State’s best
Jenks coach Allan Trimble and three others are now in the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
The one step up to the podium was small. But Allan Trimble took no chances Monday. His wife, Courtney, helped him navigate that step to join three other newly elected members of the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
Climbing stairs is one of those small acts of independence that we all take for granted, like tying shoes and buttoning pants. Acts of independence that have-abandoned the most successful high school football coach in Oklahoma history.
The Jenks coach revealed in July 2016 that he had been diagnosed with ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is undefeated. It progressively attacks the voluntary muscle movements that come naturally to us. Chewing. Walking. Talking. All while leaving the mind unaffected.
The mind, and in the case of Trimble, the spirit.
“When you first get diagnosed with a terminal disease, you’re devastated,” said the 54-yearold Trimble. “Who’s going to take care of your wife and kids? All kinds of questions. When am I going to die? What’s it going to be like? You just get full, or I did, full of
worry and concern.
“Yet so many dear friends and prayer partners and people of faith that have encouraged me. Now we’ve moved on to enjoying each and every day.”
Including Monday, when Trimble was announced as part of the 2018 Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame class, along with former OU football star Ken Mendenhall, former OSU baseball star Robin Ventura, BMX bicycle legend Mat Hoffman, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione, former Miami U. coach Larry Coker and the late rodeo cowboy Bill Pickett.
Trimble seemed to enjoy the day, when he shared that podium with Mendenhall, Castiglione and Hoffman, and when he posed for a picture with Barry Switzer, and when he received well-wishes from multitudes.
Trimble joked that he was the answer to the Sesame Street riddle — one of these things isn’t like the other —but truth is, Trimble’s career is stunning. When he became the Jenks coach in 1996, the large-school class of Oklahoma high school football had incredible parity, with 16 schools winning the previous 20 state titles. Then Trimble coached Jenks to state titles his first six seasons on the job and 13 in his first 20 seasons. He is the first active high school coach voted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
But after 22 years, Trimble knows his coaching career draws nigh. He coached last season in a golf cart, because walking and standing are becoming more difficult. He had a bodyguard on the sideline for games, because you never know when a rambunctious play might spill out of bounds.
“Never was a great athlete, but I’m really not one now,” said the graduate of Cleveland High School and Northeastern State University. Even answering email has become difficult, since typing is next to impossible.
So it seems likely that Trimble has coached his last game.
“We’re evaluating that right now,” Trimble said. “Physically, the disease is continuing to progress. It’s just getting tougher and tougher. I tell everybody, the football program, the kids, the coaches, they need a guy that can really go. And my days of really going physically are numbered.”
Football teaches you to work your way to success. Do more pushups. Change
your diet. Run more laps. Outwork your opponent.
But there is no outworking this most insidious of diseases.
“Obviously, it’s tough when your body is physically deteriorating,” Trimble said. “But on the other side, man, I’m really getting to live life. I’m enjoying the truly important things that are going on and kind of letting go of the things that are not.
“In a strange way, it’s been a blessing. Just to appreciate relationships more, appreciate the opportunities you get to work with a great school district, great people. It’s giving me an opportunity to hopefully, through my
challenges, maybe help people through their challenges.”
Trimble always told his players to stand up to adversity. Wouldn’t be right if he didn’t do the same.
“ALS is a tough one. With this one, there’s nothing you can do. But I’m in a good place,” he said, not meaning the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok. com/berrytramel.