Roye Kidd, Shante Jackson and Brian Swift are making an impact on student-athletes, who are in need of encouragement, direction and positive role models.
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Glenville volleyball coach Shante Jackson, right, who is the scorekeeper for boys basketball, has a tradition of being more than a coach on the field.
Lonnie Timmons III, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A high school coach has the potential to make one of the greatest impacts on a student-athlete, especially when it comes to segments of the black community, where many children desperately need encouragement, direction and positive role models.
We take a look at three coaches -- past, present and future -- who had and have influence on players in their district.
Despite what many may consider a faded philosophy, former JFK football coach Roye Kidd's voice still reverberates with his players across four decades.
Glenville volleyball coach Shante Jackson grew up in the same environment as many of her players and she provides them with an up-close example of achieving despite the odds.
And there's Warrensville Heights second-year basketball coach Brian Swift, who returned to his roots with hopes of pumping new life into a once-proud program and community.
"Coach Kidd instilled in all of us to look beyond the football field and have a life work that touches people."
There was a time when venerable coach Roye Kidd would drive through the Lee-Harvard area keen on catching some of his John F. Kennedy High School football players breaking his 10 p.m. curfew.
Players would run for cover when Kidd's car came within sight. And after the drive, Kidd would knock on doors and make telephone calls to confirm with parents that their children were inside.
"Even now, parents will laugh at how I used to drive up and down the streets checking on the players," Kidd said. "My rules were much in line with my concept of what learning and teaching was about. There must be structure and guidelines."
Discipline and direction have been Kidd's hallmark since he began teaching and coaching at JFK in 1969. By the time he was through in 2008, his teams had won more than 200 games and five city titles.
Kidd not only coached many players who went on to play college and professional football, but he also left a mark on a community and many of the young men in his charge. Numerous players advanced beyond football into various professional careers, and many of them credit Kidd as the catalyst.
"He's the epitome of hard work," said Anthony Montgomery, a 2002 JFK graduate, who played four years with the NFL's Washington Redskins. "Coach Kidd was a gym teacher, football coach and, once practice was over, he'd go off to work in his day-cares. He had a commitment to excellence.
"He'd tell us that sleeping was a waste of time. Less sleep meant you had time to do more."
Rodney Reynolds, the founder and publisher of American Legacy Magazine and executive producer of American Legacy Television, said he owes much of his success to Kidd's teachings.
"Coach Kidd wanted us to get our education and go to college," said Reynolds, a 1976 JFK graduate. "Good character and leadership team-building are all characteristics that come into play in business, and that's what I learned from coach. He served as a father figure to me and many of my teammates, and that was helpful in my life."
Kidd was born in 1940 in a small town outside of Roanoke, Va. He played football (as a 5-8, 170-pound nose guard) for Knoxville College. He spent four years in the Air Force and earned his master's degree while stationed in New Mexico. Time spent growing up in rural Virginia and playing at Knoxville helped establish his coaching philosophy.
"That was all a part of my fiber in terms of coaching," said Kidd. "My own path was paved by some great, positive and hard-nosed coaches who emphasized doing things the right way. I always emphasized to my students and athletes that we may not be the most successful team, but we certainly won't be the best if we didn't work hard enough."
Kidd's way of teaching and maintaining order stood the test of time throughout his coaching career, despite societal changes that included changes in fashion, political activism, racial tension, decline in two-parent homes and a change in teaching philosophy. Curfews, a dress code and corporal punishment were just a few tools Kidd used. He had to adjust when the teaching philosophy changed, much to his chagrin.
"When youngsters misbehave today, what alternatives do we have in terms of dealing with that?" said Kidd, 73. "If a student does something and gets suspended for three days, they're sent home and they're not getting the benefit of an education. A kid that misbehaved when I started would get a swat and that would be the end of it. In that way, youngsters didn't miss school."
Even as times changed, Kidd maintained his core philosophy when it came to directing his players.
"I tried to establish early on what the parameters were going to be," Kidd said. "I was very firm about that. The responsibility as a parent and teacher is to be a guide and establish those parameters, and if the individual elects to deviate from that later on, that's their prerogative."
Fortunately, that has not been the norm for many of Kidd's players, certainly not 1972 grad Timothy Eppinger, pastor of God's Tabernacle of Faith Church in Warrensville Heights. His calling to help others began long before he entered the pulpit, born out of his relationship with Kidd. His church does community outreach that includes day camps, scholarships, and breakfast and lunch programs.
"Coach Kidd instilled in all of us to look beyond the football field and have a life work that touches people," Eppinger said. "He instilled in me to do something that is going to count in our community."
"For me, a coach is the next best thing to a parent because these kids spend so much time outside of the home."
The Glenville High School football success often overshadows the academic and athletic achievement of other sports at East 113th Street and St. Clair.
Football coach Ted Ginn Sr. is the architect of the school's commitment to scholarship, athletics and life's teachable lessons to a student body constantly in need of them.
And since Ginn and many of his supporters can neither teach nor coach forever, developing the next generation of coaches is vital. Which makes it even more surprising that one of the least likely candidates to continue the legacy is front and center in developing responsible and respectable young women.
At one time, Glenville volleyball coach Shante Jackson would have been the last person considered for positive leadership.
"If you would have told me back then that Shante would end up as coach, I wouldn't have believed it," said LaDonna Winston-Johnson, who coached track and field at Glenville. "I would've said the streets are going to catch her. Back then, her mind was into 'other' stuff."
That stuff included routine fights and gang affiliation, Jackson said.
"Despite all of that, I was still an athlete," she said. "At the time, it was just a phase I was going through. Although I was involved in those kinds of things at the time, I always knew there was a better way of doing things. I didn't plan on living my life as a fool."
