If the famous Christmas-time movie It's a Wonderful Life had been about football instead, it might have been about David Dupree instead of George Bailey.
It's been a wonderful life indeed for the legendary Laney-Walker coach.
In the movie, George Bailey always figures he'd leave tiny Bedford Falls for bigger things someday -- and never does. Likewise, Coach Dupree came to Augusta from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., and figured he'd spend the next year helping John Tutt start Laney's football program.
But he stayed -- until his retirement in 1983.
Think about that. How many of us stay in one place that long -- or make that kind of difference?
Moreover, how can you tabulate the difference he's made? You can count up the victories on the field -- more than 200 of them. And then there are the two state titles in the old all-black Georgia Interscholastic Association.
You can even count the things that didn't happen under Coach Dupree: He recalls never having lost a track meet from 1949 to 1974.
But his most important contributions you can't reduce to numbers. Over the course of 34 years, how many young lives does one steer and influence, with the slightest touch or the most innocuous word? How many people are living better lives today because his life crossed paths with theirs?
"He was a builder of men," says Keven Mack, who kept statistics for the coach.
That's a lot of building.
Coach Dupree, now 85, is already in the Georgia High School Sports Hall of Fame. But on Friday night, they handed him a new honor: They named the school's track and football field after him. The fieldhouse is already named for him and Mr. Tutt.
What's in a name?
Sometimes everything.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
I well remember going to class and seeing Mr. Dupree standing in the gym watching us run and jump. He was one of the most patient coaches at Laney when I was there. He always had time to give a word of encouragement, or a pat on the back for us not so talented "geeks" who wouls sometimes not have the natural gifts of the more athletic boys in school. Dupree never failed to remind us that everybody had something they could give to the school in tye way of spirit, or caring and encouragement tyo the football, basketball teams. He also never failed to give an encouraging word to us all regarding getting the best out of ourselves in class. "Cup" used to say we had more to offer than we knew we had, and urged us to find that deep down thing we loved and to never give up working for it. He was a friend to us all, and a father figure to many. He's not just a Hall of Fame coach...he's a Hall of Fame MAN!
Sounds like an impressive man who made a difference in a time with many barriers. His love for the students is shown with that many years as coach... he also deserves a statute.
He was not a Laney Walker Coach, whoever wrote this didn't do a good job. He was the coach of Lucy C. Laney High School, not Laney Walker. Laney is the High School, Walker is the elementary school and if you combining the two Laney-Walker would be the street name *UGH* whoever wrote this just wrote something.