“Now that we have a coach on the team, I feel great!”
Those are the words of my friend, Ray Birmingham, a retired New Mexico Junior College and University of New Mexico baseball coach when I asked him about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Others have made similar comments about Walz, a longtime coach and educator, who was tapped to be the running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Walz, whose name and background have just been introduced to the public over the past few days, has all the characteristics of someone who connects with people in his community — a teacher and football coach who has touched a lot of lives over two decades.
He reminds me of a teacher I had in my hometown of Hobbs, James Richards. The similarities to Richards, who was my Houston Junior High civics and history teacher, were what caught my attention. Coach Richards was kind, encouraging, a lover of both New Mexico and U.S. history. He challenged us to debate on subjects we didn’t know much about as a way to learn more. He coached at the junior high school and in later years moved up to be a teacher and assistant basketball coach for the Hobbs Eagles. He eventually became the high school athletic director.
Both Walz and Richards grew up in rural America. Walz was born in Nebraska; Coach Richards was raised in Potosi, Missouri, whose population today is 2,559. Both were raised in families who believed in public education.
When Walz made his debut on Tuesday, he underscored small town farm roots and spoke about his life as a teacher for two decades, his military service, and his elected office experience. Some of his accomplishments include universal free lunches for kids, expanded health care for veterans, and resources to end veteran homelessness; as governor, he extended the child tax credit when the federal one expired — providing continuity for families in Minnesota.
But it was his love of his students and teaching that has stuck with me most and their love of him. Straight talking, hard working, challenging and friendly. Straight talk including, “Mind your own damn business,” as a phrase to address the threat to personal decisions and freedoms. Coach Richards taught me the phrase, “The sun doesn’t shine on one dog’s tail all day long,” when we thought all was lost. Or cautioning me to “keep your eyes open” when he was warning me.
Former students are talking about Walz’s impact on their lives and how he made sure students were seen and valued. Coach Walz, like Coach Richards and Coach Birmingham, knew how to build winning football, basketball and baseball teams. They lifted players up. They didn’t tear them down.
The stories from Walz’s students brought back other memories about Coach Richards. A former student, Larissa Beck, described how Walz was “ingrained in the fabric of Mankato West High School.” Every morning, he was in the halls greeting students by name in the same way Coach Richards stood at the door of Houston Junior High greeting us from the first day. He knew our names in no time.
Later in life, I was part of a group that tried to get coach to run for the New Mexico Legislature. He was an active Democrat, and he had the temperament and the love of New Mexico we needed. But he was shyer than Tim Walz and diplomatically turned down the idea.
I think voters can’t help but feel better having “a coach on the team.” The best coaches reflect their communities and value the people in them. Tim Walz, as a newly minted vice-presidential candidate, is helping us understand what that means. Welcome to the team, Coach!