Congratulations to my good friend Jimmy Durham on his new adventure!
Whenever I receive a call from Durham, I know it’s important.
Although the calls are infrequent, I always make sure to answer.
Recently, I received one of those calls.
As usual, Jimmy started off with one of his jabs, this time about the Atlanta Braves. But I could tell something was up, and he wasn’t really interested in whether the Braves were winning at that moment. Haha.
He called to let me know that he is packing up and will now be director of athletics & activities at Jeffersontown High School.
I can honestly say that Jeffersontown got a steal.
If you know Durham, you know he loves his children, wrestling, music, concerts, and Ric Flair. In a way, he’s always been Laurel County’s version of Ric Flair. Some people thought he was arrogant, and some people just didn’t like him. But in true Durham form, he could always come back with one of Ric’s famous quotes: “I was really good at being a bad guy; I like that role.”
When he was the coach at North Laurel, leading “Team Jaguar” to USA Today National Rankings, No. 1 rankings in state polls, and the school’s first-ever Fastpitch state championship, no one was better.
“To be the man, you gotta beat the man” and “If you don’t like it, learn to love it.”
Those quotes, even though said by Flair, could easily be attributed to Durham during North Laurel’s domination in the 12th Region.
He truly had the best thing going when it came to softball. He knew it, I knew it, and the state knew it.
If it weren’t for a couple of bad breaks here or there (like the ball hitting the lip of the grass in the state title game or the ball being dropped at first base in an extra inning heartbreaker to Sacred Heart), he would have guided North Laurel to three state titles.
But sometimes breaks just don’t go your way.
With that said, Durham was one heck of a coach. He wasn’t afraid to play small ball, something that most have moved away from now.
Sure, he had tons of talent on his teams, but someone had to coach the players and mold them into champions, and Durham did just that.
I was with him during the good and bad times.
I saw how much blood, sweat, and tears he and his coaches and players put into being the best.
The state title game loss to Dupont Manual was the worst I’ve covered.
I’ve never seen a team as heartbroken as North Laurel was. They could have folded, but they didn’t. Durham reloaded and guided Team Jaguar to a state title the following season.
I stayed with Durham in the same hotel room the night of the state title win.
You could sense the relief he had of finally winning a state title for his alma mater, but it didn’t keep him from filling out stats that same night at 3 a.m. to promote his players to become Louisville Slugger All Americans or First Team All-State.
That’s right, he was busy making sure his players were promoted day in and day out. I’ve never worked with a coach who promotes his program and his players like Durham did.
When he stepped down as the softball coach and became principal and then athletic director at North Laurel, there was no one better.
During his time as coach, he earned four-time Kentucky Coach of the Year, four-time Hall of Famer (12th Region, 13th Region, KY Prep Softball, North Laurel, and a future KHSAA Hall of Famer. He was also the youngest coach to ever win 300 games of any sport, still the highest winning percentage.
He also earned top honors as an AD throughout the state and was always one of the best that I’ve ever had to deal with. If I needed something from a coach or anything at all dealing with North Laurel sports, I got it.
I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a downer to know that I won’t be seeing Durham as much as I’m used to with him moving on to bigger and better things at J’town.
I’m going to miss his friendship, and his joking around.
We go way back to the first graduating class at North Laurel High School.
From our days of eating at China Town almost daily, to our days of promoting the blue and green of North Laurel, Jimmy, you’re going to be missed.
And I’ll leave everyone with this, as Durham trades his blue and green colors for J’town’s maroon and white, another Ric Flair quote that fits my friend the best:
“In my life, I’ve been a movie star, a rock star, and a sports star all wrapped into one and worked harder at it than anybody else.” Yes, you have, Jimmy, yes you have! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
