I remember Coach being about as tough as can be. He taught us how to play football the right way, by working hard and never leaving anything out on the field. That lesson in tenacity, and the respect it brings from one's opponents and teammates, is one that has served me well in my career as a public servant. Working hard for the "team" is a lesson that benefits all of us. Coach Semancik's love for his players and his desire to see them be successful was contagious. I saw the impact he had on myself, my teammates and our community. We can all learn something form his dedication to our youth.

- US Congressman Norm Dicks...West High Class of 1959



"I must confess that, during some very tough physical therapy sessions, I had a few flashbacks to scenes and comments growled out many years ago by Coach Chuck Semancik." After all those years of football"preparation and wrestling drills in an overheated workout room,"a lot of the principles and beliefs"that Chuck taught us obviously became part of who"we are." I can still hear him saying, "I don't care if one yard looks like a mile!" Get up!" Move! "Oh crap!" Don't ever let me see you look at the scoreboard!" Do your job out there and the damn"score will take care of itself."

- Stewart Hayes...Class of 1971



Deanna and I were attending Chuck's youngest daughter's, Judy, wedding at Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Bremerton. As we ambled into the foyer we saw Chuck standing there awaiting the anticipated moment when he would escort his pride and joy down the aisle to take her vows. The veteran mentor too many aspiring young coaches turned to greet us with that big cheesy smile etched on his face. Man, it was moments like this that really showed the warmth and depth of character the man possessed. Clutched in Chuck's large hand was a hat which, without hesitation, he said, "Hey, Diane (his name for my wife), what do you think of this?" Covering his receding hairline with the baseball cap which had seen better days, the Hall of Fame coach, the veteran of many a gridiron battle, proceeded to pirouette revealing a long, gray, faux, ponytail hanging out beneath the back of the headgear. Needless to say, we were speechless! Gauging our reaction to this unique display of behavior, Chuck completed his 360 and with a deep, hearty laugh and gave me a false-teeth-swallowing swat on the back that I'll never forget.

- Lane Dowell...West High football assistant (late 1960' and '70's)



My first year of playing football..... too many years, can't remember exactly. It was raining during practice and Chuck was in one of his moods. I was having problems running a play and Chuck yelled at me that I needed to get wet and pointed at a muddy area next to him. Me being a smart___, I dove into the mud and made sure it splashed on him. Without saying a word he walked over to me and put his foot on my butt. What more can I say.

- Les Rose...West High Class of 1962



When Coach Semancik would get upset with a player, he would often bark the command, "Bend over."We all knew what that met. "It was Chuck's way of driving home a point"don't make that mistake again".don't get to cocky, senior. As I understood the "the kick in the rear" story, Chuck had done this for years. "It got to be one of the most anticipated happenings of two-a-day practices (of which we had many). "As the tale was passed down, it seemed that it was always a senior-starter who got the first toe of our mentor. " I recall from previous varsity teams that a cash pool was collected with the entrant who got the initial swift boot of the new season taking all the proceeds. "Man, there were even side bets as to who would "win" the pot. "I'm glad the Washington State Gaming Commission didn"t get wind of this. An unwritten rule of the contest was that we were all supposed to give our best in each practice and not try to get the "kick-start." "My team practiced hard, and I'll always think that Chuck just didn't want to break the tradition or perhaps, felt it necessary to give us a reminder that he was "the guy." I can still hear those immortal words issued the day I "won" the pot. "Smitty, bend-over." "The cheer that arose was like one issued after yet another victory over East"we beat them twice my senior season. "I felt like I had just won a big award, well, I guess the pot (into the three-figures range) was well-worth it. Now it is not so much the money as the "honor" of being the recipient of that kick. "Sounds strange? "You had to be there. "You needed to be a part of that man"s program to understand. "What a memorable time. "Thanks, Chuck!

- Darren Smith (center and nose guard) Class of 1976



What I learned from Chuck is that kids are the key."" We're (coaches) there to guide them the best we can."" We can throw 'em around, but never let them go; never throw them away."" It's like your child."" You can get after 'em, but don't throw them 'em away." Back in the day, they had tough kids at West."" Chuck, he'd rattle 'em up a little bit, but he never threw 'em away."" I learned more about dealing with kids from Chuck and my father than any clinic I've attended in the last 30-35 years."

- Joe Reasons...West High coach 1963-64...Washington State Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame



Coach Reason's "story brings to mind a similar situation in my tenure with Chuck." As Joe alludes, the offense was Chuck's baby...his sacred ground where no other man, beast or assistant coach dare tread." In the opener of the 1975 season, we were at French Field in Kent playing the Kent-Meridian Royals." They were a pretty formidable side in those days, and heck, you never quite knew what to expect in the season lid-lifter. Behind the smooth and powerful running of David "Scooter" Joiner and some solid defense, the Wildcats had forged a one score first-half lead in this very physical contest. KM had a huge right defensive"tackle named Sharkey who stood about 6' 3" and tipped the scales at 265 lbs." He was a load and"created"havoc"for"offensive left most of the evening." I felt (and still feel, Chuck,""that it was a good call) that a screen pass would negate a fierce Royals rush from our left, so I had the temerity to suggest to Chuck that we call "T...Flanker right...screen left." I will speculate no further than what you are about to read as to why the "perfect play" was botched." Either "Sharkey took a play off, or our QB, who will not be named here to protect the innocent, was so in shock that we called any type of pass, horribly under-threw the ball and the wounded-duck settled nicely into the outstretched hands of the big KM DT who waddled 60-plus yards for the score." The roar of the partisans told me that my worst nightmare had materialized." I didn't see the score, for I went into an immediate evasion mode and spent most of the second half distancing myself from my mentor." Luckily our guys bailed me out and scored again to give the Blue and Gold a slim margin of victory in this very memorable game." Well, let's simply say that "I learned a very valuable lesson that evening." Don't try and tread on sacred ground." At least when Reason's made his bold move, he was smart enough to call a running play.

- Lane C Dowell...West High football assistant



Semancik's thing was to run the same football play over and over, usually between guard and tackle, until it got stopped. One night (mid-1960s) at Stadium, Semancik let Assistant Coach Joe Reasons call a play." Reasons called Power-7, which was a student-body-left play. Steve Bramwell ran behind 250-pound Steve Peterson, a big tackle, and got about seven yards." So Reasons called it again...and again....six or seven times in a row. "I told the quarterback to keep running it. They couldn't stop it," said Reasons. Semancik was starting to laugh. Reasons shot back, "You told me I could call it."OK," Chuck said.

- Terry Mosher...28 years with the Bremerton Sun's Sports Dept." Now editor of the Kitsap Sports Paper.




CHUCK PHOTOS
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