Seventeen years ago this week, I first came to the offices of The Vicksburg Post and set up shop as a fresh-faced 21-year-old straight out of college.

Seventeen years is a long time. If I haven’t already started covering the athletic exploits of the sons and daughters of people I covered in my early days, I soon will.

I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in Warren County in that time. One I’m glad was on the list was Bobby Huell.

Coach Huell — or “Bruiser,” as most people called him — was an unsung hero within Vicksburg High’s athletic program. He not only knew all of his players, he knew their parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. If he hadn’t coached them, he probably went to school with them.

Huell applied for Vicksburg’s head coaching job when it came open in 2001, but was passed over in favor of his best friend Alonzo Stevens. To the best of my knowledge, Huell never showed bitterness. He went right back to work as an assistant, basically the same job he held for 25 years, without complaint.

Twice more during his career the head coaching position came open. Twice more, Huell was happy to stay in the role of trusted lieutenant and help the new guy ease into the job.

On our end, Bruiser was a godsend. Whenever we needed help wrangling a player at practice or, in his later years, with gathering stats, he was the go-to guy. He kept the clock at basketball games and always had a smile or a joke to share. A lot of coaching staffs have an assistant responsible for a multitude of jobs, and that was Huell. He made it look effortless.

Huell was such a fixture that when he wasn’t around as much in recent months it kind of went unnoticed, like removing a picture that’s been on the wall forever. You just expect it to be there. I’d heard he was sick but didn’t think much of it. I expected him to be back in some capacity when football practice starts in a couple of weeks.

Then, early Monday morning, I got a text message that he was gone. The cancer that had first stricken him last fall finally overtook him. The response on our social media pages was overwhelming, and made me realize just how beloved Bruiser was by people all over Vicksburg.

Rest in peace, Coach Huell. After all the lives you’ve touched, all those you’ve inspired and helped over the years, you’ll be missed.

•

Ernest Bowker is a sports writer. He can be reached at 601-619-7120, or via email at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com