South Georgia - In The Game High School Sports Magazine

Marvin Barton

After 36 years of coaching and a myriad of jobs, one would think that a man would get tired and eventually let go of the game of football, but according to Tiftarea Academy Head Coach Marvin Barton, he's just getting started!  "The guys I coach have kept me young," the veteran coach says.  "I enjoy bouncing around and bumping shoulders with them, cutting up with them, being hard on them even when you don't want to be hard on them, and challenging them when they need to be challenged!"

Pro athletes frequented the camp to help with Bible studies and to give demonstrations, and Barton met one of his heroes there- Baltimore Colts receiver Raymond Berry.  Barton was surprised at Berry's physical appearance, as he didn't match up to his concept of the ideal NFL football player, but Berry’s football demonstration on the field taught Barton a couple of good lessons.  First, he learned about the fault of prejudging people.  "You can't measure heart until you put a kid in the fire," he says.  Secondly, he learned that "as an athlete, I may go into things I can't handle, but as long as the opportunity is there- make the best of it, and then when it's over, close the book and start again."

Barton returned to Atlanta inspired, and after graduating high school in 1968, was given the opportunity to play at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.  While playing linebacker for the NCAA Independent, Barton and his teammates won the Division 2 National Championship in 1971 over Ohio Wesleyan, 20-10.

Straight out of college, Barton went to assist the Handley High School football team in Roanoke, Alabama, but soon returned home to his former high school to be the defensive coordinator for Head Coach James Moore.  After a year, Barton was given the head coaching job at Briarwood, but the Fulton County Board of Education's plans to rearrange the school system eventually influenced him to leave.  In 1978, he got a call from his old friend Charles Winslett, who had just taken the head coaching position at Fayette County.  The two men had always wanted to work together, and Fayette County had gone from a AA school to AAAA in the blink of an eye.  Barton could not resist the opportunity, and a coaching partnership was born that would last for more than 20 years.  Barton coordinated the defense and Winslett coordinated the offense there until 1984.  Fayette County built several new schools, and the turmoil turned the coaches off and they decided to go to south Georgia together to Statesboro High School.  "Charles never got into politics and I always admired that," Barton says.  "He was all about the kids.  His focus was on building programs, working with young people, getting them on solid ground and teaching them work ethic."

In 1994, Barton's former principal took the superintendent position in Coffee County, so the dynamic duo relocated and coached there for a year.  Although they had been perpetual movers and shakers, Barton and Winslett had been looking for the opportunity to coach in Tifton.  That opportunity finally arrived in 1995 and the coaching team spent five years running that program, taking the team to the State Championship in 1997, only to lose to the new powerhouse Parkview.  Winslett eventually retired after coaching for a few years at Stephens County and Gatewood Schools in Eatonton.

Three years ago, Barton came to Tiftarea Academy as a defensive coordinator for Coach Chuck Moore, and last season was his first as the head football coach.  His first team was young and very inexperienced, but as he says, "they worked hard and took one game at a time, one practice at a time."  After a 5-5 regular season, the team was in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot.  After a Friday night game against the eventual state champion Brookwood, Barton's team played a three-team playoff the following Monday and emerged victorious.  The next Friday, after just two days of preparation, the team defeated Holy Spirit in the first round of the playoffs in double overtime, but lost in the semifinals to Windsor Academy.

In just one year's time, Barton increased his team from 23 to 40 players, saw a 7-3 regular season, and won another tiebreak situation to get into the playoffs.  The Panthers defeated Robert Toombs in the first round by a score of 48-27 and knocked out Arlington Christian 31-13 in the second, before falling 11-13 in a down-to-the-wire finish against Memorial Day.

Barton says his team's main objective offensively is to line up and run the football and go "foot to foot," but acknowledges that every passing play he runs opens things up tremendously.  The strength of his team, he says, is its senior leadership.  "Leadership always comes in different forms, but the bottom line is, the person has to be dependable, reliable and honest with their teammates."  Being more of a defensive coach his entire career, Barton admits that he's run nearly every kind of defense imaginable at some point.  The trick, he says, is to find something to fit around your personnel.  "Even though it's hard to do, every kid deserves a chance," he admits.  "They just come along in different stages.  When you put a player at a position, you want him to have the opportunity to have a degree of success or it won't be much fun."  His teams work hard physically and try to eliminate mental errors, but the secret to success is to not always look at the scoreboard.  "We try to look at the whole season, not wins and losses," he explains.  "You measure success by the improvements you make every day and how you correct what you've not done as well."

Even more than winning, Coach Barton believes that the importance of athletics lies in the life lessons learned by young people.  "The competition is what everyone gets caught up in because it all spells out a 'W' or 'L' in the long run," he says.  "It provides bragging rights for fans and pride for parents because of their sons or daughters, but it provides challenges for the kids.  The biggest things we need every day are visible challenges in our lives.  I may look and see somebody that's a better team or better performer than I am, but if I'm willing to go challenge that person based on what I can bring to the table, then I'm as good as I can be and the kids are as good as they can be.  You can't measure your success with other people's failures.  You have got to prepare yourself to be the best you can be and I think that's what athletics does.  My heroes were Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry and they taught me that you don't have to be the best but you can always come out on top.  You've always got a chance as long as the lights are on and there is time on the clock.  Athletics allow you to live life and share with kids that athletics are not just mental and physical, but also about your spiritual life and how you go about your life and and your relationship with Jesus Christ."

Having been a part of countless games in his lifetime, Barton is still able to relate two particular highlights to another important life lesson.  The first was during one of his college games against Newbury College and his team was trailing by three points.  Newbury's quarterback threw a bad pass that came right at Barton but he dropped the possible interception with nothing but grass between him and the goal line and his team ended up losing the game.  "I was just playing the game rather than looking to make something of it," he says.  "It was one of the ugliest memorable things where I knew that I had the chance to make that turn, but I wasn't ready for my opportunity."  The other moment came while coaching Green County to a state championship in 1993.  The team was playing Houston County in the semifinals and was losing 3-0 with two minutes left in the game.  Strong safety Kelvin Walker wore glasses and could not see very well, although he was an outstanding player.  Houston lined up to punt late in the game and although Green County had not come close all night, they tried again to block a punt.  As Barton tells it, "Not only did Kelvin go in there and block the ball- a kid that probably couldn't see the ball and didn't have a lot of speed but a lot of heart- but it hits the ground and bounces back into his arms and he ran it back and scored.  We won that game and the state championship the following week."  Relating the two, Barton says, "At one point I didn't play for an opportunity because I wasn't ready for it but on the other hand he was.  If the handwriting is on the wall, so to speak, then you keep working hard and keep being faithful and good things will happen and if they don't, then there's another road to travel."

And don't plan on seeing this ball coach say goodbye any time soon.  "Sometimes, you may not be having the most fun, but you know it's what you're supposed to do.  I love challenging kids and giving them opportunities to make a choice because it's a part of life.  They don't always make the best choices, but if they make a choice and make a stand, then they can figure out if they're not comfortable with it and what they need to do next.  I'm going to coach until the Good Lord tells me I'm not supposed to," he beams, expressing the confidence of a man who knows he answered his calling. •