THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 9, 1994 TAG: 9409090754
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Tubby Raymond brings some of the nation's gaudiest coaching credentials to Hampton Roads Saturday when his Delaware Blue Hens visit William and Mary.
Raymond is 232-92-2 in 29 seasons and needs just seven victories to vault past Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes and into 10th place in career coaching victories.
But few know of Raymond's passion as an artist, that a man who has dedicated most of his life to an often violent game loves to paint portraits of his players.
Every Wednesday for the past three decades Raymond has picked up his brushes and paints and hauled a senior into the football office for a two-hour sitting. Raymond paints an average of 20 portraits each year, in part to relieve tension, in part to give his players something to remember him by.
``I give them to the kids,'' he said. ``Multiply 20 by 30 and that's how many I've done. I haven't been counting.
``I keep telling the kids when I'm dead and gone they might be worth something.''
Raymond, 66, began painting when he was 12. By then he'd acquired the nickname ``Tubby'' in part because of his wide dearth.
He rekindled his childhood passion for painting in 1956 when he was an assistant at Delaware and was asked to paint something to spruce up the Blue Hens' locker room.
The painting, a spoof of a Dwight Eisenhower for president poster, drew rave reviews from the Blue Hens. Raymond began doing portraits of players a few years later.
Only one portrait remains at the Newark, Del., school. It's a painting of Chuck Hall, Delaware's all-time leading rusher who died of Hodgkin's disease in 1973 at age 24. Hall's portrait hangs on the wall of the Blue Hen weight room, which was named in his honor.
Raymond came to Delaware as an assistant coach from the University of Michigan, where he played football and baseball. He brought with him the distinctive football helmets worn by the Wolverines, but left behind the desire to coach big-time football.
Delaware once considered moving into Division I-A, given Raymond's penchant for beating I-A Eastern teams such as Navy, Rutgers and Temple. But Raymond insisted that I-AA was as high as the Blue Hens should aspire.
``We didn't want a stadium that was bigger than our student body, faculty and friends,'' he said. ``We didn't want to go into the entertainment business.
``If you go Division I-A, you're going to be under Michigan and Notre Dame and all of those places who have been doing it forever. And we just didn't feel like we could do what we wanted philosophically with the players. We tell them that school work is first and we really mean it.''
Even if Raymond doesn't aspire to the big time, he loves to win. He won three Division II titles before Delaware moved into I-AA, where the Blue Hens have advanced to the playoffs seven times.
His Blue Hens are ranked 12th nationally in I-AA and are favored to win the Yankee Conference title.
Raymond once looked forward to retiring and spending time with his wife, Sue. Since she passed away in 1990 he no longer talks about retiring.
``I won't coach more than 20 more years,'' he said with a laugh.
``I've done everything a coach can do. There's not much more to accomplish. But I still enjoy it. Football has changed so much, even in the last five years, that I never feel like I'm doing the same thing over again.
``I still get butterflies before a game.''
And still wields a mean paintbrush. ILLUSTRATION: Delaware coach Tubby Raymond could take over 10th place in
career coaching victories.
by CNB