Coach Gray retires

Back on May 14, 2005, over 80 people gathered at Lakeside Clubhouse in Culpeper to honor one of Culpeper’s greatest coaches, Shirley Gray.

The crowd included educators, administrators, former players, family and friends.

It mattered not that Coach Gray wasn’t officially retiring from coaching, a profession that he began in 1966, or that he had been toying with the idea for a few years. His numerous and ardent admirers would have come any time, any place, to honor the man whose personality and coaching methods inspired the lives of too many people to count.

Still, they had to know that the day would come when Coach Gray would step down from his beloved profession, which included coaching three different sports: football, wrestling and golf.

After retiring from coaching football in 1985, he remained as the head coach of Culpeper’s wrestling team until he stepped aside after the 1993 season.

That left golf as the last link in a storied career.

But even that couldn’t last forever.

After 30 years at the helm, Coach Gray has officially resigned as Culpeper’s golf coach, and from all of coaching.

“After 30 years, I just feel like I need to spend more time doing family things with the grandkids,” said Gray. “They are getting older and I want to spend more time with family and have more personal time.”

Gray, 71, was born in Charles Town, W.Va. and graduated from Shepherd College in 1963. After teaching in public school in his home state for three years, he came to Culpeper in 1966 to begin what would be an illustrious 43-year career.

He served as an assistant coach on Culpeper’s varsity football team from 1966 through 1985, and he took over the reins of the wrestling team in 1967, coached numerous individual champions, and led the team to its only state championship in 1975.

Beginning in 1979, Gray coached the golf team and over the next thirty years guided it to eleven district championships, two regional crowns, and one state title in 1985. The team finished as a state runner-up in 1987.

Gray steps down with 295 career wins, which makes him No. 7 on Virginia’s all-time list for most wins. And, while most people are familiar with the demands that come with coaching football and wrestling, Gray said that there is more to coaching golf than meets the eye.

“A lot of people think there’s nothing to it,” he said, “But with coaching any sport you have safety concerns that come up. You have a lot of responsibilities that come with traveling, carrying them to the matches, and getting them back home safely.”

Gray’s legacy will be the manner in which he inspired those he coached.

At the celebration event on May 14, 2005, numerous former athletes took the podium to share their stories of how Coach Gray inspired them to be their best. They spoke of his disciplinary methods, his expressions, and how he drove them to excel.

Many spoke with great emotion and had to fight back the tears.

But don’t expect Gray, who devoted 43 years of his life to coaching, to second guess his decision or get too emotional.

“I’m not an emotional person,” he said. “Over the last four or five years I decided to step down. I know when it’s time to give things up. I’ve enjoyed those years, working with the kids, the athletes, and the relationships that you develop, and the friendships you develop with coaches throughout the state.”

One such friendship is with CCHS Director of Activities, William “Billy” Thornhill.

“He coached me (in football) when I was in school,” said Thornhill, a 1971 graduate of Culpeper. “Coach Gray is an icon, just like (the school’s former girls’ basketball coach) Kate Carter (who passed away last year).”

Gray’s departure comes at a time when CCHS is set to re-enter the Battlefield District.

Over the course of Gray’s 43 years, Culpeper was first a part of the Battlefield and then later the Commonwealth and more recently the Cedar Run District.

“He saw a lot of head coaches come and go over those years,” said Thornhill. “It’s hard to put into words just what he’s done for the athletic programs, but as a coach he was always thorough and complete with his organization and practices.”

Culpeper is set to join Eastern View in the newly aligned Battlefield District beginning this fall.

It does so without one of Virginia’s most famed coaches who will be remembered for a long time to come.

“Every thing he touched turned to gold,” said Thornhill.

How does Gray want to be remembered?

“As a disciplinarian who treated everyone fairly,” he said. “Anyone who came out for one of my teams always had a fair opportunity to participate. I think I had the athletes’ best interests in mind first.”