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Mike Smith (left) talks to Bobby Massey before an Aug. 26 scrimmage.

Coach a real lifesaver
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: September 01, 2022

Scott L'Ecuyer is thankful to have Mike Smith on his football team.

Erlene Morgan is thankful to have Smith on her husband's golf team. While Smith was hired to breathe some life into the Hornet football team, he's already done that for DeWayne Morgan.

That's right.

Smith saved Morgan's life.

Smith, Morgan and three others were golfing at Valley Point Golf Course as usual Aug. 26 when Morgan suddenly blacked out and fell out of a golf cart near the tee box on Hole 8.

Erlene Morgan said her husband doesn't remember much about what happened, only that he was thinking his drive was not that good.

"The next thing he knew, he was looking up at Mike," Erlene Morgan said.

The 75-year-old's heart had stopped and he fell to the ground.

Trained in CPR, Smith began chest compressions on Morgan and gave him two quick breaths until he was revived.

Morgan was taken to the hospital in Newton, where he spent a day on a heart monitor. Released later Aug. 27, Morgan is expected to be fitted with a longer-term heart monitor to determine what caused the episode. It wasn't a heart attack, Erlene Morgan said.

Whatever it was, the Morgans are thankful for Smith's quick actions.

"There were definitely some angels flying around there," Erlene Morgan said. Smith "told me, he said, ‘I don't know if he was really gone, but I wasn't going to take any chances.'"

Smith said he was glad he was there to be able to help.

"He's my friend," Smith said. "I go to church with him and play golf with him. I coached his grandkids and his son-in-law. It feels good, but after it's all over, you get kind of emotional."

Although he has received regular CPR training as an educator and coach for the past four decades, Smith said it was the first time he used it in a real situation.

"Just praise the Lord," Smith said.

Stopping short of calling him a God-send, L'Ecuyer said having Smith around the varsity football program again is more than an honor.

"It's surreal," said L'Ecuyer, the Hornet head coach who played for Smith's Valley Center squads in the mid-1990s. "I'm trying to take in as much wisdom as I can from him. He's got a lot of it."

Smith, who was 64-22 as head coach of the Hornets from 1993 to 2001, was hired as offensive coordinator this season. The most successful football head coach in Hornet history and member of the Valley Center Hall of Fame had been coaching the middle school teams since retiring from teaching and returning to Valley Center.

"I'm having fun," Smith said. "I'm enjoying it. I would've never guessed that I would be doing this."

Smith was having success at the middle school level and previously turned down an offer from L'Ecuyer to join the high school staff.

He accepted the job this year.

"I would've stayed in middle school and been happy," Smith said. "It's hard to find coaches right now. Not just here. It's a lot of time. You've got to have a special wife when you're married. I'd have to say, I had that support first. Sheri, she's done this with me now for 40 years. I'm not sure she was excited, but she knows how much I love this and she knows how much I want to help Hornet football."

Smith said this year's seniors were seventh-graders when he restarted his Valley Center coaching career.

"I just felt like I could be a positive part of the staff," he said. "… I just wanted to do anything I can to help Hornet football."

The last time Smith coached on the high school level was 2010-11.

"I don't coach kids any different," he said. "I'm going to push them, and I hope they know I love them and try to treat them right, try to help them have a positive experience."

Smith said he is enjoying just coaching and not worrying about all of the other off-the-field responsibilities that come with being a head coach.

"There's no way I could be the head coach today," he said. "This is my 46th year and there's so much technology involved in everything you do now. Scott does a great job keeping everything organized. It's just fun for me. … I just look forward to going out there every day and just coaching."

Smith said this year's team will be competitive.

"I feel like every time we go on the field we've got a chance to win the game," he said. "We've just got to get better."





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