Work ethic pays off for Leavy Boutwell

Leavy Boutwell described himself as a “blue collar” coach. Former player Drew Danner said Boutwell “demanded perfection,” was extremely organized and “blue collar.”

The “blue collar” work, perfectionist attitude and strong organization skills led to plenty of success — a 149-69 record in 20 years as a head coach with nine state playoff teams, including a state runner-up team at New Brockton in 1988.

A native of the Wiregrass who graduated from Elba High School, Boutwell served as head coach at New Brockton, Florala, Geneva and Northview from the late
1970s to 2004. He also was an assistant coach at New Brockton, Elba, Rabun County (Ga.) and Bainbridge (Ga.). Overall, he coached 26 seasons.

Now a principal at Dale County High School, he has served in education for 31 years.

On Saturday night, Boutwell will be honored for his achievements when he is inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame.

“I was shocked, yet very flattered,” Boutwell said when he was told of his selection.

He was quick to give others the credit.

“Every player I coached and every coach I coached with played a part in this, and I also had good family support,” Boutwell said. “I accept this award on their
behalf.

“I was a hard-working blue collar coach who was mighty fortunate to have good players who worked hard and to have a supportive wife (Ashli).”

Danner, who played for Boutwell at Geneva earlier this decade, said Boutwell was tough, but fair as a coach.

“He expected the best out of the players, and he demanded the best,” Danner said. “He demanded perfection, and he got more out of us because he did.”

Danner said Boutwell’s blue-collar coaching style was evident daily at practice.

“He would often demonstrate how to do techniques in practice,” Danner said. “He wasn’t afraid to get down and show how to block and tackle.”

Being organized was also a common trait.

“By far he is the best at organizational skills I have seen,” said Danner, now an assistant coach at Dale County. “He was organized for practice, games, drills,
even how we went on the field and off the field. Every i was dotted and every t was crossed.”

Growing up a self-described “football rat following the Elba Tigers,” Boutwell said it didn’t take him long in high school to know coaching and teaching were in
his blood.

“It is what I always wanted to do,” said Boutwell, remembering in his 10th grade year the desire to coach.

Boutwell said Elba coaches Jimmy Holley, Randy Griffin and Leon Atkins along with history teacher Joann King all played an instrumental role in directing him
toward coaching and teaching.

Holley and King, both history teachers, were the foundation for the teaching aspect.

“They got me interested in history,” said Boutwell, who obtained both bachelor’s and master’s in social studies and history at Troy State. “I love history.”

Holley, Griffin and Atkins were the coaching influences, serving as “excellent role models,” said Boutwell.

Though there were plenty of examples through his high school career, one in particular stood out to Boutwell.

“I remember running out of the tunnel at the Alabama High School All-Star Game and coach Griffin was standing there for me,” Boutwell said. “I realized then
how important it is to a player to have a coach show they care. I can still see his eyes as I was coming out of the tunnel at Bryant-Denny Stadium.”

Danner said that “care” was always evident in Boutwell.

“By being strict, you truly saw how he cared about his players as much as he did about winning,” Danner said.

While he envisioned himself as a teacher and coach, Boutwell said he never expected the success he had. Overall, 15 of his 20 teams had a winning record.
Six earned double-digit wins. Four others won nine games.

Three times he was Dothan Eagle coach of the year, three times he was selected Wiregrass Athletic Conference coach of the year and twice he was named
coach of the year by the Tri-County Officials Association.

His prominent success came at New Brockton (94-27 record, 1979-89) and Geneva (55-22, 1996-2002). Included at Geneva was a 33-game regular-season
winning streak from the second game of 1998 to fifth game of 2001.

Not coincidentally, his top memories came from those two schools.

“There were so many highlights at all the places, but playing for the state championship (in 1988 at New Brockton) has to be a top highlight,” Boutwell said.

The Gamecocks traveled in the finals to Hazlewood, which featured several future University of Alabama standouts.

After playing “toe-to-toe” by Boutwell’s account with the Golden Bears for a half, future Bama stars Antonio Langham and Tarrant Lynch helped Hazlewood pull
away, 28-0.

The other special game came at Geneva in the second round of the 2000 state playoffs.

The Panthers were reeling, trailing 42-26 with five minutes left, but rallied to win a dramatic game, 48-42.

“I remember the effort, the sheer guts and force of will (in the kids),” Boutwell said. “In my mind, it is hard to top that game.”

Danner, a quarterback on that team, said that game was symbolic of Boutwell and his blue-collar style.

“If anything, that game describes coach Boutwell the best,” Danner said. “His motto was never give up. He instilled that in us at practice, the weight room and
games.

“We knew we could still win that game because we had a coach who believed we could and we believed in ourselves because of how he directed and led us in
the practice and weight room.”