Heyde-ho: One more honor for coaching legend
At a dinner organized by former Heyde assistant coach Desi Kirchhofer, Heyde was the butt of several jokes. However, it was all in good fun as he and several of his former players and assistant coaches shared various anecdotes spanning the retired coach's 27-year career at Mehlville.
"I know that Gary Heyde has affected so many lives, and I wanted to show him his impact," Kirchhofer said. "I don't think you really know how many you influence. I don't think he realizes how much he taught people about life."Kirchhofer introduced a few colleagues and former players to talk about Heyde's influence. There was band director Don Kinnison, who told a story of the first time he met "the new football coach" and how he regretted later volunteering to help with the tedious task of lining the football field. Longtime defensive coordinator Mike Mooney shared several stories about scouting trips that nearly had Mehlville athletics director Ernie Perrica in tears from laughter. Perrica also got mic time and former players John Dewalle and Abdul Kaba Abdullah spoke of the coach's influence.
Heyde was able to laugh at himself and admitted that "all of the stories were true." Displaying the same class and humility his friends and peers talked about, Heyde deflected much of the praise.
"Twenty-seven years is a long time to be a head coach," he said before thanking his various assistant coaches and the dinner's organizing committee amidst several jokes. "The head coach always gets too much credit for victories and too much blame when you're not successful. I've always felt that none of this would have been possible without all of the help I've had. Together we found a way to be champions and I appreciate everything that everybody did to make this a real special night."
Heyde also thanked the boosters and parents, along with his players, for their commitment to the program.
"I think the Mehlville players are more committed than any other program we played against," Heyde said. "I think we showed that year in and year out. When we've had the success we've had, you don't do that without everybody being on board. The whole Mehlville community and the players we've had have just been tremendous in their commitment.
"Every team has some outstanding players, but that's not what determines how good a team is going to be," Heyde said. "It's everybody else. How good are your backups? How good is your scout team? How good is your second-team guard and your third-team guard? Coach Mooney would always tell those players, 'Be ready. You're one snap away.' We've had a total commitment from everybody, from the last player to the best player."
Kirchhofer thanked Heyde's wife and children for "sharing their dad" with his assistant coaches and players, a group he referred to as "The Mehlville Mafia."
"As much as you loved him for being your dad, know that we loved him just as much as our coach," Kirchhofer told them.
That sentiment was shared by Heyde during his speech.
"It's a tough job to be married to a football coach," he said. "We had talked this over and we decided that if (Kris) were to die during the season, we'd freeze the body until the season's over. She understood that. It's a little tongue-in-cheek there, but there's also a little bit of truth to that."
Kris said that football consumed her husband during the season, and that he was like a zombie on gamedays, so focused on the task at hand that she could not even talk to him. Now that his football coaching career is over, another passion has consumed her husband: golf. Kris said he is just as competitive on the links as he was on the gridiron and that she can't play with him because she's "uncoachable" and her approach to the game is so much different.
"I am not a competitive person at all," she said with a wide grin, "and he is so competitive."
It's that passion that garnered Heyde 211 wins and 15 district titles to go along with three state championship game and nine semifinal game appearances in 27 years.
The Heyde coaching tree was easy to see with most of his former assistants attending. Current assistants Mike Ghormley and Brian Morris were there along with Heyde's sucessor, Eric Meyer, who admitted he has big shoes to fill. Even coaches who went on to lead other programs, like current head coaches Tom Beauchamp at Lindbergh and Jacob Parent at St. Mary's, reminisced about their experiences on Heyde's staff. Ditto for St. Mary's basketball coach Ed Perniciaro, who regards Mooney and Heyde as his two greatest coaching influences.
It was easy to see how loved Heyde is by the people who know him the best. That's something that he'll probably think about later this summer when he and Kris use the gift presented to him by Kirchhofer: a trip to Las Vegas, one of Heyde's favorite vacation spots.
Who knows? Maybe like Michael Corleone, the Godfather of the "Mehlville Mafia family" might decide to move out there.
