Dale County residents gather to mourn coach

Greg Phillips
/ Media General News Service
Published: July 30, 2008

Sign the guest book

The news had barely had time to sink in, yet Leavy Boutwell was staring at a group of faces—many distraught, some confused, a few struggling to stay composed—that looked to him for words of comfort, clarity or guidance.

All the Dale County High School principal could give them was honesty.

“I just don’t have anything for you,” Boutwell told a group of students, parents, faculty and other Dale County residents at the high school baseball field Tuesday night. The group had hastily gathered to grieve over their fallen coach, colleague and friend, Dale County Head Coach Todd Horne.

“I don’t understand it. He was a good man, and I guess the Lord’s got use for them. I wish He’d have took me instead,” Boutwell said. “Y’all have gone through a lot. it just seems like there’s something all the time, and y’all don’t deserve it. I loved Todd Horne. I’ve lost a friend.”

For the players and students Horne encountered, he was not only a coach, but a mentor and, for some, a father figure.

“He’s the kind of man you prayed God would put in your son’s life,” said Sheryl Anderson. A widow, Anderson said Horne took her son under his wing to provide a father figure he desperately needed. “He stepped in when my son needed a daddy. He was a great man.”

Derrik Seagers graduated this past year after playing football for Horne throughout his four years of high school. He transferred to Dale County High School from G.W. Long High School to follow Horne’s move there.

“I played football for him at G.W. Long and transferred here when he came here, so I’ve known him for a good part of my life,” Seagers said. “He loved the game of football. He taught us a lot of things a football player needs to know, but not just with football, but with life.”

Seagers’ father attended school with Horne as a teen and remembers his ability to make a good impression on everyone he met.

“I don’t think he ever met a guy who didn’t like him,” Rafe Seagars said. “He was a real personably guy, just a good all-around guy.”

Dale County Assistant Principal Jimbo Payne knew Horne for nearly two decades.

“We spent 20 years together and coached together for 15,” Payne told the mourners Monday night. He credited Horne with his decision to take a job with Dale County, a decision he doesn’t regret. “Coach Horne could talk you into anything, and he was right. It was a great decision to come here. He wanted to build something with pride, and that’s what he was doing.”

To those at the gathering, the love Horne felt for his players and students was undeniable.

“He loved these boys. He went to high school here, and when he had a chance to come back here, he jumped on it,” Rafe Seagers said.

Horne had what recent Dale County graduate Kayla Smith says was an infectious smile.

“He was always smiling,” Smith said. “He was a very good person, and he never really had a bad moment. Everybody loved Coach Horne.”

As a friend, Boutwell will also miss Horne’s smile. As a principal, he’ll miss his work ethic and ability to connect with his students.

“He was a good athletic director, because he cared about people. He was a light that shined on Dale County while he was here,” Boutwell told the group. “He didn’t holler at the kids and cuss at them and make them feel like less of a human being. He’s the best I’ve ever seen with young’n’s. What he left you kids is a lot more than what was on that scoreboard. He made things better here, and he did it the right way.”

Fighting through tears, Payne told the mourners a light could arise from the moments of darkness.

“It may be the wrong time to say this, but everything happens for a reason. This might be what brings this community together,” Payne said. “You know that Todd Horne loved you.”