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January 26, 2004
In Touch: Coach keeps up with former star
By Mason Linker | JOURNAL REPORTER
In August of 1993, recently-hired Coach Dickie Cline of Ledford was running his team through one of its first hitting drills. Eventually, a junior running back named Brad Hoover lay on the ground grimacing.
Instead of stopping to tend to Hoover, Cline said he instructed the players to move to the side and continue the drill.
"After practice, all the coaches were in the office , and I called Brad in," said Cline, now the head coach at Glenn. "I remember he came in there barefoot. I asked him which ankle he hurt, and now Brad - he ain't one to talk at all - he didn't even know.
"And what I told him was that he could be very special but he needed to get mentally tough. I told him if he wanted to tote the mail you have to forget about those things. And I tell you, that was the last thing I ever said to him about anything like that."
Hoover, of course, got past the pain of playing football, and is the starting fullback for the Carolina Panthers, who will play the New England Patriots on Feb. 1 in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
And Hoover - who rushed for 2,800 yards and was a Shrine Bowl selection in 1994, his senior season at Ledford - still talks often with Cline, swapping football strategy and catching up.
Cline and Hoover talked on the phone earlier this week, and Cline said neither could hide their excitement about the Super Bowl.
"It's amazing for the whole team, but for Brad, who was such a long shot to make the make the team (after graduating from Western Carolina)... I just have so much pride and excitement for him as his former coach.
"One thing he said to me was, 'Coach, we have to get back to work, because we still have one more to win.' And he has always had that demeanor and maturity to know what his job is."
By a stroke of luck, the Panthers run an I-formation offense similar to the one run by Cline at Glenn. And so Cline said that he and Hoover often discuss strategy and that earlier this season, Hoover drew up two-tight end formations and faxed them to Cline. Cline said he used some of it in his offensive package.
Hoover said that Cline still offers him advice, and he takes it.
"It's always pleasant conversation, but he gives me advice like any coach would," Hoover said. "And he critiques me on a lot of things. I like an outside opinion, and he helps on that. But most of it is casual conversation.
"He hasn't changed a bit. He just told me to keep my nose to the grindstone and it's not over until we win the game, and we're not going to settle for anything short of that. That's our whole attitude, anyway."
Cline said Hoover called him several weeks ago with some good news. Running back Stephen Davis of the Panthers had been selected to the Pro Bowl, and he had offered to bring Hoover and his wife with him. to Hawaii. "Stephen Davis told Brad that he would have never gotten there without his blocking," Cline said.
Hoover - who once carried the ball 52 times for 368 yards in a game against Lexington - doesn't get nearly the carries he did playing in high school and college, but Cline said he never complains.
"I always tell him I wish they would get him the bone more, but he just says he knows his role," Cline said.
"He said when this thing is over, he will come by and we'll go out to eat and shoot the bull. I know he is busy, and I know he will be busy when it's over with. But he never forgets where he came from, I tell you that."
• Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com