when a person was literally here today and gone later in that same day, without warning.
Those are always the ones that deliver the most swift and sure punches to the gut. They’re the ones that remind me just how unpredictable life is and how flimsy our day-to-day plans are — made on an assumption that we’ll actually make it through the day, when the reality is no 24-hour period is promised to any of us.
My sincere prayers are with coach McClain’s immediate family as well as his football family. My prayers are also with those who knew him and were impacted by him so profoundly, to the point it makes you miss his passing.
You know, loving a person is a double-edged sword. You enjoy them when they’re here, and when they’re gone, you loathe their departure. But the crazy part is, the pain you feel when they’re gone is the proof that you had something special with them while they were here.
It’s the ultimate “bittersweet.”
Shortly after the news of McClain’s passing broke, Westside’s leadership drafted a letter to send home to parents and families. In it, the word “legacy” was mentioned.
“Today and always, we commit to honor the legacy of Coach McClain to serve our students and provide guidance in their athletic pursuits,” the letter said.
I didn’t know Tim as well as many of you. But what little I did know, I feel safe in saying that that’s exactly what he would want.
Here’s what else I think he’d want. He’d desire everyone touched by his life and pained by his death to do the following:
Love hard, love strong and love well while you’re here.
Don’t take a “play” off, whether on the fields of competition or in the game of life.
Enjoy moments. They come suddenly and leave just as fast, and once they’re gone, you can’t get them back.
Make memories. They’ll be what gets you through the difficulty that comes with departure.
And finally, don’t sweat the small stuff. Life goes way too fast to hold grudges, play scared and live in bitterness and anger.
Say the apologies. Say the “I love yous.” Take all the pictures. Share in laughter with one another. When you wake up for a new day, make it count as if it were your last, because you never know when it one day will be.
This is how to keep the legacy of a beloved coach and community staple alive.
Rest in peace, coach Tim McClain. Thank you for making our community better.
Gabriel Stovall is sports editor for The Augusta Press. He can be reached at gabriel@theaugustapress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter), Instagram and Threads: @GabrielCStovall.
