Commentary

By TIM PYLE
Mail Tribune

Many coaches construct solid relationships with their players.

Some don’t.

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Most are lauded by some (usually the ones they’re putting in prominent roles), loathed by others (generally, the athletes riding the bench).

Dave Potter is one of those rare coaches who seems to be loved by all of his players.

Minutes after propelling the South Medford boys soccer team to the Class 4A state championship with a 94th-minute goal Saturday night at Tigard High School, Spencer Hunter shared a glimpse of the Panthers’ fondness for their head coach.

"Once we got around to the playoffs this year, we were thinking, ‘This is our year, and we need to do it for Dave,’" said Hunter, South’s senior sweeper and hero of the 1-0 overtime victory over Redmond. "He’s been here so many times and come up empty a few times, and I know they had the capability of winning. You can just see it in his eyes that he’s probably happier now than he’s ever been."

Spend any time around the Panther program, and it’s easy to see why Potter’s players love him so.

A revered third-grade teacher at Abraham Lincoln Elementary, Potter carries his teaching principles to the field.

He remains calm at all times, often sitting on a cooler during South’s matches.

When he rises, it’s either to congratulate a player on a just-completed sequence or instruct a Panther on how to fare better the next time.

He’s a players’ coach, but he doesn’t shy from criticizing, either.

He demands total effort and expects his players to always respect his — and the referees’ — authority.

And no matter what, Potter remains positive.

That is his defining characteristic, and what makes him so beloved.

He will get on a team or player or whomever if they don’t perform up to their capabilities, but he always ends with something positive.

Most often, almost everything he says is bubbling with optimism.

Hard not to like a guy like that.

Hard not to want to win that much more for a coach like that.

After South ended his sixth season in charge by handing him his first state title, Potter was embraced in an endless string of congratulations — from former players, from parents, from the victorious Panthers.

A gleam in his eye and satisfied grin on his face, Potter looked the part of a supremely proud father.

As the team posed for photographs, he told the assembled crowd, "This is the gutsiest team I’ve ever coached."

In postgame interviews, he praised his team through and through.

He seemed as pleased with the fact that every field-position Panther on the roster — 17, plus junior goalkeeper Mikey Belzberg — played as anything else.

"Everybody played," said Potter, who directed the South girls program for six years prior to taking over the boys team, which he has led to four Southern Oregon Conference crowns. "And every boy contributed in some way to this victory."

He also was quick to point out something else, both to the gathered victory party and to reporters.

"This is their fourth state championship," Potter said. "I am so proud of this — that’s three GPA championships in 4A soccer and a 4A soccer championship played on the turf."

Even in his finest coaching moment, Potter remained a teacher.

That’s what makes him such a great — and beloved — coach.