Coaching giant Ellis still rock-and-rolling

If ever there was a man of his word, it’s Cliff Ellis.

That’s not just because the Marianna native who rose to college basketball’s highest coaching ranks has put together thousands of them in his new book, “Life’s A Dance – Understand The Steps.”

It’s because the night after the 78-year-old made a booksigning appearance at the No Name Books and Gifts in Port St. Joe, he was on the stage at the Centennial Building as with his college bandmates The Villagers. 

And it sure looked like his lead vocals were being accentuated by some nifty dance steps.

Ellis’ connection to Port St. Joe goes far deeper than just a brief commercial opportunity to sign his book.

Coach Cliff Ellis speaks to the Port St. Joe Tiger Shark basketball players on Nov. 14. [ Jim Norton | Contributed ]

Lolly Hester, of Port St. Joe, gets her copy of “Life’s A Dance” signed by Cliff Ellis. [ David Adlerstein | The Star ]

A look at the 45-rpm “Laugh It Off” that was a hit for The Villagers in 1966. [ David Adlerstein | The Star ]

He’s been connected to the town ever since the mid-1960s, when as a student at Florida State University, setting his sights on a high school basketball coaching career, he would work summers at the paper mill.

“That’s how I got to know so many of the people around Port St. Joe,” he said, at an interview at the book store. “It’s just a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful town. Back in those days, a lot of people got jobs at the paper mill. I painted, I painted beams, whatever they needed, just for the summer.”

It was also back then that Ellis was crooning as lead singer for the Villagers, which had hit songs, a recording contract and a promising future.

“We traveled all over the Southern fraternities, and even played the Centennial Building back in the day,” he said. “So it’s kind of neat to go back.”

Folks who danced well into the night Nov. 16 had a chance to buy a CD collection of the Villagers’ hits, and if they still had what was known at the time as a “record player,” they could even buy a 45-rpm of the Villagers’ 1966 hit “Laugh It Off/You’re Gonna Lose That Girl.” 

Walter Dover, from Havana, husband of Carol Dover, president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association was on hand jamming on lead guitar.

And the audience was on their feet dancing, just as Ellis, a four-time Basketball Hall of Fame coach and one of the winningest coaches in Division I history, would have them do as he opens up in his new book about “his philosophies, challenges, and triumphs throughout his career… Learn how to build a successful team – Strong Work Ethics, Respect, Empathy, a Positive Mindset, and more. This book contains fundamental steps that will resonate far beyond the basketball court,” as recounted in the book jacket,

This third book by Ellis is attested to by blurbs of such coaching greats as Mike Krzyzewski, Bobby Cremins, Kevin Sampson, John Calapari, Tubby Smith, Billy Donovan, and Dabo Swinney.

Interestingly, it was Ellis’ writing skills that propelled him from the high school coaching ranks to the college level. Still a high school coach, he was working on his graduate degree at Middle Tennessee State, when a job opened up at Cumberland College. The basketball coach of Middle Tennessee recommended him, and he got the coaching position, and the rest is history, as he’s won the ninth largest number of games than any college coach.

“The football coach and basketball coach of Middle Tennessee encouraged me to write, and when I wrote my first magazine article and started writing, that’s when it really opened up, because presidents and people of that nature love research, and they love writing,” Ellis said.”And coaches didn’t write much back when I wrote. It kind of separated me from others, and I had books come out, and they took off. So it’s through writing, just through writing, which I’m here today. It’s the writing that really gave me the impetus to move into college coaching.”

Over the years, Ellis entered the Division 1 ranks, with decade-long stints at South Alabama, Clemson and Auburn, before finishing after 16 years at Coastal Carolina.

“All those programs needed building,” he said. “It wasn’t the Duke or the North Carolina or the UCLA or Kentucky. For me, it was about programs that needed to be built, and all those schools were down when I took over and built them to the top. 

“That’s why I’ve written the book about this entire dance and people who get the book are going to find it inspirational,” Ellis said. “It’s about confidence, it’s about self worth, it’s about getting through adversity, through breaking points. It’s about self-talk. All the things that I felt were important to any leader, you don’t have to be a basketball coach, any leader. These are the things that I think you have to have.”

And of course, it’s also about basketball, and Ellis’ memories of his career. Here’s an excerpt of some of his remarks.

On the game today: It’s an unhealthy state of the game; that is one of the reasons I retired. We’ve become a professional sport at the college level, you know, and the (NIL – name, image, likeness) is not what I feel that the game should be about. These are 18 year olds, because that’s what the NBA is for, that’s what the NFL is for, that’s what major leagues do. We need to do this with an 18-year-old, (because) if they’re not playing, they’re gonna leave. They’re not getting enough money. The last chapter of the book talks about as to why I retired.”

On great wins: It was 1980 against Ohio State and they had Clark Kellogg, and had a great team, and they were seventh in the country, and we were South Alabama. It was really one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had in my life.

On tough losses: There was a 1990 UConn game that was one of the toughest losses I’ve ever had. We were in the Meadowlands, and we had come back from a big deficit, and we hit a shot with 12 seconds to go, to go up by two. They go down and miss a shot, and we get the rebound with 1.6 seconds to play. We missed the one-and-one, they get the rebound, with 1.3 seconds to go in the game. They threw a perfect strike down the court and he caught it and turned and the ball went into the hole. Back in those days, it was a switch, and today it’s synchronized. I don’t know if it would have counted. I don’t want to take anything away from anyone.

(In 2003 with Auburn) the team lost by one, and it was devastating to Syracuse. They had Carmelo Anthony, and it was a tough loss, because they went on to win the national championship. We had cut the lead down. I still say if we had a minute more to go in the game, I think we win the game. But you know that loss was a heartbreaker. It was in Albany, New York, in Syracuse’s backyard in the East region, and then Carmelo Anthony became a legend.

Greatest player he coached against: A guy by the name of Lem Bias. He played at Maryland. He was a great player, and unfortunately, the day he was drafted, he overdosed, and he was a kid that really never took drugs, for whatever reason. We lost a great talent who I thought was a good person, but he was the best.

What he tells overbearing parents: It’s great that you love your kids. I hear what you’re saying. I think that just something that I will take to heart, but I’m trying to do the best job that I possibly can. I care about your kid, just like you care about your kid, but I’ve got 12 other kids, and I certainly can’t justify playing everybody the same minutes, the same time, doing this, doing that, I’m gonna make mistakes, and I’m gonna do the best job that I can. What you try to do is neutralize that. You neutralize that combative attitude and just try to calm it down. And you’re not gonna win them over, but you have a better chance. 

What he tells players who break rules: Sit your butt down. We’re gonna have a heart-to-heart talk. You’re headed down the wrong path. You just screwed up big time. You’re gonna have to change your direction. I’m gonna give you another chance because you’re young, you don’t know what to do. But this ever happens again, you are outta here. You always give them a chance. You tell them the truth, you let them know what they did is wrong. Boom, discipline, you gotta have it. Sometimes it was OK, depending on how bad it was, then ‘this one’s between me and you. The next time I’m calling your mama.’ They do not want you calling their mom.”