Legendary Coach Leon Maxwell
Jerry E. Halmon, Sports Editor
The Legendary Coach
Leon Maxwell was
remembered as a spouse,
brother, father, grandfather, “a
master of what he did” and a
builder in the services held at
the First Baptist Church of
Bamberg Friday morning.
Coach Maxwell, who was
born in Athens Georgia and
moved to North Charleston,
before deciding to make
Bamberg his home , passed
away Tuesday, July 10, 2012.
His grandson Hank
Maxwell, in his remarks, at the
memorial service, said he
remembered asking his
grandfather, " what is the main
quality to have to be a good
leader? He noted that his
grandfather told him, the main
quality a person needed to be
a good leader was “trust.”
“Concern for his family and
friends” were also the first
priorities in Coach Maxwell’s
life, along with “always being
willing to help others,” young
Maxwell said. “He touched
people in a way that touched
their lives,” Maxwell said.
Former player Curt
Morrell, who starred under
Coach Maxwell on some of his
earlier championship teams in
Bamberg, noted that as a
player, he and his teammates
did not realize at the time, the
impact that Coach Maxwell
would have on their lives later
in life. “Little did we know,
what he was doing would
influence our lives,” Morrell
said, remembering the pep talk
that Coach Maxwell gave to
his teams before every game,
“the team that makes the
fewest mistakes is the team
that’s going to win.”
Morrell noted that playing
under Coach Maxwell taught
his players how to respond “to
adversity.” And he recalled
how the legendary Coach
“redirected his life” when he
struggled in his first year of
college with not getting
enough playing time. “What
did you go to school for
football or and education?” he
said Coach Maxwell reminded
him.
Morrell, in noting that
Coach Maxwell in his 40 year
coaching career compiled a
record of 297-121-4 including
two state championships in
football and numerous region
and conference championships
and was inducted into the
South Carolina Athletic
Coaches Association Hall of
Fame in 1995, was more proud
of how his players turned out
as people in life than how they
played on the field. “We are
all Leon Maxwell fans, get
involve, love your
community,” Morrell said in
challenging those in
attendance.
Bamberg First Baptist
Church Pastor Charlie Lucas
in his remarks described
Coach Maxwell as “kind and
gentle, with a loving heart,”
qualities he noted that were
not often ascribable to most
coaches. Lucas said that
Coach Maxwell lived “a life of
value” in the eyes of other
people because he “blessed
us” and “impacted us in a
positive way.” Pastor Lucas
said that Coach Maxwell
“treated everybody the same”
and his life had value because
he “blessed other people.” He
married this community-this
community became his home,”
Lucas said, in noting “I’m glad
ya’ll brought Leon and Betty
to this town.”
Lucas asked the church
audience that came to pay their
last respects to Coach Leon
Maxwell a simple question.
“How do we replace a man
like Leon Maxwell?” The
Pastor’s answer, “we need to
do a double portion in the
community. God brought
value through the life of Leon
Maxwell,” he said.
As Coach Maxwell’s
casket was carried out of the
church by his grandsons and
other members of the Maxwell
family, a cool, damp, steady
rain fell... Typical Red Raider
football weather Coach
Maxwell always loved.
