Hitting the hall: Longtime Hewitt coach heads to Hall of Fame humble, grateful

Cross-country runners knew when David Dobbs was coming.

The old Mazda pickup was loud because of a hole in the muffler, a needed fix that the Hewitt-Trussville High School track and field and cross-country coach could not afford to have repaired at the time. The sound of that rumbling muffler would grow closer to the runners, motivating them to speed up.

That drive, not of a grumbling Mazda rolling down Parkway Drive, but of a coach who spent 31 years building and coaching the same program, is the key reason why Dobbs is a selected member of the 31st class of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame, which now includes 377 inductees. He will be enshrined at a banquet at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Spa Convention Center on March 21. That same day, as a result of a Trussville City Council proclamation, will be called Coach David Dobbs Day in the city of Trussville.

The Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association oversees the Hall of Fame. A selection committee comprised of coaches, administrators and media representatives made the selections.

Dobbs is no stranger to awards. The 1975 Banks High School graduate was named Jefferson County Teacher of the Year in 1996, won the Jefferson County Track and Cross Country Coach of the Year several times, won the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce Gatekeeper Award in 2020, and that same year was named the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 7A Making a Difference Award recipient.

“This one is from your peers,” Dobbs said. “It’s recognized and voted on by the coaches in this state. That one means a lot.”

‘Husky through and through’

Dobbs’ coaching accomplishments are well documented. He coached boys and girls in both track and field and cross-country at Hewitt-Trussville from 1990 to 2021. The girls won state titles in indoor track and outdoor track in 1999, and his boys’ and girls’ teams each won the state crown in 2021. That same year, the two teams finished as runners-up in the Class 7A outdoor track championships. More than 90 of his student-athletes signed college scholarships and currently hold 10 boys’ and girls’ overall or Class 7A state indoor track records and eight AHSAA outdoor state overall or Class 7A state records. His wife, Anita, worked alongside him the entire way.

In fact, Anita answered the call from AHSAA Executive Director Alvin Briggs when he called to deliver the Hall of Fame news. While Dobbs coached his first year by himself, Anita joined in the next year, young daughters in tow. An evolution of need led to the Dobbses coaching together for three decades.

“I couldn’t have done it without her at all,” Dobbs said, noting that there was no apparent format for them both to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. “She’ll tell you she doesn’t belong in, but she does.”

But back in 1990, when it all started, Anita was at Hewitt-Trussville first. She had been teaching in Trussville three or four years while Dobbs helped at Erwin. He was ready to “park it somewhere,” and Trussville was that place. The couple moved from Center Point and Dobbs interviewed with former Huskies football coach Jack Wood. Dobbs told him he would never leave.

“He lived Hewitt sports and athletics 24/7, and that was a great asset during our time there,” Wood said. “He had a great passion for it. Unmatched, really. He was a Husky through and through.”

Dobbs never wanted to bounce around. His goal was to plant roots and raise a family. He had opportunities to leave, but he never went for an interview at another school. He was comfortable in Trussville and enjoyed the community.

“I think David was very enthusiastic, but he was very constant and consistent in the way he approached athletics,” Wood said. “Kids don’t need anybody on a roller coaster, up one day and the next day you’re down at the bottom. They want consistency, and I think David was very consistent in everything he did in athletics, in his life and in his teaching.”

Jihan Loving, a former runner for Dobbs who later coached alongside him, said Dobbs first noticed her at an elementary fun day run. Her best childhood memories are at the track with the Dobbs family.

“I will never forget when Coach came up with the idea for a 24-hour run,” Loving said. “Not sure why he thought it would be a good idea, but those 24-hour run fundraisers were some of the most fun times and memories on the team. The distance team ran for hours, we pitched tents, ate tons of junk and we partied for 24 hours all in the name of improving the track facilities.”

Sandra Vernon, the assistant to the superintendent at Trussville City Schools, remembered those fundraising runs well. Her sons ran for Dobbs. Each runner raised money on how many miles he or she ran. A cookout, water balloon fights, singing and playing guitars all happened. But what stood out to Vernon was Dobbs keeping count of the number of laps ran.

“I don’t think he slept one minute of the 24 hours making sure everyone was safe and supervised,” Vernon said. “The 24-hour run morphed into the 200-mile relay with runners passing the baton to each other. The kids really looked forward to the event. It was held for several years until the team had raised enough money to resurface the track.”    

Tom Esslinger, now the track and field coach at Hewitt-Trussville, said Dobbs was the reason he wanted to leave Homewood for Hewitt-Trussville. Esslinger used perseverance, knowledge, determination, kindness and fairness as adjectives to describe his predecessor.

