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STEVE LEELand O'Lakes High's coach Jerry English is a Lutz resident and longtime Hillsborough County umpire in youth and adult leagues.
LAND O'LAKES - Jerry English has hinted at retirement for at least half a dozen seasons, but the Land O'Lakes High softball coach keeps going like an aging Energizer bunny.
After 26 seasons, though, the man known as the grandfather of Pasco County coaches will not recharge himself for the proverbial one more season.
This is the final chapter.
The 67-year-old's storied career, highlighted by 462 victories, three state playoff appearances and induction into the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, had to end sooner or later.
"Coach English, do you remember when I was 8 and I said I'd be up there (at Land O'Lakes) playing for you?" Land O'Lakes senior Lauren Mays said at a pregame ceremony last week.
"You said you'd be gone," Mays continued. "Well, you're still here."
English, a Lutz resident and longtime Hillsborough County umpire at the youth and adult levels, smiled as he recalled the conversation that took place when Mays played for the North Tampa Leaguerettes.
"I still have a picture of her with her championship trophy," said English, who has adorned the walls of his social studies classroom and the softball press box with pictures of his players.
"He has a shrine to his girls," said Marlyn Bavetta, who coached Ridgewood for 15 years before retiring in 2000.
English has visited ballplayers in hospitals and even walked three brides down the aisle. But his passion for coaching softball and developing a special bond with his players have taken precedence above all else.
"It's so hard to give it up," English said. "It's a profession I love. I love the kids. I love the sport."
Marc Rulison, English's varsity assistant and junior varsity coach from 1999 to 2001, showed up Thursday. He had to see English's retirement to believe it.
"Jerry always said I was checking the obituaries to see if he was in there," Rulison said. "Coaching 10 years is a long time for me. I don't know how he lasted that long."
Former players Mardee Harvey, Julea Swider, Kim Pollard and the Allee sisters (Roni Sue and Sherry), all of whom played for English in the late 1970s, know exactly why their former coach lasted that long: He enjoyed coaching and liked his players, they agreed.
No doubt a recent bout with prostate cancer helped sway English's decision. English had surgery during spring break, with assistant Jamie Martin running practices until he returned.
"These kids made a commitment to me, and I made a commitment to them," English said. "I was going to be there as long as I could help the team."
English's retirement plan actually went into place five years ago when he enrolled in the state's Deferred Retirement Option Program. He is in the final year of that program, which allows state workers to declare their retirement and remain on the job with money invested and doled out in a lump sum.
Bavetta said she misses matching wits with English. River Ridge coach Ernie Beck said it will not be the same playing Land O'Lakes without seeing English in the third-base coach's box.
"You had to really know what you were doing when you played Jerry," Bavetta said. "You had to try to beat his girls and him."
Bavetta added that sometimes there were distractions at Land O'Lakes, like when a cow in a nearby pasture flattened the outfield fence, a hawk landed on the field or an armadillo charged a Ridgewood player.
"You knew you were going to have an entertaining time when you played Jerry," Bavetta said.
At River Ridge, English and Beck often had their teams going head to head for conference and district titles. The Royal Knights hold the upper hand of late with three straight Sunshine Athletic Conference titles. But English and the Gators hold the edge on state playoff berths.
"Ernie and I are good friends," English said, adding that Beck always has an Italian sausage waiting for him at River Ridge games. "I want to beat his head in, and he wants to beat my head in. Then we walk away, arm in arm."