BOB MCPHEE: A Coach for All Seasons BY JIM BRODERICK KING ’87, DIRECTOR OF IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY & FORMATION
How does an institution, let alone any individual, handle the reality that a pillar of their community is leaving? To speak for myself and for many people who offered input on this tribute, the answer is: We don’t handle it well. After 32 years of service to Regis Jesuit High School, Bob
drive-through at McDonald's, and, while picking up our
McPhee is retiring. As another stalwart veteran of our
order (that I, of course, paid for), the cashier said, ‘Oh, how
community stated, “I can’t say anything for this tribute,
sweet! Are you taking your dad to lunch?’ As I quickly
because I just can’t admit that Bob is leaving.”
replied, “Yes, they let him out of the facility so I could
That is how we respond when we grapple with a vision of RJ without Coach McPhee, someone whose words, ideas, pranks, choices, laughter and relationships are basically
enraged Bob, but it always became fodder in his love for repeatedly sharing absurd memories.
woven into the fabric of the community. We don’t like
Still, three decades of chuckles and yells came packaged
imagining a PE hallway without Bob’s barks, teasing or
with a deeply engaged, spiritual and loving friend in Bob.
gentle encouragements to have a better day. We can’t think
He came here in 1989 as a passionate football coach, but
of a faculty meeting, committee or an off-period without
the whole package brought a skilled science teacher with
his wit or hijinks.
a traditional midwestern worldview, a committed family
In a futile attempt to put a cap on Bob’s career at Regis Jesuit in this constrained word count, I relied on students and colleagues for the words that come to mind when they think of him. Easily, the light-hearted bits surfaced first. Students used the words: loud, push-ups, playful, short-gentle-giant, “gird your loins,” air chairs, Troublein-the-Bubble and just plain fun. Colleagues likewise recalled bits of humor in their memories: prank wars, Diet Coke at 8:00 am, mischievous, technologically frustrated and unhinged. Many of us consider ourselves victimized but also privileged by Bob’s mid-class interruptions and distractions, when he spent his off-periods roaming between our classrooms to pop-in for a tirade, a prank or reminiscence. No matter how people interfaced with Bob, everyone recognized that, in the sometimes too serious or too stressful realities of a school, we needed some overthe-top silliness and pranking shenanigans from “Captain Fun,” as Bob has sometimes been called. While he would feign frustration at being the butt of the joke, you always knew he relished the interplay. As a fellow (younger) coach described one scene, “We took a typical trip through the 40
take him to lunch today!!!’” Of course, such an exchange
REGIS JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL
man who would not hesitate to share his home and family with colleagues and teams and even an adopted son, and a Christian faith that guided his leadership and his teaching. Students who used the humorous descriptions above said in the same breath that “Coach” would always make a personal connection, checking- in with students in the hallway as they passed, whether a quick affirmation for the overlooked kid or a firm hand on the shoulder for a student struggling with life’s burdens. Past and present athletes praised his uniquely blunt and caring way of coaching, such as with the freshman runner who considered himself on the path to be a great RJ sprinter, until Coach pulled him aside with clear advice. “This isn’t your event. You won’t go to State in the 100. You need to focus on the middistances. That’s where you’ll be good.” After that honest but caring exchange, that runner did excel in the 400 and relays and now coaches track at RJ. Similarly, multiple athletes said that Coach always had extremely high expectations of their performance, but all affirmed they always knew he walked shoulder-to-shoulder with them on the way to those goals.
