Greene football was so bad in the late 1980s, it left the Section IV Football Conference for nine-man football in the Tri-Valley League. The Trojans were the largest school in the TVL – by far – but the football fortunes did not change. After four straight losing seasons in the TVL, Greene returned to the Section IV Conference. The results were not much different than the last time Greene played in the Section IV conference – an 0-9 record in 1993.
Times, though, were about to change.
In 1995, Lynne Simmons came on board as a co-head coach, and he assumed the full-time reins in 1996. A former assistant coach at Walton, Simmons installed the same offense as his mentor at Walton, Jim Hoover, and he preached the same type of physical, aggressive play.
During Simmons’ stint, Greene won seven games twice, reached the Section IV playoffs two times, and even garnered a top-20 end-of-season state ranking. Simmons retired at the end of the 2002 season, and handed to program to his junior varsity coach, Tim Paske.
Simmons raised the standard of Greene football, and it was Paske’s task to take the Trojans to the next level.
Paske announced his resignation from coaching last week after 10 mostly prosperous seasons. We say “mostly” because Paske’s first two seasons as head coach would not normally evince confidence in a program’s direction.
I remember the first game I covered Greene under Paske’s stewardship. The Trojans connected for a long touchdown pass in the first half on its way to a victory over longtime rival Oxford. Quite an auspicious beginning, but wins would be fleeting the rest of 2003 and throughout 2004.
After finishing 3-6 in his opening season, Paske’s Trojans floundered to 2-7 in 2004. But I saw hope – and progress – most notably in the final game of the season, a 33-32 loss to Edison. In it, junior quarterback Kurt Spear threw for 259 yards and four touchdowns. Greene amassed nearly 450 yards of offense, its best day of offense in Paske’s two seasons. A lot of quality players from that club were returning, and what followed is arguably the best string of success for Greene football over the last half century.
Paske probably hit his lowpoint early in Greene’s second season when his team rushed for negative 31 yards against a powerful Walton club. From that day forward, nearly nine years, rarely did teams dominate Greene up front the way Walton did on that day. Resolute on staying the course and working just as hard in the offseason as in-season, Paske created a bigger, faster and more competitive Greene team. His players put on muscle off the field, and flexed those muscles against the opposition.
In eight straight winning seasons, the best current run of any Chenango County football team, Paske’s clubs compiled a 73 percent winning percentage. Tim Paske didn’t take any shortcuts; he took his lumps early on, but the seeds that were sown in the first two seasons blossomed in a big way.
In 2005 – the year Greene turned the corner – the Trojans had five shutout wins among their six wins. The players bought into what Paske and his staff were preaching, more fans came to games, and this reporter became a believer.
What has remained unshakeable in Paske, despite all the winning, is the class with which he ran his program. He was always humble and complimentary of the competition in victory, and gracious in defeat. It’s not always easy to meet the media after a heart-breaking defeat, but Paske would not only greet the media, he would give them all of the time they needed. He was a professional, and he was a man – a fine example to his three young boys and one daughter.
For 10 years, I never had to worry about Tim Paske. He was rock-steady in his preparation, and he gave me everything I needed for a story, and then some. I was sorrowful speaking to him on the phone Monday afternoon. Yes, he confirmed the rumor I heard regarding his resignation from the team. No, it had nothing to do with the controversy late in the season that saw him serve a one-game suspension. (A raw deal in my mind.) The weightiest factor in his decision was his desire to be around for his kids and family more. “For me to do the job the way I want to do it, it’s 365 days a year,” Paske said. “That puts a lot of stress on my family, and my wife (Chris) has been very supportive and understanding.”
Paske left the Greene football program better than what he found it, and had one request for his successor: “I don’t know who is going to take over, but I’m hoping he’ll take the program to the next level,” he said.
A noble notion, but Tim, you’re a tough act to follow.