A different kind of calling

This was a favorite of mine. Dwight Richins was great to deal with. It was published June 25, 2010.

SHELLEY — For the past three years, Shelley football coach Dwight Richins and Athletic Director Dave Hadley have had an annual conversation about Richins’ future at the school.

It had nothing to do with Richins’ passion or performance. He loves his job at Shelley, and he has built the Russets into a state power, winning four 3A state titles in seven years. 

But Richins is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, and Hadley wanted to be prepared should the military call Richins into duty.

Each year, Richins told Hadley that he had nothing to worry about, because he was too old and not physically fit enough for the Army to send him overseas.

Through 2009, Richins was correct. This year, at age 50, he wasn’t.

Earlier this month, the Army Reserves told Richins that he would be deployed for one year to serve in a logistics mission in the Middle East, which will begin on Aug. 1. When the coach got the news, his feelings were mixed.

“I’ve been in the military for 28 years,” Richins said. “A lot of my friends have been deployed, and my own son (Tyler) has been deployed. You feel like you’ve been left out, so part of me is excited to be able to contribute and do my part.

“The other part is saying good-bye to home, family, good friends, my football team and the people I work with. The great things you enjoy in life will not be there. I’ve got grandkids coming, and I’m going to be apart from that.”

Richins doesn’t yet know where he will be going or the specifics of his mission. All he knows are basics about his mission and that he will be serving in either Afghanistan, Kuwait or Iraq.

The detailed information will be revealed to him when he reports for training, which will start on Monday in South Carolina.

“An example would be if they contracted 20 people to work, I have to make sure they fulfill the contract,” Richins said. “I’ll be auditing, doing paperwork and making sure there’s a smooth transition between the contractor and the government. It’s a logistics mission, so it will mostly be supplies.”

The hardest thing for Richins to do leading up to his departure was telling the people who mattered most to him. The first was his wife, Allyson, and his four children, sons Tyler, Shane and Chase, and daughter, Aubrey.

Allyson thought Dwight was past the age where the military would call him into action. But she has prepared herself for the possibility since Dwight first joined the military in 1982.

The Richins had been married for a little more than a year when Dwight decided to enter the service voluntarily and make some money. That began a 28-year relationship between the Richins family and the military that has seen Tyler and Chase follow Dwight into military service.

“It’s something that has always been in the back of my mind,” Allyson Richins said about her husband’s possible deployment. “I was a little surprised, but not really. It’ll be hard, but hopefully we can do what we do, and the military has been good for us for all these years.”

Although Dwight knew his wife would support him completely, he also knew that seeing her husband and her youngest son leave for military service in the same year (Chase, a 2010 Shelley graduate, recently left for basic training in Oklahoma) would be hard on her. That’s why he was glad that Tyler, who now lives in Rexburg, and Shane would be around to help her.

After talking with his family, one of the first people Richins told was Hadley, who doubled as one of his assistants on the football team.

The athletic director had prepared for the possibility, but he was caught off-guard when Richins told him the news.

“I was really surprised,” Hadley said. “As we got ready to go to (Idaho State’s football) camp last week, he came in and told me before he even told our principal. We’ve talked about (the future) and I’m going to be the head coach for one year, and we’ll leave the staff pretty much as it is.”

Hadley said the staff’s experience should make it easier through the transition period. Every Shelley coach has been on the staff for five years, and Hadley hopes to bring in Tyler Richins to fill the position vacated by his father. 

Although Hadley said he will make some small changes, the Russets shouldn’t have to learn a new system.

“I’m glad we don’t have a new head coach coming in,” said running back Aaron Adams, who will be a senior at Shelley this fall. “I know my teammates and I don’t want to learn a new offense and a new defense. We’re just going to stick to what we know. We’ve grown up with that offense and defense since fifth grade, and we don’t want to change it for our senior year.”

Adams and the Russets found out about their head coach’s deployment at the Idaho State football camp, and like everyone else, they were surprised that the man called “Mr. November” for his five state championships at Teton and Shelley wouldn’t be there to coach them in 2010, when Shelley will compete in 4A for the first time.

“For me, it’s definitely an honor to serve,” Richins said. “I don’t look at it as a sacrifice, I look at it as a privilege. We’re fighting them over there so they don’t fight us here. I’m excited about it, and I’m worried because I want to do a good job and serve the best I can.”

Hadley couldn’t disagree more about whether Richins is making a sacrifice.

“I appreciate his perspective, because he says he’s been getting paid to practice for 28 years,” Hadley said. “Now it’s time for him to perform. But anyone willing to serve our country and do those things is very admirable. Our kids are going to go out on Friday night with coach Richins in their heart and the sacrifice he’s making.”

As the days dwindle until Richins’ departure, he finds himself appreciating the smallest things more than ever before. 

On Friday, he sat in his office looking at photographs from his years at Teton and Shelley, realizing how much he will miss his current life.

Richins was asked what he would miss most.

“Everything I do, from getting a soda at the convenience store to driving down the road looking at green grass and green trees feels good,” he said. “I know I probably won’t get that where I’m going. It makes me appreciate everything we have here that we take for granted, such as going to a nice restaurant or wearing civilian clothes.

“I’m going to miss the little things. I look at these pictures and get sentimental. It’s going to be hard. But it’s time to make new memories and new relationships, so I’m looking forward to that, too.”