Woodruff Icon and Hero Willie Varner Would Have Turned 100 Years Old in May
By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer
garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com
Legends are meant to stand the test of time. Those who live to become legends in their lifetime mean many different things to different people, and reaching that status, whether they recognize it or not, means that memories continue to live even long after they leave this world.
Willie Varner is Woodruff’s legend, and his memory still lives in thousands whose lives crossed his path.
Coach Willie Leo Varner was born on May 22, 1926, in Gaffney, SC. He would be 100 years old if he were still with us. But go around Woodruff and talk to native born locals, browse the walls of certain establishments, or better yet, go to a football game on Friday nights in the stadium that bears his name, and it is easy to come to the conclusion that his legend still lives in our town.
Much of what I know of Coach Varner’s past is secondhand. I never knew him as a coach. Woodruff’s last state championship in football was won in December 1984, two months before I was born. What I knew, though, transcends the numbers on the stadium wall or the trophies collecting dust behind a glass partition.
I knew the man as someone who cared about me. Who loved me enough not to let me fail. Maybe I was a final challenge in the final chapter of his life, but either way, he was never going to lose.
By the time I knew him, Coach Varner was already 73 years old. He had already accomplished more in his life than most only dream of. Revered by most, feared by a fair number, and above all, a respected professional, he had long before put Woodruff on the map as a formidable football powerhouse.
Coach, though, was even more of a force as a person.
Nobody was a bigger advocate for our town, its schools, and the generations of students who passed through their doors than he was. Sure, the athletic success was nice, but I can postulate with much certainty that his accomplishments off the field meant far more to him.
Coach cared about people on a deeply personal level that most who observed from the outside never saw. Most never saw him drive players home because they did not have a car or family who could pick them up. Most never heard the conversations behind closed doors with students who felt they had nobody else to turn to. Even fewer were lucky enough to sit in his living room and listen to him talk about how much those people had meant to him.
In that regard, I was truly one of the fortunate ones. Among the litany of public accomplishments to his name, I was one of those whose life was impacted by his presence in a much more profound and less tangible way.
I knew a man in his twilight, but with enough of a spark and drive left in him to make sure a struggling young kid with the world against his back would not fail. Against stacked odds, he drew up the game plan that helped me win. He welcomed me into his life, and ultimately into his home, and allowed me to be there for him the same way he had been for me.
Walking in his footsteps only allowed you to see how big his imprint was, both literally and figuratively. I am forever grateful that I was afforded that opportunity.
Over the course of his 83 years, Coach Willie Varner was so many things. He was a son, a brother, an Army veteran, a coach, a husband, a father, and a grandfather. He was also a friend, a confidant, a fierce competitor, and a tough man. He won in so many ways beyond what was accomplished on a football field.
He won with me, too.
I tell people, I have no idea where I might have ended up, or what might have become of me had he not come into my life when he did. I could have been one of the countless thousands who were a footnote to him. The truth is, nobody was a footnote to Willie Varner. Everyone he ever met meant something to him. I know how much he meant to me.
Coach Varner entered this world 100 years ago. He left it 17 years ago. Though he is gone in the physical sense, he is still remembered, loved, and spoken about with the reverence that he earned. The things he did as a person have not diminished over time, and I do not suppose they will any time soon as long as there are those of us who had the chance to know him.
A century is a long time. To be enshrined in the memories of so many for that long…
That is legendary.
