By Staff
Coach Bucky and Shirley Pitts return to Hartselle after 24 years
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle's Tigers will have another football expert in the stands cheering them on when they take to the playing field at J. P. Cain Stadium next season. He's David "Bucky" Pitts, a retired high school football coach who elevated Morgan County High School's football program to a championship level in the 1970s.
Pitts and his wife Shirley moved back to Hartselle two months ago after being gone for 24 years. They live in a new home in Booth Ridge Estates.
A "welcome home" cookout was given for Bucky and Shirley recently at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dick Clemons. They were greeted by about 70 of his former players, representing the 11 teams he coached during his tenure at MCHS.
Pitts wrote a new chapter in Hartselle's history book on athletics by introducing the multiple attack of the Houston veer offense and a tenacious defense that made a living keeping the opponent off the scoreboard. In eleven seasons, his teams compiled a 70-38-4 won-lost record and went 10-0 in the regular season of his last year as head coach.
He left Hartselle to assume the head coaching job at Guntersville High School, a position he held for 11 years before his retirement in 1992.
He said the highlight of his years in Hartselle was having a good bunch of kids to work with every year. "They showed up at every practice, worked hard and were close to one another. A lot of them played above their ability and they pulled together as a team. As a coach, you can't ask for anymore," he pointed out.
Having two players make big names for themselves in the ranks of college coaches is one of the highlights of his 32-year coaching career. He coached brothers Watson and Mack Brown, head coaches at UAB and Texas, respectively. "I was fortunate to have the opportunity to coach them and to stay in touch as friends," Pitts said.
Also, the people of Hartselle have always been very good to us. We still have close friends here."
The Pitts' have five children, four daughters and a son, and nine grandchildren. Debbie lives in Hartselle and teaches school at Priceville; Patti lives in Athens and has a son, David, who coaches football at Anderson, Tenn.; Karen lives in Huntsville and teaches school there; Beth lives in Birmingham and practices nursing; and David (Bubba) is retired from the Army and lives in Spring Lake, N.C. They expect to become great grandparents next September.
Pitts still pursues the game of golf. He said he usually plays a couple of times a week and gets his money's worth and then some every time out.