By James Thomson
I first saw Chuck Drury when I attended a Stratford vs Pomperaug game in 2001. It as a home game for Stratford and I was rooting for the Red Devils. First year head coach, Duane Shirden took over the program from Bob Zito. As one of my first teams, I wanted to show them that I was squarely in their corner. As the teams ran out for warm ups, I noticed that Chuck Drury looked intent. He seemed focused, resolute on winning and they did! They did it in convincing and physical fashion. My impression was that he was a hard nosed coach who demanded toughness out of his team. I wanted the opportunity to meet him and work with his team but after that season, I moved north and swapped territories to cover northeastern Connecticut.
I would see Chuck Drury occasionally but it wasn’t until almost a decade later that I had a memorial experience with him. It was at the annual Nike Clinic in Windsor. At the coaches’ social, Rocky Hill Head Coach, Dave Coyne and Chuck had an epic exchange about their team’s respective fundraising performances. Rocky Hill out-performed Pomperaug and that didn’t sit well with Chuck. The veins in his neck flared and his shoulders kicked back. He immediately sought out my counterpart, Kevin Digby (who took over the southwestern Connecticut territory) and told him that he could not lose to Rocky Hill moving forward. Pomperaug had already won the 2004 Class MM State Championship and were on their way to another State Title appearance in 2009. Despite tremendous success on the field, losing was not a comfortable experience for Chuck, even if it was just a fundraiser.
Shortly after that exchange, Chuck Drury stepped down at Pomperaug to join his son, Mike who was hired at Southington in 2011. It was there that I really got to know the man Chuck Drury. Southington is traditionally one of our best teams when it comes to running our program. My visits to Blue Knight country were typically focused and intense, since fitting in multiple fundraisers for the perennial contender was tight in between all the work the team puts in during the season and in between. Mike was masterful at driving home the importance of hitting his team’s fundraising goals. Chuck would balance that intensity with lighter conversation. He asked about my family and it never changed from that point forward. While I never had the pleasure of working with Chuck as a Head Coach, I got the fortunate opportunity to work with him as an assitant.
One of the biggest treats for me was when I got to host both Mike and Chuck at the annual Walter Camp Football Foundation Black Tie Dinner, following Southington’s Class LL State Championship in 2013. I had them back in 2014 when they repeated as Class LL State Champs and were honored with the Joseph W Kelly Award as the #1 team in the state. It was during those two celebratory nights that Chuck made an impression with my wife. He already knew that I had two sons at the time and he asked my wife about both of them. We spent most of our time talking about family and life. He instantly became one of my wife’s favorite coaches after those two experiences.
Since that point, Chuck would ask how my wife and three boys were. He remembered details, “How’s the big guy (my oldest)? Is he still paying basketball?” And he would continue, “How are the other two? Are they playing any sports? Don’t count out the youngest. Mike was the youngest and look how well things turned out for him.” The conversation was always real and genuine. It was never rushed or shallow. In the culture of high school sports, this is rare. Usually our exchanges with coaches are cordial but quick and professional but hurried. With Chuck, you always felt like he had time to actually talk and it was important to him.
That is why it was such an honor to recognize Chuck as the 2022 Walter Camp Football Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award Winner. We held the interviews in Southington’s team room with both Chuck and Mike. The conversation was genuine and touching. The most compelling part of the interview was when Chuck recounted when on two separate occasions, sisters of his players wrote him notes to thank him for helping their brothers become better people. That perfectly sums up the impact that Chuck had on his students and players. He wasn’t just inspirational, he was transformative.
Chuck Drury, 2022 Walter Camp Football Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award:
That is why when the news of his passing hit, the reaction was genuine shock and sadness. The sentiment was, we lost a very rare man. A gem. A man who was able to be a gentlemen amongst ferocious competitors. He was able to balance the demands of fielding competitive players with helping to build better people. I believe the best way to honor Chuck is to take the time to connect and care about those around us. It’s what made him so special and God knows, the world can use a whole lot more of that!