By Scott DeCamp
LocalSportsJournal.com
Come hell or high water, Tracy Lewis is determined to reach young people in Muskegon.
The longtime Big Reds assistant football coach even wore rain boots to a recent conditioning workout at Hackley Stadium. Working for the Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore, it started raining and Lewis was wearing flip-flops, so he stopped by his house to put on his rain boots. He didn’t have time to stop back home after work before heading to football conditioning.
“They’re like, ‘Coach, are you going fishing?’ They’re like, ‘What are you doing? There’s no swamp out here.’ I wanted to say some colorful metaphors, but I didn’t,” the quick-witted Lewis said with a grin.
“I love that part to where they feel (they can trade barbs). Even (Muskegon head coach Shane) Fairfield, he said, ‘Who out here has got on rain boots? Every coach that’s got on rain boots, raise their hand.’ You know what I did? I raised my hand high. I should have had some cowboy boots on.”
The 2024 season will be the 24th in the Big Reds program for Lewis, 61, an Atlanta native who grew up and graduated with boxing champion Evander Holyfield.
Lewis coached football with Tony Annese at Ann Arbor Pioneer. When Annese took over at Muskegon, he lured Lewis to the west side of the state. Lewis has coached various positions, but these days he works with the Big Reds’ defensive linemen.
Fairfield said that the continuity Lewis brings from the Annese era to present day is an important component for the program. Fairfield noted that Lewis has many connections in the football world, especially at the collegiate level.
The greatest connection Lewis maintains, however, is as relationship builder with young people in the Big Reds football program.
“He relates to the kids really, really well. They kind of attach themselves to him,” Fairfield said. “He’s a large man that in their eyes they can go to with issues or problems. But, yet, he’s stern and he brings a discipline to the program as well. I don’t always have to be the bad guy. Sometimes he’ll be the bad guy.”
Lewis has a sharp tongue sometimes with Big Reds players, but he treats them like their his own sons and loves them with his big heart.
He often has players and coaches alike in stitches with his comic relief.
“He is funny,” fellow longtime Muskegon assistant coach Don Poole said. “He comes up with some good nicknames that just stick with a kid. Like, he’ll come up with a nickname and 10 years later, I won’t know (the player’s name) but I know his nickname.”
Muskegon senior defensive lineman Robert Mills added “motivator” to the list of descriptors for Lewis.
Mills has known Lewis for 3 years and they’ve hit it off well.
“I thought he was, like, a funny coach, but he was serious when he needed to be and he was a great D-line coach,” Mills said. “He really knows how to talk to you if you need help when you’re struggling with something – that’s a big thing.”
According to Lewis, a 1980 alumnus of Fulton High School in Georgia, he was recruited by SEC and ACC football programs, but he did not get the grades he needed and ended up at a junior college in Kansas. He was recruited again and went to Geo.
Lewis called his own experience “a roller-coaster ride.” He believes that his being from the inner city helps in building bonds with youth in Muskegon. His story shows that “you can mess up, but you can do great things.”
“I’ve learned. I’ve been taught from losing, just like we lose out here on a Friday night,” Lewis said. “We have to go back and reevaluate everything and see what we did wrong so it doesn’t happen again. In life, every time I’ve lost, I’ve learned something.”
Lewis is a spiritual person, heavily involved with his church at Queen Esther Missionary Baptist Church in Muskegon Heights.
His faith has been tested on different occasions, however.
During his time in Muskegon, Lewis has coached track and field. During the 2011 track season, he fell down some steps at a regional meet and tore both of his Achilles tendons. He said it was a dark time, as doctors told him he needed surgery on both quads.
Lewis believes that life has a way of knocking one down when riding high, but God has a plan and picks one back up.
“That (adversity) made me stronger spiritually and what else made me stronger was just the (Muskegon football players) that rallied around me,” Lewis remembered. “They would come, unit by unit, put me in my wheelchair after my sons bathed me, and pushed me around the neighborhood because ‘We’re not going to let you sit in this house. We’re here for you right now,’ and that meant so much to me.”
More recently, Lewis developed a close relationship with Demetrius Walker, a Muskegon player and big-time college football prospect, who died on Dec. 9, 2022, following a two-year battle with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
“Meechie” lit up a room with his smile and positive demeanor, but there were moments during his cancer battle that he and Lewis had serious questions and discussions.
“He said, ‘Coach, why me? Why do I have to die?’” Lewis recalled. “And, I mean, that struck me so hard in my soul. But you can’t second-guess God. In what I’m doing right now, I want to live in a way that (Walker’s) always going to be honored. He was that type of person.”
Up and down the roster, Lewis does not want football to define the lives of any of Muskegon’s players.
He wants to help mold them into productive, responsible young men. He wants to see them develop into good fathers and husbands.
