RIP: A great coach and a great guy
My Uncle Ed Deerinwater had a habit of taking me along on his adventures. Along the way, I met some influential people.
Uncle Ed was a 45th Infantry major who took me to his National Guard weekend camp in Oklahoma City and let me fire an M-16. I was only about 10!
He also took me to my first OU football spring game, where I was introduced to journalism as a career. I couldn’t believe people were paid to watch a football game.
Uncle Ed also was a member of the football booster club in McAlester. On Friday nights in grade school and junior high, I ended up at McAlester High football or basketball games.
One evening, my mom told me Uncle Ed was dropping by and taking me to a football game in Wewoka. When he pulled up, I got into his Chevy Impala and said hello to his passenger.
It was Charley North, an assistant coach at McAlester High.
Apparently, Uncle Ed was taking Charley to Wewoka to scout McAlester’s next opponent.
I thought nothing of it at the time. I figured he was just another one of Uncle Ed’s many friends. Uncle Ed, known as Punchie in McAlester, had been involved in McAlester High sports since his sons played basketball there.
They were both from Wagoner County — Charley from Wagoner, Uncle Ed from Porter.
Years later, I began covering OU football as a sports editor in Muskogee. By 1982, Charley was on Barry Switzer’s staff at OU.
That gave me an inside connection to the OU staff — very important because I was competing against national media. If I needed Barry’s attention or had to get to a particular player, Charley helped make the connection.
I profiled Charley a couple of times in the Muskogee paper. He was always accommodating and remembered Uncle Ed.
I bring all this up because Charley passed away on Aug. 25 at 82 years old. His coaching career was remarkable. He not only coached at OU, but was also on coaching staffs at Arkansas, Alabama, Texas A&M and TCU. His high school coaching career included stops at his alma mater in Wagoner, McAlester, Tecumseh and Dibble.
Soonerguys founder Mike Duncan remembered Charley as a great guy to visit and talk with.
“I did, when our respective grandsons were playing baseball together at Norman High,” Mike wrote in a Facebook post. “He had also been my grandson Hunter’s wide receiver position coach at Alcott Middle School. Charley volunteered there after his retirement.
“How many middle school kids get to say they’ve had such a seasoned and quality coach as that?”
RIP: Charley. We remember you well.
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