Bruce Carey still remembers his first year as a coach at Bridgeport High School and a particularly interesting encounter with the man he replaced – Wayne Jamison. It was, Carey said, the time when he realized it was his program and it was pretty important to continue the winning tradition.

 

“It was late one night in the week before a game with (Robert C.) Byrd and it’s getting close to 8 p.m. and I’m still in my office when Coach Jamison happened to be around,” said Carey. “He looked at me and just said ‘you really need to go home.’ I thought about it for a second and knew he was right.

 

“I started packing things up and headed out the door and Jamison was outside,” Carey continued. “He looked at me and said, ‘you still know you have to beat Byrd.’ Even though I was the coach, I think that was the moment I truly knew it.”

 

That was back in 1996. Earlier this week, Bruce Carey retired after decades as a coach by stepping down from the head football job at Robert C. Byrd High School.

 

Carey’s stint at BHS was a long and prosperous one. He would coach until 2009, winning one state championship in Class AA and playing for another. In his final season, he took the Indians to the Class AAA semifinals where they would lose to eventual state champion South Charleston 28-25 in what was basically the de facto state title game.

 

“I enjoyed my time over there. The kids were great and we had a lot of good athletes,” said Carey. “(Current Principal and then assistant) Mark (DeFazio) and (former Principal) Lindy (Bennett) were just great to work for. They gave me my first shot as a head coach and I’ll always appreciate that. I always felt that I needed to pay back that faith and that’s probably why I spent a lot of time in that field house.”

 

By anyone’s measure, Bruce Carey never let DeFazio or Bennett down. For that matter, he never let the football program down and perhaps most importantly, he never let his players down.

 

Based on the numbers alone, Carey wasn’t just a good hire to replace Jamison. He was a great hire. Carey finished his time up at 125-31 at BHS before he needed to take some time off to get his health in order.

 

Many people may remember that Bruce Carey stepped down after the 2009 season because he had suffered what is known in layman’s terms as a spinal cord stroke. What some may forget is that he had the condition before the season and actually coached the final year at BHS recovering from a medical condition that his surgeon told me very few ever get up and walk from again.

 

Carey did walk again, even if it was usually with the help of a walker, because he was too stubborn for anything to keep him down. Call the stubbornness – for those that know any of the Carey crew and I mean this with a healthy dose of respect – a family trait.

 

It wasn’t stubbornness that led him back to the game. It was getting healthy enough and loving the game and working with the student-athletes that did it.

 

Three years ago with his health at a level he felt comfortable with, he returned to the sidelines. He took over the Robert C. Byrd High School football program and in that time until this past year he won more playoff games than all those before him combined. He went twice to the Class AA semifinals and although it can’t be proven, I’m convinced he had the second best team in the state last year.

 

Yet, limiting Bruce Carey to his success on the football field would be selling him short – and not just as a coach. It would be selling him short as a man, a person and just a decent human being.

 

Carey didn’t remember when I told him the other night of my first encounter with him. I was probably 20 years old and covering a game where Carey was an assistant coach. Another member of the coaching staff didn’t like a colleague I worked with and was pretty much up in my face in an attempt to intimidate the new young guy about his displeasure with my co-worker. Before I could size up the situation and figure out  how to properly react, Carey stepped in.

 

He looked at the guy and told him politely to “shut the hell up.” Here’s the thing. Bruce Carey didn’t know me. Didn’t know why I was there. All he saw was something he felt was wrong and he stepped in.

 

There was no explanation. He just patted me on the back and went about his business. That was my introduction to Bruce Carey decades ago.

 

Understand that Bruce Carey has been coaching for 36 years. He started in 1979 as an assistant for the late Gary Barnett at South Harrison. He coached as an assistant in college with Rich Rodriguez at Glenville State and he was also a freshman coach at the now defunct Washington Irving High School. That was his final stop prior to heading to becoming as assistant for Jamison at BHS.

 

You don’t coach that long, deal with generations of kids who are now men, fathers and even grandfathers and not have a love for it. And you don’t step away without knowing you’re going to miss it.

 

“Yea, I know I’m going to miss some of it. I’ll get that feeling in August and I know it,” said Carey. “At the same time I’m looking forward to not coaching because I’m also retiring from teaching.

 

“It’s a clean break and the fact that I’m looking forward to it lets me know that it’s time to go because you’ve got to be there for weightlifting, the games, the practices, the summer practices and so much more,” he continued. “It’s not a four-month job. It’s a 12-month job and those kids at Byrd deserve someone who’s got the fire to do that for 12 months. I don’t have it anymore.”

 

Carey didn’t blame everything on his health that he still battles to maintain. He said the time commitment is difficult on everyone and he wasn’t willing to sacrifice anymore of that time.

 

“I need a little relief. Somehow, we lost most of the school year and our summers,” said Carey. “And it’s not just the coaches, it’s the kids too.”

 

Carey has some other kids to pay attention to as well. Although stepping down from teaching, he said he’s not likely to do much substitute teaching if any at all. Besides, he said he’s got a fulltime job that he and wife can share.

 

“I’m going to spend as much time as I can with my grandson Isaac,” said Carey. “He pretty much can push me around and say what he wants to me. He’s the only one that can get away with it. I think I enjoy my time so much with him because I’ve enjoyed my time over all the years that I’ve had with kids at every stop. One thing I’ve learned is that kids are kids no matter where they’re at or how old they are. The other thing I’ve learned is that you can’t fool them. As a coach, if you realize that and treat them as young men – just being honest with them – it will serve you well.”

 

Carey said he hopes he and Pam will be able to spend time with his daughters – Megan Carey  who lives in New Jersey and Kelly Baker, who lives locally. He also said he wouldn’t mind staying at his brother Mike’s home in Florida.

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere in the last 35 years unless it was around July 4,” said Carey. “Pam and I can do some traveling and maybe stay at Mike’s place. This will all be new to me, but I’m looking forward to it.”

 

He’s looking forward to it, but he’s not completely ready to step away from the game. He said he’d be willing to work with Robert C. Byrd’s next coach (likely Bryan Fisher who has had tremendous success years ago with the program and was an assistant last year) if the coach is agreeable.

 

“With that new internet service, I can get the game films at home and break them down. Heck, I can break game film down anywhere as long as I have a computer,” said Carey. “Time will tell if I do that, if I sub or how much we travel. It’s all an unknown, but I’m ready for it.”

 

Here’s what is known. Here’s what I can say now about a person I previously covered in my current and past capacities that I couldn’t before.

Bruce Carey is pure class to the point that I can’t say enough good things about the man. He never coached for ego gratification. He never coached to prove his superiority or for any type of perceived financial gain, which is a fallacy if he or anyone thinks that. He was competitive and always wanted to win, but the learning and the safety of his players was always first.

 

Every Friday night Bruce Carey was on the sidelines for the right reason. He was there to teach kids. He was there to mold young men and in the process he won a lot of games and for all those that knew him he had long since won their respect.

 

He was, and always will be, Coach Carey to me. I never played a down for him or had a child that did. I just saw the impact he made on those that did.

 

You can’t repay that. You can only thank him for a job well done and wish him peace and good health as he begins a new journey in his life.

 

It’s time to pack your bags and head home Coach. Only this time, you don’t have to beat anyone Friday night. You just need to enjoy yourself. You’ve earned it.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Bruce Carey during his final year at BHS (photo courtesy of Bridgeport High School journalism department), while he's shown in the remaining photos during his team with RCB. Above, he's shown post game with current Bridgeport Coach Josh Nicewarner and at the bottom he's shown this past season with his assistant and former RCB head Coach Bryan Fisher. Photos by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com.