Sonoma Family Life Magazine June 2010 : SC_06_June_2010_36pg_Bluetoad-00015
the classroom involved the kids who struggled the most. “I loved seeing them get it,” he said with a smile. “When they finally put it all together, their face lights up like a Christmas tree.” Petaluma High School Panther’s. straight games. My seniors never won a single game in their high school careers. That’s when I began to understand that there was a lot more to coaching than I realized.” What was success and failure and how was it measured? What were the lessons to be learned from those early years? Ellison, who coached with former NFL head coach Mike Holmgren in those early days, remembers those experiences with appreciation. “There was a lot more to it than how many points you ended up with at the end of the game,” he says now. “We learned to work hard, to respect our opponents and ourselves. No matter where your talents lie, you have to work hard at them. Even today, when I visit with Mike, we talk about that, about how we learned the right perspective early. We talk about the mistakes we made in those early years.” “Those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it.” George Santayana said. Ellison, a man who clearly understands history, is a life-long learner. “He teaches the game the way it’s supposed to be taught,” said Manny Lopes, a former student, football player, teaching assistant and one of Ellison’s assistant football coaches for the past 20 years. “He’s been coaching almost as long as I’ve been alive,” Lopes says www.sonomafamilylife.com with a sense of amazement. “He never stopped learning about the game. Despite the fact that he’s been coaching for 37 years, he was never so arrogant as to think he knew it all. From film study, to practice, to a new way to run a drill, he never stopped learning.” Lopes, who many years later still calls Ellison “Coach,” credits him with teaching lessons that he uses in his life today. “Things aren’t always going to go perfectly,” he says of the man he considers a father figure. “When they don’t, don’t give up. Go back to the drawing board and work harder. Through repetition and hard work, you’re going to get better.” As a young man, Lopes was a little hot headed. Ellison taught him to not be so quick to react, a lesson that has helped him in his career and in his life. “No matter where your talents lie, you have to work hard at them.” As a coach and teacher, Ellison always had an open door policy. His players loved him. “Despite the fact that he was old enough to be their grandfather, there was no generation gap,” Lopes told me. “He treated them with respect and always found a way to connect. He has a great sense of humor.” Ellison admits that towards the end of his career, he enjoyed teaching history as much as he loved coaching football. His enjoyment lay in watching kids exceed what they believed they were capable of. Some of his favorite moments in June 2010 His passion for teaching inspired his daughter to go into education as well. Shana (Ellison) Stewart is a first grade teacher in Mill Valley, CA and the recent winner of the Terwilliger and Golden Bell awards for teaching excellence. Much to his surprise, Stewart, in her acceptance speech, spoke of her dad’s impact on her career choice. “Dad was a wonderful teacher.” She would know. As well as being his daughter, she was also a former student. “He was always so into his students. He gets letters telling him what a difference he made and people stop by, years after they graduate, to say thank you. He was a father figure to many kids.” And yet, with all the accolades he has received in his long and storied career as a coach and teacher, he is most proud of his role as a father. Ellison has two children, Shana and son Scott, who lives in San Francisco and works in product Coach Ellison and Dalton Johnson Share a Mid-game Smile. Continued on page 16 Sonoma Family Life 15
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