Legends McLaurin, Tate adjust to different ways of life

Fans of Lake View and Timmonsville high school football have lived charmed lives the last three decades.
They’ve enjoyed winning season after winning season, and two men are responsible for bringing that winning football to towns that are otherwise blips on the South Carolina map.
Lake View’s Jewell McLaurin and Timmonsville’s Bill Tate have combined for nearly 550 wins and eight Class A state championships over their legendary careers.

But neither will be patrolling the sidelines as head coaches this season. Both Tate and McLaurin are retired, although McLaurin has stayed on as Lake View’s offensive coordinator. And he’s the only one of the pair whose career ended according to his choosing.

Lack of respect
Tate’s name resonates from every corner of Timmonsville High School, including the stadium where the Whirlwinds play.
But after 297 wins, eight Class A state championship game appearances and two state titles at Timmonsville, Florence School District 4 chose not to renew his contract.
Despite his unceremonious departure, Tate said he harbors no bitterness toward the people who ended his career.

“As far as the district is concerned, you would like to be afforded the respect to leave on your own,” he said. “I don’t understand why they did it, but they did what they felt was necessary.
“I really didn’t retire. I was retired.”

Tate added a return to coaching is a certainty. For now, though, he’s getting used to being on the outside.

“Not being able to retire on your own leaves a hole in you,” he said. “When you have been coaching for 35 years, there’s a transition period you have to go through, but I’m doing well.
“I call it a setback. I think I have a few good years on the sidelines left in me.”

Taking a step back
In 26 seasons as Lake View’s coach, McLaurin brought six Class A state titles to his fans, the last coming in 2006.
Nevertheless, he felt it was time to call it a career after the Wild Gators fell to Blackville-Hilda in last year’s Class A Division II lower state championship game.

“After 37 years of coaching, it was time to take a step back,” said McLaurin, who went 259-68 in his career.
But McLaurin isn’t staying far from the field. He’s still serving as the school’s athletic director and helping longtime assistant and new coach Darryl King acclimate himself to a position where expectations are high.
McLaurin has no regrets about his decision to give up the reins.

“I do close to the same thing I did before. I just don’t coach full time anymore,” he said. “I try to make things easier for (King).
“I try to take some of the responsibilities from him. He does a lot of hard work. I want him to focus more on his coaching.”

Not changing a thing
Tate and McLaurin’s replacements have several things in common. Jimmy Woods and King were both longtime assistants before getting a chance to lead their respective programs.
Neither coach has any plans of deviating from the power running attack that made their predecessors consistent winners.

“I looked at a lot of offenses, and we have a lot of athletic kids,” said Woods, who recently earned his doctorate in education leadership. “The power game is ingrained in these kids, so we chose to stick with the power-I and the wishbone.”

“We line up in the wishbone and play power football,” said King, who played for McLaurin and served as an assistant for nine years. “Our personnel dictates what we do. If it’s not broke, we’re not going to fix it.”

Separate identities
Even though they are following legends, King and Woods know they have to blaze their own trails.

“I can’t be coach McLaurin. I have to be myself,” King said. “I’m going to push them hard and try to get the same thing out of them that he did.”

“I feel that at any high school, there’s pressure involved,” Woods said. “With all the things that happened (at Timmonsville), this could have been a pressure-cooker situation for me.”