By Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
Photos by Jacob Thompson
Top photo are from left, Rev. Andrew Gilder and Rev. Shane Russell who gave a truly inspirational message for the funeral of Coach Jimmy Foshee.
A visitation and funeral were held for longtime Coach Jimmy Foshee at his beloved Stanhope Elmore High School Sunday. But it was so much more.
From 1 to 4 p.m., a line was flowing out of the building, as those who knew and honored the Hall of Fame and award-winning coach waited patiently to offer words of love and support to the Foshee family. Inside, the line moved around the gymnasium, as music played.
It would be difficult to say the exact number of mourners that came to pay their final respects, but thousands is probably not off the mark.
Hunter Adams is the Head Football Coach and Athletic Director at SEHS and spoke with media during the visitation.
“Very few coaches at any level or any place are synonymous with one place as Jimmy Foshee is to Stanhope Elmore,” Adams said. “Twenty-five years of successful longevity at one place is an absolute rarity. You don’t see that in coaching, especially in today’s age. For him to pour into this place what he did – the time, the effort, the commitment and success, the love and the heart for that many years. You can see by the presence here today, the impact that has left.”
Adams said that being in the role that Foshee held and the standard set from 1975 to 2000 is always on his mind.
“I played against Stanhope Elmore teams coming up, I coached against Stanhope Elmore teams prior to my time coming here. My father and Coach Foshee were good friends as coaching peers at different schools. I have looked up to (Coach Foshee) since I was five years old when I first met him.”
Adams said Foshee’s values are what the school and those that follow him stand on today.
“Getting to know Coach Foshee as a person and as a coach is a blessing. It was a blessing to thousands and thousands of people throughout his career here. As a coach, you greatly appreciate his contributions and his commitments to the community, to everybody involved with the school. There aren’t words to describe it.”
Adams confirmed that long after retirement, Foshee continued to be a presence at the school, volunteering for whatever needed to be done.
“He came and he operated just like he was still here. If he saw something that needed to be done, he did it. If he could help in any way, he would do it. If you had a question that you wanted answered from a coaching perspective, from a life perspective, he would answer it. If you just wanted to sit around and tell fishing stories, or football stories, he was there for you.”
SEHS Principal Ewell Fuller said the number of people that Foshee positively impacted can never be truly known.
“As you can see from the crowd back here, what a compliment to Coach Foshee and his family and what he left behind,” Fuller said.
Fuller also has memories back to his childhood of the legend that is Coach Foshee, Sr.
“I played at the rivalry high school against Coach Foshee, and even his son Jeff,” Fuller said. “It was always a hardnosed football team, very disciplined, that came from Stanhope Elmore.”
Fuller said that several years ago he was talking to Foshee during a reception to celebrate the opening of the new Atrium at the new entrance of the school.
“Coach Foshee came up here, and that is where I started using the phrase, ‘Keep the kids in front and you will never lose.’ That came from him, and that is something that he left with me.”
Around 4 p.m., with a long line still waiting to greet the family, people began taking their seats for the funeral, which was under the direction of Brookside Funeral Home of Millbrook. Wesley Morris, SEHS Band/Choir Director, performed beautiful music, and songs, such as “It is Well with my Soul,” and “The Old Rugged Cross.”
First to speak was the Rev. Andrew Gilder, who was also a football player for the late coach.
He said prior to joining the football team, he had played a lot of “sandlot” football. He certainly knew Coach Foshee, but when he was called into the office to speak to the coach about playing football, the real relationship began that would change his life forever.
He praised Foshee’s skill not only on the football field, but in life. But his connection was more than just coach and player. He grew to look at Foshee as a father figure, a mentor and called him “Pop.”
Gilder said growing up, his family was very poor, and lived in a four-room shack without running water, heat, air conditioning or an inside bathroom. He said many of the teachers and students did not know his circumstances. “That is why (Coach Foshee) took me in as a son.”
“He protected me, not just on the field, but in life.”
“I was one of the first athletes that played for him for four years,” Gilder said. “Over those years, I watched Coach Foshee. He would put in the time, always on his lawn mower mowing the grass. Every time I went up to the school, you always saw Coach Foshee.”
He thanked Mrs. Renae Foshee and their children for sharing their husband and father throughout his career and life.
“Coach Foshee saw something in me,” he said. He admitted he was not sure. “People would see me running on that field on Friday night, but they did not know my circumstances.” But he said Foshee knew, and he went the extra mile to pick Gilder up when needed and drop him back at home after games.
It was more than his ability to play football that kept Foshee interested. “He looked beyond that,” Gilder said. “He nurtured me. He loved me. He cared for me just as he cared for his children. I want to say to the Foshee family, I am indebted to you.”
Foshee demanded that Gilder have good grades. But it was a requirement for all of his players.
“Most of the football players will remember, on report card day, he would stop you there at the entrance, before you could go into the stadium,” Gilder said. “He was going to look at that report card. And all you had to do was made an ‘F’ and he would say ‘Turn around.’”
Gilder said that Foshee appreciated talent on the football field, but he also taught his players the game of life.
“I appreciate him because we look at what he did, his record. But he was more than that. We honor that. We love him.”
He said Foshee would often say, “In life you cannot cheat anyone.” Gilder said he learned that from Foshee and it has made a difference throughout his life.
Even after school, Gilder promised Foshee he would get his degree, and he did in 2007.
“Foshee said, ‘Big man, I am proud of you.’ And that is the kind of coach he was.”
To remember Foshee’s legacy properly, Gilder said that we have to tell our children how Coach Foshee was, how disciplined he was. Don’t take shortcuts. “This man, I never disrespected him because he led by example.”
