RC, LHS Announcer Retiring After 47 Years
From celebrating a first down with home fans to igniting the crowd with his signature roar, Ken Coleman has been a fixture for the Rockbridge County High School football program since the school opened 32 years ago. Before serving as the public address announcer for the Wildcats, Coleman announced Lexington High School games for 15 years. Now, after 47 years, Coleman is retiring from the role.
Coleman, 75, called his last game on Nov. 8, when the Wildcats concluded the season with a 28-6 Senior Night home win over Valley District rival William Monroe. Coleman was honored on the field and did the coin toss before the game.
Explaining his decision to step down, Coleman said, “I really enjoyed doing Rockbridge County football, but 32 years is a long time. When you reach the age of 75, you start thinking, sometimes I’d like to just stay home, or I’ve got some other things to do, and the home game schedule sort of will interfere with that from time to time.”
KEN COLEMAN keeps the crowd updated during his last game as the Wildcats’ public address announcer on Nov. 8. (Jonathan Schwab photo) Coleman got into announcing in 1972, a year after graduating from Virginia Military Institute. One of his VMI classmates, Tim Golden, was announcing football games for Lexington High School, and he asked Coleman to come in and spot and help him work the games. “He got tired of it in two or three years, and I just naturally took over,” said Coleman.
Over the years, Coleman made a lot of memories announcing for the Scarlet Hurricane, including when they won the state championship in 1988. He also announced throughout the high school football career of current Virginia Tech head football coach Brent Pry, who graduated from LHS in 1988.
One specific memory at LHS came to mind for Coleman on a very foggy night of football. “One play went to the far end zone on the other side of the field, and all I could say was, ‘You call it. I can’t see it.’ I’ll never forget that one.”
When the county schools consolidated into RC in 1992, it was only fitting that Coleman started out as the Wildcats’ announcer. Among the teams Coleman announced was the 2006 RC football team that won the district and regional championships before falling to Richlands 29-28 in the Group AA, Division 3 state championship game.
Perhaps more important than any game he called at RC, Coleman said his proudest accomplishment was the advertisements he wrote and read aloud. “I created a plan on my own of doing these sponsorships, these ads, and I actually write the ads myself,” said Coleman. “They don’t even provide me the material. They give me some ideas. Through this ad program that I generated years ago, I’ve figured that the ads have contributed over $30,000 over the 32 years that I’ve been announcing.”
In addition to his roar to get the crowd excited, as he’d heard from announcers at University of Virginia football games, Coleman got the crowd going each time RC got a first down by saying, “And that’s another Wildcat first down!”
“After several years of doing it, the cheerleading sponsors incorporated sort of a movement with it, and as soon as the cheerleaders here me go, ‘And that’s another Wildcat....’, they have a cheer and turn [and say], ‘First down!’ And the fans have gotten into it. If you watch, the student body will do that. Over the years, some of the players’ parents will be on the back row standing, and if I forgot to do it, they turn around and look up at me and go, ‘First down! Another first down!’” Coleman was mentioned in local radio broadcaster and author Jim Bresnahan’s book “Friday Night Reunion,” which chronicles high school football in Rockbridge County from 1986 to 2009. In the book, Andy Cline, a 1994 RCHS graduate who was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame last year for his football career, is quoted in the book as saying he always knew it was football season when he heard Coleman on the PA system.
In addition to announcing football, Coleman made sure to let the crowd know about the accomplishments of other fall sports teams: volleyball, golf, cross country and competition cheerleading. “I try to keep the fans updated on what’s going on in our athletic programs, and I’ll remind them where the next game’s gonna be played,” he said.
Sports have been a big part of Coleman’s life since his youth. He went to Appomattox County High School, graduated in 1967, and was a linebacker and offensive guard for the first undefeated football team in the school’s history. Coleman also played basketball and baseball in high school. At VMI, he played one year of baseball and was a manager of the football team all four years.
“I thoroughly enjoy sports,” said Coleman. “That helps keep my enthusiasm about being a PA announcer and being involved.”
While announcing, Coleman got help from his wife, Marie, as a spotter, identifying players for him to announce when they made plays. “It’s been a family thing,” said Coleman. “She started coming with me to the games and started being in the press box. The next thing you know, we picked up on, OK, she can take a pair of binoculars and watch the game because it’s hard to see the offense and defense at the same time. It’s been a big help. She’s been a mainstay for me in supporting me.”
The Colemans have three children, all RC alumni. Their son Carter lives in Roanoke and surprised Ken by showing up at his last game. Their daughter, Anna Campbell, still lives in Rockbridge County. She was the first RC female to be named all-district when she was a freshman softball player. Their son David Buskey lives in Charleston, S.C.
Over the decades, Coleman said, RC has adjusted well to changes, keeping its facilities in great shape. “Rockbridge has done a good job, I think, of upgrading and keeping up, and now we’ve got Bermudagrass on the football field,” he said. “The staff in the athletic department do a great job.”
At the last game, Coleman said he was grateful for those who asked him to keep announcing. “It really touched me and tickled me tonight, the cheerleaders asking me not to quit,” he said. I don’t think they knew who I was, but when I was standing down there in front of them, they went, ‘Oh no, you can’t quit.”
As a token of appreciation for his decades announcing, the RCHS athletic department presented Coleman with a lifetime pass to RCHS sports before the last game. It’s likely Coleman will enjoy some Friday nights off in future fall seasons, but fans shouldn’t be surprised to see him joining the crowd and continuing to cheer for the Wildcats, even without a microphone.
