Retired, but these coaches are still in the game
Phil Barnes of Duncan, Dick Villaflor of Deer Creek-Edmond and Skip Griese of Ada are legendary coaches in Oklahoma high school tennis.
The trio has been named national coach of the year a combined five times. They have won a combined 55 boys and girls state team championships. They are in nine coaches or tennis hall of fames and have 125 years of coaching experience between them.
All officially retired the past three years as head tennis coaches, although they are still hanging around the game and in some capacity. Barnes and Villaflor, who served as head coach at Heritage Hall, Deer Creek and Yukon, are both still working as assistant coaches after giving up their head coaching duties.
Barnes is now the assistant tennis coach at Duncan while teaching parttime. Villaflor has joined the Deer Creek staff as an assistant coach after retiring from Yukon. Griese has given up coaching completely, but is giving private tennis lessons to students in Ada.
All three are still fixtures at the state high school tennis championships at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center during the first two weekends in May. Last weekend was girls’ state tennis tournament and on Friday the boys’ tennis tournament began.
None of them can completely walk away from the game.
“It’s in our blood,” Villaflor said. “I have strong friends in coaching, and Skip and Phil are at or near the top in terms of friendships in coaching. Our whole careers have traveled pretty close to the same path.”
Health issues led Barnes to retire as head coach in Duncan two years ago. He now teaches physical education and works as an assistant for Demons tennis head coach Darren Cobble.
“Now he has to do the paperwork now and I don’t,” Barnes said.
Barnes said he can’t ever see himself not hanging out at the tennis courts and coaching.
“I still like it,” Barnes said. “I am enjoying it. Darren lets me kind of do whatever I want to. I am coaching the kids. It works out good.”
Barnes, 65, said he is thankful the school district has allowed him to keep coaching and teaching in a part-time capacity. And he still loves coming to the state tennis tournament.
“People don’t realize what kind of tournament we are putting on,” Barnes said. “It’s like a small version of the U.S. Open.”
Griese, 67, said he keeps coming to the high school tennis tournaments just as a fan and is not tempted to offer any coaching advice to Ada players.
“I just sit back and socialize with coaches I know,” Griese said. “I don’t have to worry about what is going on the court.”
Other than giving private lessons, Griese said he spends most of his time camping, fishing and watching his five grandchildren grow up. He is trying to persuade some of them to become tennis players.
He misses the camaraderie with the other tennis coaches in the state and the competition.
“I don’t miss the yellow dog driving,” he said. “I don’t miss the practices on cold days, but I miss the coaching part of it. I always liked the first two weekends in May.”
Villaflor, 66, now works for head coach Craig Hayes at Deer Creek, who once served as his assistant eight years ago. Villaflor said he would like to coach at least one more year.
“I am still having fun,” he said. “Mentally, I am still there, although the other two guys wouldn’t say the same about me. Physically, I am beginning to wear down.”
Villaflor has undergone knee replacement on one knee and plans to have the other replaced as well. “You just can’t do it forever,” he said. Although all three coaches probably would like to.