Throughout Coach Neil Capps’ 25 years in coaching, the past 13 as head boys basketball coach at Stone Memorial High School, he’s had to make a lot of tough decisions.
And most, if not all of his decisions, have come with the added pressure of winning or losing a game. Those are difficult decisions.
Well, Capps’ latest decision, something he actually made a long time ago, may have been his easiest. Capps has decided to step down from coaching so he can experience as much of his son Cade’s upcoming college career at Trevecca Nazarene University, as possible.
“I have always said I will never be a better coach than I am a dad. So, my decision was pretty clear, pretty easy,” Capps said. “I have been fortunate to build some great relationships with the young men that have played in our program. I wouldn’t trade that time for anything.
“But at the end of the day, I mean, I only get one opportunity to be a dad to Cade in that window of his college career. I don’t want to mess it up. I don’t want to lose that opportunity.”
Capps steps away from the sideslines with a storied resume. As a head coach, he finished with a 239-160 record over 13 seasons. Capps was honored as Coach of the Year on five separate occasions.
Under his guidance, Stone won four district tournament titles, two regional championships and made one trip to the state tournament’s Final Four.
Capps said he’s looking forward to watching Cade grow and get better, and being able to see just how far Cade’s basketball career goes. Being able to coach his son has been one of his greatest pleasures.
“I coached Cade hard, but when he was a little boy, he told us he wanted to be really good. And there’s an accountability to that,” Capps said. “I knew that you couldn’t take it easy on your own child and be hard on the other kids. If anything, you had to be a little bit harder on your child than the other kids.
“You never wanted to show them your child’s favoritism or that you were taking it easy on them. You didn’t want anything nepotistic, you know, to appear there. Cade always handled it well, and I think he kind of viewed me as dad. We both had the same goal in mind the whole time.”
Capps gives a lot of credit in him having the joy of experiencing coaching his son to Cade’s teammates. He said his teammates’ maturity made it easy for everyone involved.
And the success has been there. Stone Memorial, over the last four years, won 91 games under Capps’ guidance.
Nathan Brown, the athletic director at Stone Memorial High School, will be charged with finding Capps’ replacement. Brown said earlier this week he’s been “flooded” will applications for the position.
Brown said in his best case scenario he will be announcing his new boys basketball coach around mid- to late April.
“You know, what [former University of Alabama football] Coach Saban says, you want to pursue perfection, which is impossible. But if you pursue it hard enough, you might catch excellence,” Capps said. “I would encourage the new coach at Stone to give the kids the opportunity each and every day to be in the gym, getting better, getting stronger. Keep your standards and your expectations high for the program.
“Whoever gets it is going to get a bunch of really good pieces and have the opportunity to continue on, you know, because it doesn’t just start with the guys that are currently in the program. It also starts with the young fellows who are in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades. There’s always work to do there.
“Obviously, I wish them all the best and just encourage everyone to continue working, working hard and to just keep the expectations high.”
Capps said he won’t ever count out getting back into coaching. He’s not sure if or when that may become part of his life again. Right now, he’s focused on enjoying being able to watch Cade play as a fan — as dad.
“You know, as a parent sitting in the bleachers, your hands are tied. You know, once you get there, you’re just sitting in the bleachers. There’s really nothing you can do,” Capps said. “As a coach, you actually get to play a small part in that and get to try to be a part of the solution and be a part of figuring it out. To where as a parent, you just have to sit up there.
“I guess the hardest part for me will be just sitting in the bleachers being a parent. Sitting in the bleachers, I won’t have any way I can help or be part of the solution. That will be difficult.”