“His pursuit of excellence and strength of character in everything he does has become the foundation of the program,” Esslinger said. “Coach Dobbs cares about others and makes it a priority to help those who need it the most. His wisdom and ability to relate to people from all walks of life truly sets him apart from others, and I am so thankful to have been blessed enough to have him impact my life in such a significant way.”

Lifelong friendships

The AHSAA in its press release announcing this year’s Hall of Fame class described Dobbs as a man “recognized by his peers and students for his kindness and humility.” Dobbs has worked with the Firehouse Men’s Shelter, Community Kitchens and Catholic Charities.

Hewitt-Trussville Middle School Principal Jennifer Abney worked with Dobbs from 2008 until his retirement in 2021. She worked with him as a fellow coach, interim athletics director and administrator.

“The impact David has had on the lives of his students and athletes goes beyond athletics,” Abney said. “David modeled servant leadership with his athletes by encouraging them to serve others, volunteer at the Firehouse Shelter, and continually pouring into the lives of his current and former athletes. I consider him a lifelong friend and am grateful for our time working together.”

Loving could point to hundreds of memories with Dobbs, but what came to her mind were the personal parts of her life: Dobbs opening his home for college recruiting visits, the birth of his daughter, attending his wedding, encouraging him during hard times.

“His legacy will forever live on,” Loving said.

Vernon remembered the Dobbs family hosting spaghetti dinners before state meets. Anita cooked all the spaghetti and rolled the meatballs. Dobbs spoke about each runner. Vernon recalled the couple giving kids rides to their homes, bringing extra sandwiches and waters, and buying spikes or uniforms for runners in need.

“I am glad that both my boys had the Coaches Dobbs as role models,” Vernon said. “The Dobbses taught my kids how to win with humility, lose gracefully and do both with strong character and good sportsmanship. Winners have to work to be winners. Many of my boys’ lifelong friends are from the cross country and track teams. The Dobbses will forever be lifelong friends of the Vernons.”

On that wall

Over the years, Dobbs drove Interstate 65 South to Montgomery two to three times each year for meetings at the AHSAA office. As the front glass doors swing open, bronze relief plaques identify all of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame coaches. Dobbs has always taken note of those, of Mountain Brook’s Greg Echols, of Wood, of coaches with dozens of football state titles or multiple baseball state championships.

“And now to sit here at my age and think I’m going to be up there with them, it’s very humbling because you’re there in perpetuity,” Dobbs said. “That’s the big thing, to be included on that wall.”

Dobbs said he feels blessed to have had a great career that led to this moment, this induction.

“I wouldn’t trade being at Hewitt for anything,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade living in Trussville for anything. I mean, how can you beat Saturday mornings at Golden Rule Bar-B-Q?”

Dobbs ate breakfast at the South Chalkville Road staple restaurant every week for 17 years. His order was always the same. On the Friday after he retired from coaching, he ordered something new.

One more hill

Dobbs sat at Edgar’s Bakery on Main Street recently, and, despite there being only a handful of customers inside, he spoke to several. He knows everyone, and everyone knows him. He still wears a Hewitt-Trussville hat. He said he was working part-time for Fox Factory Inc. in Trussville, driving trucks where they need to go, as locally as Moody, as far away as Atlanta. He also enjoys gardening and piddling in a woodshop.

He said he works when he wants to, and how he really wants to spend his retirement is traveling the country. He and Anita are avid travelers, often blogging about their trips. He has been to 46 of the 48 contiguous states, the outliers being Oregon and Washington. They map out their trips in a way that allows them to see former runners. The Dobbses treat their families to lunch.

For Christmas in 2019, Dobbs bought Anita a travel book. Without knowing, Anita had purchased the same book for him. Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. Much of the last two years Dobbs has spent reading 19 history-based books, all between 300 and 600 pages. He has read about young George Washington, backstories of the Civil War, the French and Indian War, and more. He learns much about the history of the land in these books. Geography was his favorite elementary school subject.

When the Dobbses decide to travel again, they may do so with a tow-behind RV and see Oregon and Washington on the way to Alaska and Yukon. Dobbs said he hopes to see the remote parts of Canada, a scary thought but a bucket list item nonetheless. He wants to dip his toes in the freezing Arctic Ocean. He wants to see the icebergs break off from Greenland and head toward the North Atlantic Ocean. He wants to drive the 362-mile Trans-Taiga Road in northern Quebec, an all-gravel highway on which he hopes to not lose a windshield or the paint off his truck.

“Just to say I’ve been there,” he said.

Dobbs is passionate about going, about discovering. Traveling somewhere he has read about brings a smile to his face. Something his dad used to say has always resonated with him.

“What’s over the next road?” he said, quoting his dad. “What’s over the next hill? Let’s go one more hill.”