Haines' college coaching legacy honored again

Longtime Southeast Missouri State track & field coach Joey Haines zipped up a jacket emblazoned with a Drake Relays logo, a Hall of Fame that he was inducted into two years ago.

Underneath was a shirt featuring the Southeast Missouri State Redhawk, the place where he'd spent 26 years of his life coaching and whose Hall of Fame he was inducted into in 2008.

There are various awards throughout his home in Pochahontas, Missouri, where he's spent his life post-retirement with his wife Jane, and on its way in the mail to join the collection of items marking his storied career is the award he received for his most recent induction, this one into the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Coaches Hall of Fame.

Haines described the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame to be the "ultimate" for a track & field coach because it spans every level of collegiate coaching from NAIA all the way up to Division I.

Former Southeast coach Joey Haines and his wife, Jane, pose on their farm Saturday in Pocahontas. Joey Haines was inducted this past week into the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Coaches Hall of Fame. (Fred Lynch)

"You don't go into coaching to be a Hall of Famer," Haines said. "You go into coaching because you love the sport that you coach and you love the athletes that you work with and the people that you work with. This is just, especially after you retire, it's important because it means everything you've done, that people still remember it and it's still important to people other than yourself. It just makes you feel really good."

Haines, who retired from Southeast in 2008, was honored at an induction ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona, on Monday. He was one of six inducted into the USTFCCCA's Hall of Fame this year.

"The special part about it, I guess, is the fact that when you're coaching you're so big a part of so many people's lives every day. My last year I probably had 70 kids on my speed dial. Then all of a sudden after you retire, things get kind of quiet," Haines said. " ... It's important that what you've done and what you've accomplished is remembered by other people because the older you get the more important things like that become."

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Haines knew after he retired that he needed something to keep himself occupied after dedicating most of his adult life to track & field.

As his wife Jane put it, he didn't want to just sit in a recliner. Haines said he didn't want to "meddle" or "get in the way" of his longtime assistant Eric Crumpecker, who took over as his replacement where he still remains today.

So the couple built a house on several acres of land and became goat farmers. The entrance to their property features a sign that reads "Redhawks Ridge Ranch," and there's an old Southeast "Faculty & Staff" parking sign attached to their barn.

They had as many as 70 goats at one point and Joey Haines said they "just enjoyed the heck out of it," but shortly after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease last spring they made the decision to sell off their stock.

"It was just too hard for me to do a lot. It's still a lot because we've got all the land to mow. Some of them were pretty big, so he'd have to manhandle them to get them on the stand," Jane Haines said with a chuckle when she spoke about her husband handling the goats. "We'd crank the stand up high to give them their shots or trim their feet, and it really got to the point where I didn't even have to suggest it, he knew it was time to get rid of them. Now he needs to find something else to do."

The disease, "a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects your movement," according to the Mayo Clinic, has caused Joey Haines' left hand to tremor at times and he sees a doctor in St. Louis.

"I was blessed with 68 years [of health], and I can't ever remember missing a practice because I was sick," Joey Haines said. "There's probably a few times I got out of bed when I shouldn't have, but I've been blessed. I can't complain. It's something that I'm going to deal with and we don't know exactly how it's going to affect me down the road, but I'm going to deal with it like I've dealt with other things. Don't have any other choice."

Former Southeast coach Joey Haines poses on his farm Saturday in Pocahontas. Haines was inducted this past week into the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Coaches Hall of Fame. (Fred Lynch)

His father also had the disease, but Jane Haines said they don't really know what to expect except that "it's gradually going to get worse and worse."

Joey's approaching his uncertain future with the disease similarly to how he coached.

"When you're coaching you have all kinds of experiences. Most of them hopefully are good, but there's always ups and downs and things that you have to deal with," Haines said about his diagnosis. "... Like I said, it's not easy sometimes, but you have to deal with things, you have to meet things head on. I don't know how many times I told athletes, 'Keep your head up.' That cliche that coaches use over and over, 'Keep your head up,' but sometimes coaches have to keep our head up, too. You have different challenges.

"When you're not completely healthy, things that aren't a challenge for you, day-to-day things, all of a sudden become challenges -- just to get your shirt buttoned up in the morning [becomes a challenge]. Being in coaching all my life and an athlete before that, you're competitive. It's just something that I have to compete with. You compete with it and you keep your head up and you don't worry about things. You just handle it as it comes up. Some days I don't even notice it, and some days I do notice it all day. But again, I've been blessed far beyond what I'm deserved, I'm sure."

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The former track & field coach wasn't sure how well he would do speaking in front of the crowd of about 1,400 people at the induction ceremony Monday.

The disease has made it difficult for him to project his voice like he was once able to, but the audience heard his speech loud and clear.

He was supposed to speak for four minutes but ended up thanking people and telling stories for about 20 minutes.

Jane Haines said that when he took the podium after four other recipients went before him he said, 'They stole all my cliches,' and decided to fold up his notes and tell stories.

He mentioned his family and how thankful he was for their support, telling a story of how he'd once missed his son, Talley Haines, pitch in Central's state title game because he was at a track meet in Idaho.

He also talked about how his mentors had helped him become the coach he was and how much his athletes meant to him.

Current Southeast track & field coach Eric Crumpecker, who had been an assistant for Haines for 17 seasons, was at the ceremony to present Haines with his award.

Haines said it was a special moment because Crumpecker played a role in his success at Southeast.

"He's done a great job of keeping the program going, and that was real important to me," Joey Haines said about Crumpecker. "When you put 26 years of your life into something it's important that it means something and that it continues, and he's done a great job -- they won the OVC championships this year. Eric and I won about 20 or something together, and hopefully he'll win that many himself."

Haines had six men's teams win OVC titles and 14 women's teams, and was named the OVC Coach of the Year 20 times.

He coached when Southeast was Division II as well and led the men's team to the Division II indoor title in the inaugural meet in 1985, and was named the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year that season. He had five men's teams finish in the top four in indoor and twice finish second in the outdoor championships. The women's teams finished in the top four in the indoor championships three times and was fourth in the outdoor championships once.

Haines insists that his success is because of the outstanding athletes that he has on his teams and is grateful to still be a part of some of those athletes' lives.

"It's neat now seeing them grow up and seeing that athlete that when they left, when they graduated you'd keep your fingers crossed because you don't know how things are going to go for them," Joey Haines said. "And then you see them 20 years later and you see their children on Facebook and all, and you see them accomplishing the things that you hoped they could accomplish in their lives. That's really neat to see the ones that struggled but have made it and are living and doing so well. Ones that have accomplished much more than people thought they'd ever accomplish because of their work ethic and because of being in athletics, because of being in sports."

He's thankful for not only the recognition from the USTFCCCA, but also the well-wishes he's received from former student-athletes.

"It's good to be remembered," Joey Haines said. "It's really good to be remembered."