ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604120014
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: COMMENTARY
SOURCE: RAY COX
Long distances and large sizes have been recurring themes in Todd Browning's life.
His family back in Princeton, W.Va., always knew he'd go far, although they might not have realized at first that he would feel compelled to leave the state.
His football coaches in high school took one look at his 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds worth of muscles and meaness and told him he had big prospects.
Before he ever reached his first collegiate destination at Morehead State in the football-deprived hills of Kentucky, Browning was gaining an understanding of long-distance travel by socking baseballs out of sight for his high school team.
Either that, or he was missing the white-hided, red-threaded sphere by a mile, as has been common practice for big sluggers ever since a certain hotdog-munching, baseball-swatting, waistline-stretching, left-handed hitting member of the Ruth family of Baltimore popularized the practice in Yankee Stadium.
Football carried Browning as far as the gods of the gridiron allowed before the sport dumped him in a heap with two wrecked knees.
``I had knee surgery on one knee in high school and then had two more knee surgeries when I was in college,'' said Browning, 33. ``It was right after they told me that the third one had again been deemed unsuccessful that I decided I'd had enough.''
With a serious case of the blues, he decided to leave Bluegrass Country and beat it on down the line toward Bluefield, W.Va., and so headed back home to finish a degree at Concord College in Athens.
A stint as a student teacher at Princeton was the official start of a coaching and teaching career that has called him to ZIP codes all over southern West Virginia. The latest stop has deposited him in the home dugout at Calfee Park, the home office of the Pulaski County High baseball boss, the most recent of Browning's official titles.
In 1991, after seven years of teaching social studies and coaching football, basketball and baseball at three different high schools, Browning was out of a job, caught up in one of those nasty little reductions in force some school systems are known for.
Fortunately for the family, his wife, Pam, was in no immediate danger at her middle school teaching job. Still, you might say those were scary times for the Brownings.
The job uncertainty didn't last long. After casting a wide net in the employment search and accepting the possibility of a commute from Bluefield to Wythe, Bland, Giles or Montgomery counties, Browning finally landed at Pulaski County.
There, his first sport was football. As an assistant, he got in on the action on the football state championship in 1992. Later, he bagged coaching altogether to pursue his master's degree with an eye on eventually entering school administration.
Then came something of a career break. As Browning was finishing his degree, Ray Dunavant announced his retirement as Cougars' baseball coach. Browning had coached baseball before, serving as an assistant and then as the head coach at Princeton.
``When I heard that baseball would be opening up, I was very interested,'' Browning said. As the proper authorities were in him.
So here he is, about 15 pounds north of his football playing weight, but still svelte and limber enough to flog all those fungoes for the team's fielding practice.
The team's a good one. With pitchers such as Bryan Dalton and Caleb Hurd and a seasoned outfield anchored by crackerjack centerfielder Shane Callahan along with a veteran supporting cast, the Cougars will take their best shot at perennial Roanoke District power Cave Spring this season.
Gone as one of those baseballs that Browning used to launch over the Princeton High fence is his previous goal of becoming a football head coach.
``I probably won't be coaching football again,'' he said. ``I'm going to be devoting my full attention to baseball.''
LENGTH: Medium: 76 linesby CNB