EAGLE 102 SPORTS — So…you have heard the saying that a CEO is only as good as his secretary, a husband is only as good as his wife, and a coach is only as good as his assistant…meet Scott Stallcup.
Scott and I go back to our high school days where he graduated from Van-Far High School. His parents, Ron and Dixie, are wonderful people who are well known in the area, were around plenty and we all got to be good friends.
Scott moved on to Westminster College for his undergrad and Mizzou for his master’s and then followed in his Dad’s footsteps entering the education field and coaching. He had teaching and coaching stops at Centralia, Rolla and what was to be his final stop at Webster Groves…all as an assistant.
As most know, to be a coach, a must is a supporting family. Scott’s wife of 35 years and his two children certainly fit that bill. Not surprisingly, his daughter was a college softball player, and his son is a Division One baseball player. Sports are a big part of their family.
But why coaching? It is time demanding, keeps you away from home and in today’s world the challenges are many. “Easy,” Scott tells me, “I love sports and the lessons it teaches for success in life.” He continued,” I love being a part of a team and I want to help kids find success and learn. I hope to influence my players in the same way my coaches did for me at Van-Far…to me it is about the relationships”.
It also takes a village, as they say, to make it in most any profession…especially coaching. Besides the support from home, you need mentors and people who guide you and influence your career…and Scott has certainly welcomed that guidance. Listen to this list of mentors and influencers…Gary Gore, Clarence Holman, Bob Groff, Lowell Keltner, Gary Miles, John Clark, Andre Salmons, Jay Blossom, and most of all his father Ron (who was in education for 47 years). That is a who’s who of Coaches and Administrators that Scott credits for helping mold him into the coach and person he is today. “They are all men of character and great role models for me,” he recalls.
In 2019, Scott retired after 32 years in the profession. He has children that he wanted to watch play their games and just needed a break (note “break”). If you know coaches or officials, it is in their blood and hard to get out. The pull to stay in touch with the game and the relationships that you have grown over the years is sometimes too much. Thus was the case for Scott. A year after retirement, he agreed to help with the Webster Groves Girls team…as an assistant.
Even in retirement, Scott and Jay Blossom, the Head coach of the Webster Groves boys…who also retired about the same time as Scott…always talked about coaching together again someday. They both told me, “It is just hard to quit.” Well, that day came in 2022. Principia High School decided they wanted to step up their basketball program. They built a new facility and went out and got the best coaching duo available in Blossom and Stallcup. After coaching together for about 18 years and two short years into semi-retirement, the band was back together…Jay as the Head Coach and Scott as the assistant.
They are almost two years into the process of building a powerhouse. Principia finished 2nd in Class 2 last year and has a ton of youth on this year’s roster. With the insanity of the MSHSAA they jump up two classes this year to Class 4…so the challenges of coaching continue. “I love coaching with Jay and Principia is a great school and a great place to coach”, he admits. With that, it makes it easy to get off the couch and back into coaching.
But the million-dollar question is why as an assistant…always? I am sure Scott has had multiple opportunities to run his own program and build a head coaching resume to take him to even higher levels in the profession. “That is a really good question. I am not sure I have a good answer” he acknowledged. “I have been very lucky to coach with several Hall of Fame coaches in both basketball and football. They always gave me lots of responsibility and allowed/expected me to coach and have a voice in the decision making.” Scott continued, “I think is fits my personality to kind of be behind the scenes, so to speak…I just coach. I love to JUST coach. I have very few administrative duties, so I spend all my time coaching kids. I have scouting duties, set matchups and game plan, etc…I guess that is enough for me.”
And he is very good at his job. He was named the Kevin “Cub” Martin Coach of the year in 2009 which recognizes the top assistant coach in the State of Missouri. During his 14 years as an assistant at Webster, they were 336-63 and won state championships in 2008, 2017 and 2018. During that tenure he coached and coached against many Division 1 players and several NBA players. It afforded him the opportunity to coach in NBA arenas and in many of the most prestigious high school events in the country. So, I would say it has all worked out just fine.
But with all those accomplishments and experiences, I ask him about his most memorable moments. “Getting to coach my son for a couple of years and watching the Van-Far Indians win the schools first state championship in basketball in 2004,” he replied. It almost always comes back to home.
So, to assist seems to be a pretty good gig. Maybe you don’t get all of the recognition and accolades, as a head coach, but knowing yourself and what makes you successful and happy is a great thing…and that is Scott’s story.
How good is he at his job? I ask Coach Blossom to tell me about Scott. He emphasized, “he is great with kids, a great basketball mind, a higher character person and loyal as all get out.” Wouldn’t we all love to possess those traits.
Finally, Coach Blossom said, “I would not have got back into coaching without Scott joining me…I can’t imagine anyone any better as his job.”
That is the highest compliment.
Quote of the Month
As is with all people in the sports world, they all have stories…many stories. I ask Scott to give me one or two and as with most he said, “most of them are not for public consumption.” I can relate.
But here is a good one I can tell.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I am very claustrophobic. I will walk flights of stairs instead of taking an elevator. While coaching at Webster, we played at several events where we would fly to the games. It was brutal for me. I would take medicine for 2 weeks prior to flights, but it never helped. In 2006 we played at the Target Center in Minneapolis, and we were to leave St. Louis at 10 a.m. and practice at 12:30 p.m. It was a short flight, so in my mind, I was thinking “big jet.” Wrong! It was like a 40-passenger commuter jet. I stepped on that plane and started right back off. Jay was yelling at me to get on the plane, but I said, “I am driving”! After about 5 minutes I did get on the plane. I finally calmed a little until one of our players ask his mom for “THE BIBLE.” I finally went to prayer myself…it all worked out and I made practice on time.
Congratulations Scott…keep coaching and molding young minds and lives…and stay off of small planes!!