More than a coach

during a candlelight vigil for Coach Mike Cartmill at Santa Fe South High School's football field in Southwest Oklahoma City on Tuesday, April 27, 2010. By John Clanton, The Oklahoman

Former football players stood in the press box, wiping away tears.
Their voices echoed across a football field lined with family, friends, students and co-workers who gathered to remembered the impact that Head Coach Mike Cartmill had on their lives.
Cartmill, who died on Sunday, was the head football coach at Santa Fe South High School — a charter school on the city’s southwest side that prides itself on feeling more like a large family than a small school.
He was remembered during a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night, not for wins on the football field or for trophies in a display case, but for being a father figure to kids who needed love more than they needed wins.
“He was a great man, especially for those who didn’t have a father, because he was one,” said Emilio Torres.
Current players and coaches joined former players to share their memories of Coach Cartmill, while the crowd lined up around the field.
As candles were lit and light spread around the field, another player remembered that his coach would introduce him to people as his son. “… and I’d say, ‘That’s my Pops right there.’”

-John Clanton