After investing almost 30 years in Mountain Pine's football program, Red Devil alum and volunteer assistant coach Charles Nevels received recognition as Garland County's Greatest of All Time by the readers of The Sentinel-Record.
A long history with the athletic department at his alma mater and the Mountain Pine community has awarded Nevels many "blessings in life," as well as the inspiration to pass along the knowledge and experiences gained throughout his life.
For Nevels, 28 years of helping coach Red Devil football at the little league and high school levels has "been a blast."
"I was excited," Nevels said of being selected for the award. "I was happy when my wife let me know that I was selected. ... After I won, it still really hasn't sunk in. Always really been blessed with some people that I've come in contact with. It's a big honor, and I thank all the people that (were) involved."
Nevels credits his achievements to individuals that inspired and challenged him in life, namely his family and high school teammates.
"My two oldest brothers really inspired me," he said. "We all played sports, and we all played football, and football got a lot of attention. Football got a lot more attention than the other sports it seemed like. I can remember being a little boy, getting out in the yard and playing with my older brother. He played with me and they'd hit me and make me cry. It was a trying time, but they said, 'You don't do it like this, you won't be the best that you can be, and we always remembered that. It's a blessing to be named GOAT; that's a name that I can die with that now.
"I was so blessed to have awesome teammates. I couldn't have gotten recognized without them being right there with me. Individually, my brother told me yesterday, 'Boy, you (were) talented -- very talented.' But my peers, they pushed me, and I pushed them. I give them a lot of credit for me being selected as the GOAT. Without them, I don't think it would've happened."
The Mountain Pine alum explained the type of mentality he embraced as a student-athlete, noting how it has factored into several important aspects of his life over the years up to today.
"Wake up and give 110%," added Nevels. "One hundred percent (was) not acceptable in my house when I was growing up because everybody was trying to give 100%. If you wanted to be different, you had to give 110%, and that's what I lived by. That's what I live by today when I'm interacting with my children and my grandchildren. I believe that if you're going to do it, go do it!"
Nevels recalled a football game against Prescott during his junior year.
"We came out big. ... It kind of changed the direction of who we were when we were juniors," he said. "We were all in the 11th grade, and we won the championship, but after we won, one of our captains on the football team -- he was a senior. ... Right after we won the championship in 1978, he said, 'Y'all listen. Look up here at this, because y'all will never do it again.' When he said that, that was a challenge to me and those other young men that were in 11th grade at that time to let him know that we were going to come back the next year."
With the goal of winning the state title again, the Red Devils not only went on to win the state title, but they also improved their record over the previous season.
"We lost a football game that year (1978); we were like 12-1, but we won the state championship," he explained. "The next year, our record was unblemished; we went 13-0 with our class -- the kids that were juniors and became seniors. That's what motivated me all year long ... I think that right there was a turning point that made us go on the next year, and probably the biggest thing that happened is that the next year we (lost) our coach. After the first year of winning the championship, our coach (went) to Hot Springs to coach. We (got) a new coach. He came in, and he was scared, and we were scared, but at the end of the year we were 13-0 because we all believed."
Mountain Pine faced Lewisville in the state final that season, and it was a close one.
"It got really close at the end of the game, and we had this play called the 'Lonesome End,'" Nevels recalled. "They kicked the ball off to us, and they onside kicked the ball -- why we did that I don't know -- and we got the ball on their end of the field. Then we ran the play -- touchdown. Mountain Pine wins two state championships in a row. I was blessed to be the quarterback. That was really big, and that connected our community in a way that I don't think will ever be disconnected because of that happening. That was great times, and I played with some really, really, really good athletes; that was the blessing of it all."
Nevels said that his high school football career helped to make him who he is today.
"We had the will to win and that desire to do what we need to do to win," he said. "I don't care what you're doing in life or anything else, nothing can stop you, but you've got to want it. I think we wanted it a lot more than kids want it today. Kids got a lot of devices to keep them pacified, and they just don't do it like we did it. It was hard; it's not hard now. I don't think it's hard. We didn't come in when it was 102 (degrees) outside; we kept practicing. You drank the water if there was a little grass in it, and you didn't worry about it. You just did it. ... It was very rewarding. I'm 59 years old, and it's (gotten) me where I am today. I've got a lot of people that I think a lot of; it's just an honor to be selected in such a way, and I really, really appreciate that from you all."
With the pandemic turning sports and the rest of the world upside down for the past several months, Nevels feels that individuals involved with athletics or anything else need to find what and who is truly "good" for them during these unprecedented times.
"All the things that's going on in the world around us right now, and I'm being straight up honest, that's all in God's hands," he said. "I try to really impress upon young men and women to look inside of themselves and try to find yourself, and then (to) ask themselves what (they) want from it and to direct (themselves) to that destination. ... Join yourself with people that are alike or kind of alike, and when you find out it's not (good), you've got to disconnect. You have to learn to disconnect and go on because we want to try to do good, and after standing still doing bad, we're not doing good."
Nevels said that disconnecting might not be easy, but it is necessary in order to succeed at a high level.
"The price is paid in preparation, and then when you see yourself doing good, that's going to make you feel good about yourself. ... That's what I say to all the young people down at Mountain Pine," he said. "They know coach Nevels believes in them. I believe in them, and I believe that they can be anything that they want to be, but you've got to find what you want to be and I think that's going along with sports. If you want to be an athlete and if later on the athleticism that you possess can promote you onto college, you better get in there and work hard if that's what you want to do. I also think that if you want a good life, when you go to practice, I don't care what you're practicing, (but) when you go to practice, you'd better give all you got because when we get out in the real world we're going to have to give all we have to achieve what we want."