How do you win? There are strategies, playbooks, practices, choosing the right players and the right plays. But with Vestavia Hills High School head football coach Buddy Anderson, it’s mainly persistence.

Coach Anderson has been at Vestavia Hills High School since he began his coaching career in 1973. He has been head football coach for 40 years. During that time, he has lead the Vestavia Hills Rebels to 329 victories, and more than his fair share of losses.

“One of the greatest professions is education and begin a coach,” Anderson told the group gathered at Pell City Kiwanis last week. “It is humbling to have the opportunity to work with young people.”

Coach Anderson said that in 1968 God called him to be a coach. He was a senior in high school with a lot of turmoil going on in his life, but found his calling while playing a basketball game.

He graduated from Samford University and interviewed with Coach Reynolds at Vestavia Hills High School, who was “such a unique individual,” Coach Anderson said. 

“Coach Reynolds asked me ‘Why do you want to be a coach?’ I said God called me to be a coach,” Coach Anderson relayed his story. “’In 10-15 years when you realize you don’t make good money, what do you want to be doing?’ Reynolds asked me. I said I want to be a coach. I never dreamed I’d be where I am for 46 years.”

Coach Anderson will be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in Chicago on July 2, but took time to share some of his life lessons with the Pell City Kiwanis Club last week.

1. Belly laughs are good for the soul:

“You have to have fun with what you do.” 

2. A rolling rock doesn’t gather too much moss:

“God has a plan. Find a place to go and lay down roots.”

3. Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also:

“You got to have priorities. Kids don’t care how much you know until they know who much you care. They are going to read you like a book. Take time to tell people you care about and love them.”

4. If you lie down with a dog you’re going to get fleas:

“Be careful in choosing your friends. It was surprising to me that statistics show one-fifth of professional athletes have a criminal record.”

5. No “I” in the word “team”:

“Everyone is important, even that guy that never gets in the game. He has a place on that team.”

6. Storms of life will come; where’s your anchor? 

“After a 10 year winning streak, I was not having a good year. My dad said, ‘Son, you’re still the same coach and what you’re doing in their (players) lives is just as important.’”

7. Sharing victory is the greatest thrill.

“Over the years we have won a lot of games, including state championships, but the best are those comeback games. When I had a player return to a game with his 9-year old son and said, ‘Because of you, my son is a Christian today.’ That is the greatest victory.”