Participating in track and field, and the constant tutoring from her coaches, led Jackson to develop a more positive approach to life.
"You're really not sure your players are listening, but Shante proved she actually was," Winston-Johnson said.
Jackson is in her second season as varsity volleyball coach at Glenville. She began at the school as a student. Two years after graduation, she became a volunteer cheerleader coach, an assistant junior varsity volleyball coach and a teacher assistant.
"It was always the plan for Shante to come back and help," Ginn said. "I saw all of that dysfunction when she was a kid, but I saw the greatness in her, like in all kids. She just had to be introduced to the right things."
Those right things included working toward a bachelor's degree in early childhood special education at Cleveland State University, running a summer lunch program and, after nearly 10 years as the junior varsity volleyball coach, Jackson took over the varsity.
"I once ran the halls here, and now I'm giving back," Jackson said. "Coaching here gives me the opportunity to help my players learn about the game, and I can help them not make the same mistakes I did."
Experience has taught her that volleyball is only one aspect of her job. Her life as a child is an example to how some children can benefit from a caring coach. It comes into play with her every day.
"For me, a coach is the next best thing to a parent because these kids spend so much time outside of the home," Jackson said. "You're like a caregiver. They become your child. That's what my coaches have been to me and that's what I am for my players. I want to be someone they can look up to."
Which is especially critical in many communities, especially in Glenville, which has suffered economic plight and other social ills. A positive role model may have meant the difference between life and death for Jackson. And, like Jackson, many children in her community need guidance.
"I could have been a victim of the streets, but I had coaches who cared enough to pull me out of that lifestyle," Jackson said. "We have so many children with no place to go and [who] need direction, and they may not be getting it at home. Participating in sports with a caring coach could be their outlet."
Sports certainly benefited Jackson. Many of her athletes have gone on to graduate from college.
Winston-Johnson has observed how Jackson gets her players' attention, because of the respect they have for their coach, and because she's open enough for them to depend on her.
"The kids love her," Winston-Johnson said.
Jackson, once the least likely to succeed, is now an example of what Ginn hopes to find in all Glenville students.
"I tell all of the kids you have to give back and know the importance of being a servant to your community," Ginn said. "I expect more great things out of Shante. She demands greatness, respect and quality from her kids. You can't help but to see success come out of that."
"Being the head basketball coach here is a 24/7 job. . . . It's more mentoring and grooming young boys into men."
Davion Herron was on the verge of an unscheduled extended high school "vacation" before Warrensville Heights boys basketball coach Brian Swift stepped in.
Swift put his neck on the line to keep Herron from being shown the door.
"I was late for class and the teacher kicked me out," said Herron of the incident last year. "She said some things and I said some things back. She told the principal that I threatened her, but I didn't. I was about to get expelled."
Swift saw through Herron's tough exterior and stepped in, in an attempt to help guide Herron to a positive path. Swift asked the principal to give him a chance to help the kid. Stepping in was even more of a risk for Swift, since he was weeks away from his first season as boys basketball coach. Eyes were watching, but his decision went beyond the sport.
"The purpose in life is to help someone else," said Swift, a 2001 graduate of Warrensville Heights. "I want to teach kids and give them some idea of what it's like beyond these walls, because I really didn't have that. I want to be that voice for them, and someone they can relate to and help them prepare for the real world."
Herron joined the basketball team, which meant he was now under Swift's tutelage. That meant his every step was monitored. Under Swift's direction, Herron's grades improved and so did his attitude.
"It was great to see him transform from the knucklehead," Swift said.
Herron graduated this past school year with plans to join the Navy.
"Coach Swift used to always tell me how, although people looked down on me, they would change their view once they saw my success and I'd prove how they should have never doubted me," Herron said. "I'm glad he had faith in me."
The Warrensville Heights School District had that same faith in Swift when he was chosen, at 29, to become one of the youngest boys basketball coaches the school has ever hired.
Despite his age, Swift had many characteristics the district craved in a new coach. He was from the community, he understood its history and he was committed to help rebuild a program that once thrived on and off the court.
The community once flourished with a strong academic and basketball program. It produced many scholars and athletes, like Warrensville Heights Mayor Brad Sellers, who played in the NBA. But the decline in academic achievement and basketball excellence almost went hand in hand. A once-thriving community that was an attraction lost some of its gleam.
But Sellers hopes to see a rebirth in what his community once was, with help from Swift.
"A coach for this community has to be someone special that has a knowledge of the history, not only on what it means to be a Warrensville Tiger, but what it means to come up through this program," Sellers said.
After high school, Swift played basketball at and graduated from the University of South Florida. Following five years of professional basketball overseas, Swift returned home and started training youth in basketball skills. He became a substitute teacher in the Warrensville schools and applied for the head basketball position at his alma mater to the delight of many residents, including Sellers.
"Brian has always had a commitment in not only trying to be the best he could be, but also in helping these kids in being the best they could be," Sellers said. "Being the head basketball coach here is a 24/7 job. It's a mentoring job. It's more mentoring and grooming young boys into men."
The dynamic has changed in this suburb and in many others across the country. When a two-parent household was the norm, it often meant a structured environment at home that helped produce more responsible children. But changes in society have created a different approach.
"The social climate is different, so the motivation is different and that's the struggle I'm dealing with," Swift said. "I came here expecting kids to grow up like I did, having two parents, expecting a lot of out them. It's not the same nowadays."
Neither has it been for Swift, who finds himself in multiple roles. Coaching is often secondary. And in the big picture, that's fine with him.
"I'm still maturing as a man, and I'm in roles that I wasn't used to," Swift said. "I have to be a mentor, a big brother, uncle, even a father figure. It can get frustrating at times because I still have some growing to do. But I have to mature faster, so I can help someone else."
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