Richard Hyatt: Woodrow Lowe deserves answers
Woodrow Lowe is old school. That was how James and Betty raised him and that was how Bear Bryant coached him. Until three months ago, that was how he coached the Central High School football team.
He was fired in May, another in an inexplicable chain of events that saw Phenix City officials terminate the school superintendent, the city manager and the head football coach.
People who can explain these events aren't talking, but last week Lowe spoke out for the first time. He asked the Phenix City School Board to give him his old job back.
No one believes Lowe really wants to be reinstated as head coach. What he wants reinstated is his dignity and his reputation.
James Lowe Sr., the old brick mason, listened while Woodrow spoke. His youngest son, Eddie, the mayor of Phenix City, joined him. James Jr., a college president, couldn't be there, but he was at the meeting called by the 90-year-old patriarch of one of the most respected families in this community.
Woodrow's firing after spring practice was never explained. Before he washed and dried his coaching clothes, Central hired Jamey Dubose, who never coached a game at a school in Troy where he landed after Florence.
Woodrow's playing resume is impeccable. He was a three-time All-American at Alabama, is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and played 12 seasons in the NFL. When the San Diego Chargers drafted him in the fifth round, Bryant said they got a $50 gold piece for 50 cents.
Woodrow Lowe came home to coach the Red Devils four years ago, and he coached the way he was coached. That meant hard work and long hours. He taught more than football. His Friday night Training Table program put players in red blazers so they could learn manners and citizenship. Players he has sent to college football have not embarrassed their coaches, their families, their schools or their hometowns.
James Lowe Sr. called the family together because of something a stranger said to him in a grocery store. The man said something personal about his son, and James Sr. reacted.
Pat Dye, then an aide to Bryant, recruited Woodrow Lowe and said when the former Central High star arrived on campus he was a man -- mentally and physically.
And a man deserves an answer.
-- Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him at hyatt31906@knology.net.
This story was originally published August 30, 2014 at 10:49 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Woodrow Lowe deserves answers."