Poole said that Lewis knows life is not going to be easy and that he’s always preparing players for what comes after football. Per Poole, former players will return 10 or 15 years later and say to Lewis, “You were right, coach.”
“Sometimes I’ll see some kids and they graduated and they’ll stop me in the store and they’ll tell me the minute, the second, what they did in the third quarter (of a game), what not,” Lewis said. “And then I’ll (think), ‘Wow,’ and get in my car and feel like, ‘Man, I think that’s the last time that kid felt that he did something that was great and that was 15-20 years ago.’”
As a line coach for the West Michigan Ironmen indoor football team, Lewis aims to make an impact there, too.
He’s grateful to Ironmen president/owner Mario Flores and former head coach/general manager Nate Smith for the opportunity.
Lewis’ mission with the Big Reds is that through the discipline and hard times, he helps make them feel worthy and special. He always wants to be there for them, whenever and wherever.
“I always feel connected to them because we laugh, we joke,” Lewis said. “Sometimes we’re going to camp and we listen to music. We’re singing in the car. I mean, they’ll tell me something, ‘Coach, you’ve always got drip.’ And I’m like, ‘What am I dripping? Is my hair dripping? What does that mean?’ And they’ll go, like, ‘No, coach, your outfit is sharp.’
“It’s (important) just being around them, coming up to them, and they give you a hug. Or if something’s wrong with them, they’ll tell you, even in private, and they build the culture. All kids gravitate toward a certain culture.”
Perhaps Lewis’ greatest memory as a Muskegon football coach was the Big Reds’ epic comeback against Davison in the 2008 state semifinals at Michigan State University.
The Big Reds trailed by 22 points late in the third quarter and by 16 with less than five minutes remaining before they rallied for a heart-stopping 38-35 victory.
The following week, Muskegon cruised to a 34-14 win over Warren De La Salle in the Division 2 final for the third state championship in five years under Annese.
In Lewis’ mind, that furious comeback was all about mental toughness and belief.
“I was brought up in Fulton County, around Evander Holyfield. I’m going to fight to the bitter end. I’d rather die hard. I’m not going to die easy. If you’re dying hard, you’re swinging away. And they swung away, swung away. It was breathtaking. I couldn’t even breathe. Lord, it was crazy,” Lewis remembered.
“That defines Muskegon Big Reds. We’re not going to hang our head. We’re going to believe and fight to the bitter end. That’s who Muskegon is. That’s Muskegon football. That’s this community. No matter what they say about us, our children are special.”
LocalSportsJournal.com
Come hell or high water, Tracy Lewis is determined to reach young people in Muskegon.
The longtime Big Reds assistant football coach even wore rain boots to a recent conditioning workout at Hackley Stadium. Working for the Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore, it started raining and Lewis was wearing flip-flops, so he stopped by his house to put on his rain boots. He didn’t have time to stop back home after work before heading to football conditioning.
“They’re like, ‘Coach, are you going fishing?’ They’re like, ‘What are you doing? There’s no swamp out here.’ I wanted to say some colorful metaphors, but I didn’t,” the quick-witted Lewis said with a grin.
“I love that part to where they feel (they can trade barbs). Even (Muskegon head coach Shane) Fairfield, he said, ‘Who out here has got on rain boots? Every coach that’s got on rain boots, raise their hand.’ You know what I did? I raised my hand high. I should have had some cowboy boots on.”
The 2024 season will be the 24th in the Big Reds program for Lewis, 61, an Atlanta native who grew up and graduated with boxing champion Evander Holyfield.
Lewis coached football with Tony Annese at Ann Arbor Pioneer. When Annese took over at Muskegon, he lured Lewis to the west side of the state. Lewis has coached various positions, but these days he works with the Big Reds’ defensive linemen.
Fairfield said that the continuity Lewis brings from the Annese era to present day is an important component for the program. Fairfield noted that Lewis has many connections in the football world, especially at the collegiate level.
The greatest connection Lewis maintains, however, is as relationship builder with young people in the Big Reds football program.
“He relates to the kids really, really well. They kind of attach themselves to him,” Fairfield said. “He’s a large man that in their eyes they can go to with issues or problems. But, yet, he’s stern and he brings a discipline to the program as well. I don’t always have to be the bad guy. Sometimes he’ll be the bad guy.”
Lewis has a sharp tongue sometimes with Big Reds players, but he treats them like their his own sons and loves them with his big heart.
He often has players and coaches alike in stitches with his comic relief.
“He is funny,” fellow longtime Muskegon assistant coach Don Poole said. “He comes up with some good nicknames that just stick with a kid. Like, he’ll come up with a nickname and 10 years later, I won’t know (the player’s name) but I know his nickname.”
Muskegon senior defensive lineman Robert Mills added “motivator” to the list of descriptors for Lewis.
Mills has known Lewis for 3 years and they’ve hit it off well.
