Harry Wayne Parrish This is Me

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1. 1. The Enterprise Ledger | Parrish takes over at Daleville

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   Published on: 8/14/2003   Last Visited: 8/14/2003

   Parrish takes over at Daleville
   ...
   Thirty years ago, Daleville gave Harry Wayne Parrish a start in a profession he grew to love.
   
   Now as the program fights through troubled times, he's returning to help guide its football program.
   
   Parrish, a longtime coach at Northview and Early County who retired following the 2000 season, was officially hired Wednesday afternoon by the Daleville City School System Board of Education to be the Warhawks' head football coach.
   ...
   Parrish, who has a career record of 161-84 in 23 years as head coach, got his first full-time coaching job as an assistant in 1970 at Daleville, where he stayed two years.
   
   Parrish said he has accepted the Daleville post because of a need to help the school, community and most importantly, the team's football players.
   
   "I feel obligated to Daleville," Parrish said.

2. 2. The Dothan Eagle | Parrish returns coaching; takes over at Daleville

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   Published on: 8/13/2003   Last Visited: 8/14/2003

   Thirty years ago, Daleville gave Harry Wayne Parrish a start in a profession he grew to love.
   
   Now as the school fights through troubled times, he's returning to help guide its football program.
   
   Parrish, a longtime coach at Northview and Early County who retired following the 2000 season, was officially hired Wednesday afternoon by the Daleville City School System Board of Education to be the Warhawks' head football coach.
   ...
   Parrish, who has a career record of 161-84 in 23 years as a head coach, got his first full-time coaching job as an assistant in 1970 at Daleville, where he stayed two years.
   
   Parrish said he has accepted the Daleville post because of a need to help the school, community and most importantly, the team's football players.
   
   "I feel obligated to Daleville," Parrish said. "They gave me a start and I feel obligated to help them. I am doing this for no other reason than to help them and to help their football players the best I can."
   
   With Daleville already on probation from rules violations from last summer and possibly more sanctions coming in the wake of the recent allegations, Parrish vowed to keep Daleville from further mistakes.
   
   "This program will be squeaky clean. I can guarantee that," Parrish said.
   ...
   Parrish, who said he was approached about the Daleville job Monday night, stressed the move is only "temporary."
   
   "This is not a permanent thing. I started in Daleville 30 years ago and still have good friends there," Parrish said. "They asked me to take it to get them through this year. There are no plans to permanently get back into coaching."
   
   A Wiregrass Hall of Fame member, Parrish was Northview's first head coach and guided the Cougars to two state championships (1981 and 1985) during a 13-year stint.
   
   Following his tenure at Northivew, he took over at Early County and stayed there for 10 years , leading the Bobcats to the Class AA state runner-up in 1998.
   
   Parrish admits coming aboard two weeks before the season opener is not the ideal situation, but one he is ready to tackle.
   
   "It is a unique situation," Parrish said. "I have never coached this way before, but I will do my best to be my best and to get the most out of these players all the time under these difficult circumstances I am under and circumstances they are under."
   
   With only two weeks to prepare for the Aug. 29 season opener against Goshen, Parrish said he is planning no changes in terms of offensive or defensive schemes since there is too little time.
   
   "I will not be making any changes at all," Parrish said. "I have to learn the kids and grow with them. I will go with what they have been running and try to do what I know within that."
   
   In taking over a program that has been hit hard this week by the rules allegations and the suspension of a coach, Parrish said his first priority is to rally Daleville players. In addition to that, the school still has to deal with possible sanctions from the Alabama High School Athletic Association, which could include restrictive probation. If the AHSAA gives Daleville restrictive probation, the school would be ineligible for the state playoffs.
   
   Parrish said players will have to step up despite the possible repercussions.
   
   "We can't worry about that," Parrish said.

3. 3. The Dothan Eagle | Parrish retiring as coach of Daleville

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   Published on: 11/10/2005   Last Visited: 11/11/2005

   After three years as a "part-time" coach at Daleville, Harry Wayne Parrish is retiring ... again.
   
   The veteran coach and Wiregrass Hall of Famer announced Wednesday he was leaving his post as Warhawk head football coach. He coached Daleville the last three seasons, coming out of retirement in 2003 after the program was placed on probation a second straight year for rules violations by a prior coaching staff.
   
   Parrish officially tendered his resignation to the Daleville School Board and told Warhawk players of his plans Wednesday morning.
   
   While coaching, Parrish maintained his local business in Dothan and commuted to Daleville for practices and games in the afternoon.
   
   "They need a full-time coach, that is the bottom line," Parrish said in announcing his decision.
   ...
   In making his decision, Parrish retires from high school coaching for a third time. He guided Northview from its inception in 1978 through the 1990 season, winning state titles in 1981 and 1985, before retiring in state and taking over at Early County in Blakely, Ga. He directed the Bobcat program for 10 years, including a state runner-up finish in 1998, before retiring again after the 2000 season.
   
   He came out of retirement in 2003 as a favor to a friend in Daleville, a place that started his career as an assistant coach in 1970.
   
   During his three years as head coach, the Warhawks were 13-18 on the field, though his official record stands at 9-20 after a clerical error resulted in an ineligible player and forfeits of four victories in 2004.
   ...
   "Coach Parrish has left us in good shape for someone to come in and build the program." Parrish also felt the Warhawk program was on good footing.
   
   "We tried to make sure we did things above board because that is what the administration wanted and we did," Parrish said.
   ...
   Daleville did win its final game under Parrish, 30-12 over Hillcrest of Evergreen.
   
   "This was one of my most enjoyable years," Parrish said. "There were good young men and they were a lot of fun to be around. I can't say enough about them and of the superintendent, principal and board members. Everybody was supportive of me and I appreciate that."
   
   Including his years at Daleville, Parrish retires with a career record of 170-106 in 26 years as a head coach.
   
   While he is retiring from high school, coaching might not be out of his blood, said Parrish, a graduate of Dothan High in addition to being head coach at Northview.
   
   "I would like to coach little kids and help in Dothan," Parrish said. "I want to be involved in the youth of Dothan and maybe help Northview and Dothan. I played and coached there. I want to do whatever I can to help improve Dothan athletics."
   
   Parrish admitted his desire to coach youth is two-fold. For one, he has two grandkids coming up in the system, but just as importantly he feels a need to honor longtime friend Ronnie Mendheim, a veteran youth coach in the city who passed away Oct. 31.
   
   "Ronnie Mendheim inspired me," Parrish said.