SAN MARCOS – When D.W. Rutledge resigned as Judson football coach in March 2001 to become executive vice president of the Texas High School Coaches Association, he knew his life never would be quite the same.
Even then, Rutledge had no idea just how much his life would change. After coaching for 26 years, the last 17 as head coach at Judson, Rutledge was in for some serious withdrawal.
While Rutledge’s new job kept him in coaching circles, it was different from anything he had ever done. He missed his assistant coaches at Judson and, of course, the daily contact with his players.
Rutledge tried to stay away from Judson games that first season out of coaching in 2001 – but he couldn’t. Out of deference to Jim Rackley, his successor, Rutledge always sat on the visitors’ side to avoid being a distraction.
“The first two years were a real tough transition,” Rutledge said. “When I took the job with the coaches’ association, I knew it was a job that didn’t come around very often and was a great opportunity.
“It took me a while for me to get my arms around it and find a purpose. I knew it was an important job, but I had to work things through my mind.”
He did.
Now 60, Rutledge has been out of coaching for 10 seasons. He figures he’ll always miss coaching to a degree, but he has long since gotten over the withdrawal that made his heart ache in those first two seasons after leaving Judson.
“The time I missed it the most was the beginning of the season and the beginning of the playoffs,” Rutledge said. “That’s still the case. You still would like to be back in the arena, but I know I’m where I need to be.”
Judson went 198-31-5 and won four Class 5A state championships, one by forfeit, during Rutledge’s 17-year tenure as head coach. The Rockets made the playoffs 16 times and played in six state finals with Rutledge at the helm.
Executive director of the THSCA since September 2003, Rutledge has channeled the energy, passion and dedication that defined him as a coach into his job as the state’s top advocate for high school coaches.
THSCA proactive under Rutledge
Whether it’s lobbying state legislators in Austin, initiating a continuing education and certification program for coaches, addressing health and safety issues such as concussions and steroids or devising a marketing plan, Rutledge is leaving his imprint on the THSCA.
“This job doesn’t come with as many daily victories as coaching does,” Rutledge said. “Things take a lot more time, but we do have victories. You feel good when you put things in place and they become part of our association.”
Founded in 1930, the THSCA has a membership of more than 21,000, making it the largest organization of its kind in the world. Last year’s annual summer convention drew a record 13,327 to San Antonio.
This year’s convention is scheduled July 24-27 in Fort Worth.
The first thing Rutledge did when he took over the THSCA, which has its offices in San Marcos, was to define its mission and develop a strategic plan.
“You’ve got to find something that identifies what your purpose is and the passion of why you’re doing this,” Rutledge said. “We had a staff meeting not long after I took over and we talked about this. When I asked what we stood for, somebody said that we’re here to help coaches.
“Well, we are, but what does that mean? That’s when we came up with our association’s mission statement. We’re here to help coaches help kids. Once I got my arms around that and learned the association’s business and all that entailed, this job became my passion.”
Rutledge said an observation by his wife, Kathy, reflects just how far he has come since his first season out of coaching.
“Cathy said that I’ve let this job consume me the way I let coaching consume me,” he said. “But it’s been good and I’ve enjoyed the people I’ve met and the people I work with every day. Our association has a great staff. They understand what coaching is about and value the impact coaches can have on young lives.”
Coaches' continuing education a THSCA priority
Rutledge’s winning touch on the field has carried over to the board room. To wit: The THSCA has more than $500,000 in sponsorships, compared to $10,000 before Rutledge became executive director.
The THSCA has initiated other programs during Rutledge’s watch, including a professional lecture series that focuses on a coach’s continuing education.
“The main thing we want to do is enhance a coach’s education, so he can better help kids,” Rutledge said.
The THSCA also has established the Texas High School Coaches Association Education Foundation, a charity headed by Rutledge.
Although it’s been 10½ years since he coached his last game at Judson, Rutledge always will be inextricably linked with the Rockets.
Judson Stadium was renamed after Rutledge in 2006, and he remains close to Rackley, who was promoted after Rutledge resigned.
Rutledge in S.A. Hall of Fame
“It’s never quite the same after you leave,” Rutledge said. “It’s kind of like when your kids go off to college. When they come back home, it’s never quite the same. But Judson and that time always will be special to me and my family.
“It was a great ride. It always come back to the kids you were around the people you worked with.
That’s what made Judson such a neat place.”
Rutledge was defensive coordinator under Frank Arnold for four seasons, 1980-83, before getting promoted early in 1984 when Arnold succeeded Roy Wallace as athletic director. The Rockets won their first of six state championships in 1983.
Born and raised in Houston, Rutledge was an All-America linebacker at Texas Lutheran in 1974, when the Bulldogs won the NAIA Division II title under Coach Jim Wacker.
Rutledge was inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
Rutledge still keeps in touch with his former Judson coaches and many of his ex-players. He and his wife visited Derwin Gray, who played for the Rockets in the late 1980s, in Charlotte, N.C., recently.
Gray, who played for the Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers, is the pastor of a church in the Charlotte area.
“He was doing a series of sermons on leadership,” Rutledge said. “I got to watch him with his congregation. There’s no amount of money that equals the pride that you feel in those kids, especially when they’re serving the community.”
D.W. Rutledge always will be a coach.