Gilder said that many coaches were intimidated by Coach Foshee because he made sure his players were prepared.
“Coach Foshee encouraged me to be all that I can be. He saw the best in me, and everybody else.”
Later in life Gilder also became a coach, and he said he used the examples set by Foshee with his own players. “If it worked for Coach Foshee, surely, it is going to work for me. In Montgomery Alabama, I won many city championships because I used his offense.”
For Coach Foshee’s 80th birthday, Gilder said he penned a letter to express how much of an impact Foshee had on his personal life. He thanked him for all of the trips they made to various universities. Those trips opened his eyes to the real world, and helped shape his future.
He thanked Foshee for looking out for him, when he had nothing. “Your love and acceptance meant the world to me and gave me a sense of belonging that I will always cherish. You will never know the tremendous impact you had on my life. I am where I am today in large part because of your unbreaking support and belief in me. For that I am eternally grateful.”
“You are looking at a tree that he made. He didn’t look at color. He looked at that which was within you.”
Gilder said that above all, Foshee was a servant to his players and his community. His faith flooded into his players, with a prayer before and after the game. Foshee also led the Future Christian Athlete program.
In closing, Gilder said the Millbrook community cannot let history die. He spoke directly to local officials encouraging them to keep Foshee’s name alive.
He then asked for all the former players of Foshee or those who were impacted by his lessons to stand, and there were many.
He said he is not sure what the future holds for the football field at 17 Springs, but he believes that somewhere the name of Coach Foshee should be included.
“There is unity in numbers. Let’s get together and fight for him because he fought for us. We should have something in that new park out there with his name on it,” Gilder said to resounding applause. “This will be the opportunity to let those people know his legacy. That someone else will tell the story of what this man accomplished. We are the tree. Let’s reach out and not let his legacy die.”
Rev. Shane Russell is the pastor of Shoal Creek Church Baptist Church where Foshee had attended most recently.
Russell said that Foshee was a very humble man and would not have considered himself righteous. “If he were able to speak to us today, he would not like or be a real fan of all this stuff we are talking about him.”
Russell continued, “Coach had a relationship with the Lord that through his life, he waited patiently on the Lord to do the work only the Lord could do in his life. It was the work the Lord did in his life that impacted your life.”
Russell said that when Foshee was first hired at SEHS, he wasn’t necessarily the one that everybody wanted. “He had patience that the Lord would do what the Lord was going to do.”
He explained this as a morning breaking. At first it is dim and hidden by the trees. But it grows brighter throughout the day. Russell said that is what the Lord allowed to happen in Coach Foshee’s life.
“In 1975, it was just a glint on the horizon. There were difficult times until the Lord blessed him allowing the sun to get above the horizon. You began to see clearly who he is. We are here celebrating with clarity, the righteousness that God allowed him to live before us.”
Russell said he saw it when from other people, former coaches’ children, and their fathers had passed away.
“But those children were here to honor his life because they knew the impact he made not only on Millbrook, but this community as a whole, and our county and our state. This was the coach that would always say ‘Do right.’ Because he had met the one who did everything right.”
This is what made Coach Foshee an ideal leader, Russell said. He ruled respectfully and brought the light to allow everyone to see the way to go.
“What you may not know is he would spend no less than 18 hours watching films of each game. He would watch every game and focus on every player for every play of every game. He was going to show you the way on the field, but what he was showing you was even more, allowing someone to speak into your life spiritually before every football game.”
His love was not just verbalized but demonstrated, Russell said.
While Foshee’s football coaching expertise was the most publicized, it was his private life where it also flourished.
He said it was Foshee’s wife, Renae that said, “You will find the source of strength in that bible.”
Russell spoke of how Coach and Renae met, and their life of 60 years together. He said that is a huge testimony of God’s grace, God’s goodness.
Speaking directly to Renae, Russell said, “Even though you spoiled him rotten.”
He continued, “While Coach was in the hospital, he kept asking her to crawl into the bed with him. Because of all he was going through, all the wires and stuff, she wasn’t able to. But when it was coming close to the end, and they were able to unhook all the things, she was able to crawl into that bed with him. And what you need to know is in just a few short minutes the Lord called him home. There is something to be said about that. It is far more than football. It is talking about a life that shows the way, that is given knowing we do not have righteousness of our own. That righteousness only comes through Christ. God may give us the privilege to be a leader, but we don’t have the authority to lead anybody unless we, too, are in fear of almighty God. And when we are, God opens up the door for us to impact lives and show people the way.”
He said that Coash Foshee never missed a day of waking up and reading God’s word. He wanted to show people the way.
“Family was of utmost importance. I find it ironic that spending time with his family might have included going on Saturdays to repair divots on the football field. As a family, they would hold hands and walk on the football field, and every divot they came upon they put grass back in it and stomped it. It may have been 10:30 irrigation runs.”
He addressed all of the family and said they needed to remember how much Coach loved them.
He said that Coach Foshee now knows everything, including how much everyone loved him. “The main thing he would want you to know is not just how much he loved you, but how much the Lord loves you.”
He told the audience that their presence, and sharing love to the family, has been a balm the f amily as they have been the hands and feet of God’s comfort and grace because of the good name of Jimmy Foshee.
“But did you know that today, for Coach, is a better day than the day he was born?” he said. “Because Coach had a relationship with Jesus Christ. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. There is no more dialysis, no more cancer, no more suffering, no more hardship.”
He said in celebrating Coach Foshee’s life, he is still coaching all of us today.
“We are here celebrating today because Coach knew Christ. If he did not know Christ, this is not a celebration. But he did.”
The EAN extends our sincere condolences and prayers to all who loved and were impacted by the amazing life of Coach Jimmy Foshee.
