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| Thursday, September 2, 2010 |
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Headed to the Hall
Published July 19, 2010
He’s been a winner as a player, coach, teacher, husband and father.
From being an All-State football player in high school to his days building Scottsboro High School’s wrestling program into one of the state’s perennial powers, Wayne McNutt has proven himself over and over again.
He’ll get his due tonight when he is inducted into the Winston County Sports Hall of Fame.
“Being recognized by your hometown people is a big honor,” McNutt said. “I’m looking forward to going back and seeing some old friends.”
McNutt, who is quiet and humble, downplays his role as a player at Haleyville High School at a time when the tiny town in west Alabama was among the states best programs in any classification.
“I was fortunate in high school. I had some really good linemen,” McNutt remembered. “All I had to do was follow them, especially Billy Dixon, who signed with Tennessee.”
McNutt does things right. His character is evident by the way he treats those he meets along life’s path.
McNutt who taught in the Scottsboro City School system for 34 years and coached in some capacity for 25 of those years is Scottsboro through and through, but in the mid-1960s, those who wore the black and gold and faced him on the field respected him.
The Wildcats and Lions split games in 1964 and 1965 with Scottsboro winning in 1965 on its way to a 3A State Championship under Coach John Meadows. Rumor has it McNutt’s picture was plastered on the locker room wall during game week and stopping the strong and speedy tailback was the key to victory.
Known as “Wayne the Train” McNutt, who played tailback and linebacker, was a three-time all-state performer. He was named honorable mention as a sophomore when he rushed for more than 1,100 yards and garnered first-team all-state recognition in both his junior and senior years. He rushed for almost 4,200 yards during his three-years in the Lions’ backfield.
At Haleyville, McNutt was All-West Alabama Conference three straight years. He took part in the Alabama North-South All-Star Classic in 1966.
McNutt will be among the 20 other inductees entering the 14th class of the WCSHoF during a banquet tonight at the Haleyville Elementary School Cafetorium. Longtime Alabama public address announcer Tony Giles will emcee the ceremonies, which include a dinner and meet-and-greet time.
After his stellar high school career, McNutt signed with the University of Alabama. He has a plaque displaying two telegrams and one postcard sent from Paul “Bear” Bryant during the recruiting process.
“I don’t care what anyone says, Coach Bryant stressed education,” McNutt said. “He said, ‘Get your education. It’s your number one objective. It’s what you’re here for.’
“Coach Bryant was always fair to me, even when I left and went to Troy,” McNutt, who had been converted to an offensive lineman, said. “He was good to me. He wanted me to come back.”
McNutt finished his degree at Troy, but his football career ended on a sour note when he received a compound fracture of his ankle while playing softball the summer before his senior season. The Trojans kept McNutt on as a student coach and scout until he graduated with a degree in Education in 1972.
“I sometimes wonder how my life would have been different if I had stayed at Alabama,” McNutt, who came to Scottsboro with former Charles Henderson High School (Troy) Head Football Coach Jim Tompkins in 1972, said. “I wouldn’t have been here and I wouldn’t have met my wife [Beth]. Things have a way of working out.”
At heart, McNutt is a teacher. He loves working with young people on and off the field.
“The greatest rewards come from teaching. I really enjoyed that,” said McNutt. “You’re hired as a teacher and that is your first priority.”
That being said, McNutt loved to coach too. It didn’t matter whether it was football where he served as an assistant, head coach and, after retirement, as a volunteer, or wrestling.
“Working with young kids is a big part of coaching. It provides an opportunity to develop young men,” he said.
“I had a love for Scottsboro High School and for the people of Scottsboro,” McNutt continued. “I understood the reach tradition and wanted to uphold that. I always wanted our players to do their best.”
McNutt’s 1998 Scottsboro wrestling team captured the 5A State Championship, the school’s first ever. His team’s also finished as runner up four or five other times during his 19-year on-again-off-again tenure as head coach. And, his squad never finished with a losing record.
“The first wrestling match Wayne ever saw he coached in,” Beth McNutt said with a smile on her face. She attended the matches, learned the sport and kept the scorebook for many years during his tenure.
“[Former SHS principal] Ray Collins really wanted Scottsboro to have a wrestling team. I enjoyed it being an individual sport — a one-on-one sport — but having to coach it as a team sport,” McNutt said. “You had to be able to put it all together for the good of the team. I was blessed with some good young men and wrestlers.”
Now, “Wayne the Train” is pulling into the station at the Winston County Sports Hall of Fame.
“It will be worthwhile,” McNutt said of being enshrined into the WCSHoF. “It will be good to be recognized by people I know. I moved away and now I get to go back.”
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