Catching Up With: Bill Workman

Steve Virgen

There are no timeouts. There is no halftime nor pregame film to

have an idea of the future.

Bill Workman, a former football coach at Orange Coast College, says

his life is as busy as ever since retiring from his post three years ago.

Today, he must act quickly without much plan. His father’s health and

his family’s future depends on it.

He reacts with strength from an unwavering faith in God. And, he draws

wisdom from growing up in the mean streets of Bell, coaching athletes

numbering into the thousands and winning top honors at Whittier College,

Edison High and Coast.

“I’m dealing with an ailing 85-year-old father who lives in Wildemar

and wants to stay in his place,” said Workman who travels to the town

near Lake Elsinore at least three times a week to care for his father’s

needs, including real estate issues. “It’s just like when you’re a coach

or a football player, you have certain responsibilities and you take care

of it. You don’t go home until all the planning is done. Otherwise,

you’ve cheated 75 players out of a chance to win. You can’t do that. It’s

the same thing. This is just my job right now.”

Workman’s father, Jack, has lived through two heart bypass surgeries.

He is now on the verge of going blind, while stricken with macular

degeneration, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. In December, he lost a

majority of his memory and sense of his state of being.

Workman has since drawn closer to his father. But, as his father, who

is a cowboy at heart, Workman puts aside his emotions mainly because he

must tend to Jack’s business of land owned in Bell and Wildemar.

“There are a lot of things to take care of and he can’t write a

check,” Workman said. “I think it’s safe to say that I’ve become a

businessman. I keep the books for his company. I’m pretty good at

divorcing myself from the emotion.”

Workman, 59, lives in Fountain Valley with his wife, Sheri. They have

two daughters, Julie and Jana, and six grandchildren from Jana, four

girls and two boys.

Workman also teaches six hours of exercise and weight training classes

on Wednesdays at OCC.

He says he misses coaching football because he still maintains a

competitive spirit. But, he had to stop coaching because of back

problems.

In Workman’s final two seasons, his mother died, he learned he had

prostate cancer, his father became ill and his back worsened to the point

that there were threats he would never walk again. He lost 41 pounds

before doctors forced surgery.

Since then, his back strength has improved and as of December, doctors

said there were no traces of cancer.

“It’s no longer what you want to do, but what you need to do,” Workman

said of his exit from a brilliant coaching career that included three

bowl appearances and a Mission Conference title in 1990. “I was like a

balloon and somebody suddenly let the air out. Mentally, I was

overloaded. I would prefer to be younger, not hurting and still

coaching.”

“God has a reason for doing what he does,” he said. “It’s a matter of

listening and figuring out if he’s trying to tell you something. He has

something else for me, too. I don’t know what it is. But, it will

probably be exciting.”

Like an extremist without a mountain or a comedian without a

punchline, Workman is without a fourth quarter. He now searches for

activities to fill the void of coaching.

He wants to study to acquire a real estate license. He wants to learn

how to speak Spanish. Workman would also like to be a consultant for a

football team, at any level, for recruiting. He would also like to delve

into golfing. But, he still has to take care of his father.

“If I wasn’t a coach, I would have been a lifeguard and just hang

out,” Workman said. “I really want to hang out, but I have a competitive

edge. You can’t fight that. You get addicted to adrenaline rush. Now, I

have no place to do that. I’ve had it all my life. As a young kid, I grew

up in the ghetto.”

In 1998, his first season away from coaching, Workman said he had to

get away from the Pirates and let Mike Taylor coach on his own. Workman

traveled to find a new football game.

He and his wife went to South Bend to see the Notre Dame-USC game.

And, the season after he went to the Mississippi-Auburn matchup at

Mississippi.

They arrived early in the week for both games to see all the action

outside the actual contest.

“It looked like ‘Field of Dreams’,” Workman said of the fan support

and attendance at Mississippi. “I tried to stay away from Orange Coast as

much as possible because it was Mike Taylor’s show and he’s doing a great

job.”

Workman has moved on as he depends on his belief in God. He also

maintains his health by lifting weights or playing basketball.

He said when things settle down with the caring of his father, he

plans to help a friend in a missionary ministry, aiding underprivileged

families in Nicaragua and the Philippines.

“The only frustration I have about that is we have places like that in

our own country,” Workman said. “There’s a lot of exciting things to do

out there. There really is.”

And, he believes there are reasons for everything.

He didn’t get the assistant coaching job at Whittier College that he

was promised by three school presidents. He didn’t get the job he really

wanted, either: head coach at East L.A., where he once played as a

tailback. He felt like he was being slapped in the face, he said.

He entered his successful stint at Edison by chance. He saw then-Coach

Vince Asaro while walking into the same tax return office and Asaro

offered Workman an assistant’s job.

At Edison (1971-1985), he earned Sunset League Coach of the Year

honors in 1976, 78-81, 84 and 85. He was Orange County Coach of the Year

in 1979-81, when his Chargers dominated the opposition with a 32-game

winning streak and the nation’s No. 1 ranking in 1980.

Workman is also credited with starting the first drug testing program

for high school athletes in the U.S. in 1985.

In 1971, he told his wife someday he would be the coach at Orange

Coast. And, in 1986, his statement came true. He would have never gotten

there had he received the job at East L.A.

“Great job, great people. Who could ask for more,” Workman said of his

time at Orange Coast. “I didn’t try to get to the university level or the

NFL because I made that decision. I wanted to be home. I wanted to watch

my kids grow and let them know who I am. I don’t regret that. Would I

like to be coaching on the sidelines at the Super Bowl? Who wouldn’t?

But, at what price? I knew I wasn’t willing to pay that price. Most of

the coaches have had a divorce. I didn’t want one.”

As The Daily Pilot caught up with Workman last week, one of his former

players, Dave Lopez, approached him and gave him a great hug. Lopez

credits Workman for getting him through college and earning a degree at

University of Pacific.

Workman says he can’t go anywhere without bumping into one of his

former players. And, he loves it. The encounters are just one of many

unexpected events and people that come through his life.

“God is in charge,” Workman said. “We don’t get to read the last

chapter til we get there and we say, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ But, hey, you just

ride it and try to enjoy it.”