“I thought he was, like, a funny coach, but he was serious when he needed to be and he was a great D-line coach,” Mills said. “He really knows how to talk to you if you need help when you’re struggling with something – that’s a big thing.”
According to Lewis, a 1980 alumnus of Fulton High School in Georgia, he was recruited by SEC and ACC football programs, but he did not get the grades he needed and ended up at a junior college in Kansas. He was recruited again and went to Geo.
Lewis called his own experience “a roller-coaster ride.” He believes that his being from the inner city helps in building bonds with youth in Muskegon. His story shows that “you can mess up, but you can do great things.”
“I’ve learned. I’ve been taught from losing, just like we lose out here on a Friday night,” Lewis said. “We have to go back and reevaluate everything and see what we did wrong so it doesn’t happen again. In life, every time I’ve lost, I’ve learned something.”
Lewis is a spiritual person, heavily involved with his church at Queen Esther Missionary Baptist Church in Muskegon Heights.
His faith has been tested on different occasions, however.
During his time in Muskegon, Lewis has coached track and field. During the 2011 track season, he fell down some steps at a regional meet and tore both of his Achilles tendons. He said it was a dark time, as doctors told him he needed surgery on both quads.
Lewis believes that life has a way of knocking one down when riding high, but God has a plan and picks one back up.
“That (adversity) made me stronger spiritually and what else made me stronger was just the (Muskegon football players) that rallied around me,” Lewis remembered. “They would come, unit by unit, put me in my wheelchair after my sons bathed me, and pushed me around the neighborhood because ‘We’re not going to let you sit in this house. We’re here for you right now,’ and that meant so much to me.”
More recently, Lewis developed a close relationship with Demetrius Walker, a Muskegon player and big-time college football prospect, who died on Dec. 9, 2022, following a two-year battle with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
“Meechie” lit up a room with his smile and positive demeanor, but there were moments during his cancer battle that he and Lewis had serious questions and discussions.
“He said, ‘Coach, why me? Why do I have to die?’” Lewis recalled. “And, I mean, that struck me so hard in my soul. But you can’t second-guess God. In what I’m doing right now, I want to live in a way that (Walker’s) always going to be honored. He was that type of person.”
Up and down the roster, Lewis does not want football to define the lives of any of Muskegon’s players.
He wants to help mold them into productive, responsible young men. He wants to see them develop into good fathers and husbands.
Poole said that Lewis knows life is not going to be easy and that he’s always preparing players for what comes after football. Per Poole, former players will return 10 or 15 years later and say to Lewis, “You were right, coach.”
“Sometimes I’ll see some kids and they graduated and they’ll stop me in the store and they’ll tell me the minute, the second, what they did in the third quarter (of a game), what not,” Lewis said. “And then I’ll (think), ‘Wow,’ and get in my car and feel like, ‘Man, I think that’s the last time that kid felt that he did something that was great and that was 15-20 years ago.’”
As a line coach for the West Michigan Ironmen indoor football team, Lewis aims to make an impact there, too.
He’s grateful to Ironmen president/owner Mario Flores and former head coach/general manager Nate Smith for the opportunity.
Lewis’ mission with the Big Reds is that through the discipline and hard times, he helps make them feel worthy and special. He always wants to be there for them, whenever and wherever.
“I always feel connected to them because we laugh, we joke,” Lewis said. “Sometimes we’re going to camp and we listen to music. We’re singing in the car. I mean, they’ll tell me something, ‘Coach, you’ve always got drip.’ And I’m like, ‘What am I dripping? Is my hair dripping? What does that mean?’ And they’ll go, like, ‘No, coach, your outfit is sharp.’
“It’s (important) just being around them, coming up to them, and they give you a hug. Or if something’s wrong with them, they’ll tell you, even in private, and they build the culture. All kids gravitate toward a certain culture.”
Perhaps Lewis’ greatest memory as a Muskegon football coach was the Big Reds’ epic comeback against Davison in the 2008 state semifinals at Michigan State University.
The Big Reds trailed by 22 points late in the third quarter and by 16 with less than five minutes remaining before they rallied for a heart-stopping 38-35 victory.
The following week, Muskegon cruised to a 34-14 win over Warren De La Salle in the Division 2 final for the third state championship in five years under Annese.
In Lewis’ mind, that furious comeback was all about mental toughness and belief.
“I was brought up in Fulton County, around Evander Holyfield. I’m going to fight to the bitter end. I’d rather die hard. I’m not going to die easy. If you’re dying hard, you’re swinging away. And they swung away, swung away. It was breathtaking. I couldn’t even breathe. Lord, it was crazy,” Lewis remembered.
“That defines Muskegon Big Reds. We’re not going to hang our head. We’re going to believe and fight to the bitter end. That’s who Muskegon is. That’s Muskegon football. That’s this community. No matter what they say about us, our children are special.”
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