Ex-Churchland AD remembered for loyalty, heart
Many athletic directors come from backgrounds in football or basketball.
Not David Moss. He knew a little bit about many sports, including softball. And that’s probably what made him a huge supporter of them all.
“The biggest thing I can tell you about him was his loyalty to Churchland High and his support for every athletic program,” said Susan Bechtol, former principal at Churchland High School.
Moss died Sunday. Moss, who was named the school’s athletic director in 2004 and retired in 2017, had become a fixture at all Churchland High athletic events and in the city of Portsmouth.
When Bechtol became principal, she and Moss worked side by side to make sure every athletic program got their support.
“What I told David was, you will be at every home event, and between the two of us, we’re going to be at every away event,” she said. “It was hard. But I don’t think you’ll find any athlete that will tell you we didn’t try.”
Former Churchland football coach Alonzo Ricks said Moss was a
“good man” and “personable.”
“If you took the time to get to know him,” he said, “right, wrong or indifferent, he would be as open and honest with his opinions and answers as anyone.”
Ricks got to know Moss because his father worked with Moss. Later, Ricks played for Moss when he was an assistant coach on the football team.
That’s what made Ricks so proud when Moss and Bechtol named him head football and track coach at his alma mater.
“That is something that I will always hold near and dear to me in my heart,” Ricks said. “He was always open and available to meet and talk to you, never too busy for his coaches if they needed to converse. I have nothing but love for him and he will be missed.”
Former Churchland boys basketball coach Pat Dulin said he and Moss talked about sports for hours. He said a lot of people don’t know Moss was also was a good athlete in his day. He played lineman for legendary Wilson High coach Ralph Gahagan in the late 1960s and later went to James Madison and played on the school’s first football team.
Dulin will remember him for his dedication.
“Coach Moss was a classic, old-school AD,” he said. “He would show up at 6 in the morning, eat dinner at the concession stand and leave at 11 o’clock at night. The job meant a lot to him and he was always there. He cared about his coaches. He cared about his athletes. And he cared about Churchland High School. He was rough around the edges with a big, old heart. He was a good friend and he will be missed.”
Former Churchland star athlete and current track coach Quinton Harper called Moss “a hardcore sports fan.”
He remembered his senior year when they were at a basketball tournament and Moss got into an disagreement with an official.
“Coach Moss was arguing back and forth with the official over calls that he thought we should have got,” he said. “You know they tried to throw him out until they realized he was our AD.”
Marty Bechtol, Susan’s husband, was a longtime athletic director at Granby High.
“Moss was a great guy,” he said. “When I say a great guy, he was always one of the most helpful guys in the world. He was always active in the (athletic director) association . ... He was genuinely a good guy. He will be missed.”