First name. Last name.
Pretty simple. There were times when one of his players would hear Terry Depew refer to them by their first name or their last time. “C’mon, John, you’ve got this,” meant one thing, and “Here we go, Smith … get us going,” meant something else.
First name. Last name.
It was a signal of sorts because, whether it was the first name or it was the surname, the former coach was delivering a better chance.
Depew was the head football coach for The Linsly School for 26 seasons, compiling a 156-96-1 record and four Ohio Valley Athletic Conference titles in three different divisions. He was the assistant varsity baseball coach for Gary Sprague, too, for 26 years as the duo captured 13 OVAC pennants, and he was inducted into the conference’s Hall of Fame in 2022 along with Magnolia legend Dave Cisar.
“Coaching to me was about giving your players an advantage,” Depew explained. “Being stronger is one thing, and being more intelligent on the field is another, and it’s debatable which is more valuable. I would guess it depends on the individual, but being able to take advantage of an opponent’s weaknesses isn’t an easy thing to do unless you’ve learned how to recognize those weaknesses.
“Taking what an opponent gives you. That’s a lesson someone can learn and use throughout their lives,” the former head coach said with certainty. “In a lot of ways, in football and baseball, that’s what we did as often as we could.”
So, okay, that’s the stuff that’s made for the handsome headlines and pretty pictures, but Depew also served as Linsly’s business manager and a math teacher for more than 30 years, and during a portion of his administrative career he even was the institution’s assistant headmaster. Those were his job titles of 40 years, anyway, but far from the job descriptions.
“It was really all one job. At least I looked at it that way. I think everyone here did,” Depew rationalized. “There was no time clock, I know that.”
College Preparatory
For more than a century, the word “Linsly” was synonymous for “military” to the people of Wheeling because the school enrolled only males to attend the “Air Force” orientated grade and high school from 1876 until 1979. That’s when the “Kiski Contingent” was hired by the Board of Trustees, and their mission, under the leadership of new headmaster Reno Diorio, was to transform a military institute into an all-male college preparatory academy.
And Depew, 27 years old with a wife, Cathy, and their brand-new, three-year-old son, was to be the business manager, the football coach, and the “whatever else.”
“Every time I look back at it, my time here at Linsly, I know I wouldn’t change any of it. I was fortunate to have the opportunity at that point in my life. I was only 27, and the timing was right in my life when we decided to come here to Linsly,” Depew rationalized. “I came here after graduating Bucknell (University) at 20 years old and spending one year as a graduate assistant there, and then there were five years at Kiski (School). I became the head football coach, too, but it wasn’t predetermined how long we would stay here.
“But we knew pretty quickly that Linsly was going to be a very good thing for me and my family, and the fact my son has made his life here is something we could have never predicted,” he admitted. “But now, I know I owe Linsly everything because it provided us all such a wonderful life.”
While he handed over the reins to the Linsly football program to his son, B.J., in 2005, he continued in his other roles up until 2018. So, yes, it’s been five years since he managed the books, five years since he met with mothers and fathers, and five years since he last strolled along the grey, lined lockers of Banes Hall.
But that’s exactly what he did last week, and who knows what thoughts the walk brought to his mind. Maybe his undefeated seasons or his 26-game and 19-game winning streaks or the $10 million capital campaign that expanded Linsly’s primary education building.
“I’m sure my existence here at Linsly didn’t matter to some students, but every time I come back to campus, I’m flooded with a lot of memories from all the years. I have to wonder how many times I walked down that first floor of Banes Hall during my Linsly career and how many conversations I had with students. One thing I know for sure is that it was a great place for me to be.
“People say things like this sometimes and you always wonder if they really mean it, but when I say I feel like I’ve never really worked a day in my life, you can count on it being true. It’s just how I feel,” he said. “Of course, there were the difficult days. A lot of them. And there were losses on the field. But now, looking back, all of it were parts of the overall experience. And I’m thankful for all of it.”
Home Sweet Home
Eleven different countries. Places like China, Italy, Spain, and Brazil. Those students help fill Linsly’s dormitories and they supply a level of diversity unmatched by any other high school in the Wheeling area.
But the backbone of Linsly’s co-educational student population has been and remains the students from the tri-state region thanks to the Northern Panhandle’s par-5 proximity to western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Depew’s son, B.J., a member of Linsly’s Class of 1994, was, of course, raised along Leatherwood Lane, and to this point, the young man’s life, his teaching and coaching careers, and his family of four have been planted on campus ever since.
Proudly, he’s followed in his father’s footsteps. B.J. is a math teacher, too, and he’s Linsly athletic director, and, yes, the head football coach. After 17 seasons, the younger Depew’s overall record – 109-71 – is the second-best only to his father, and he, his staff, and his team just finished a 5-5 season that, to many eyes, may appear disappointing. Dad disagrees.
“I thought his coaching job this year was just as good – if not better – than last year when his team went 9-1 after beating all of the teams they’re not supposed to beat,” the former head coach said. “And let’s not forget, this year was with a different set of people than he had on his team during that 9-1 season. He did a phenomenal job, that’s for sure.
“I couldn’t be prouder of him, and I couldn’t be happier my wife and I made the decision to come here to Linsly because of the man, the husband and father, and the coach he’s become. At that time in the late 1970s, we didn’t really know what else was out there for me professionally, but now, I couldn’t imagine a better situation,” Depew said. “And a lot of my former players have sent their sons and daughters here because of what the experience did for them in their lives, and that means a lot to all of us who were here teaching and coaching during those years. That was our goal, I can tell you that.”
He says things like that because he believes what he says. He practiced, after all, what is still practiced.
“I can still tell a parent who’s thinking of sending their child to Linsly that there are people here who will do whatever is necessary for the benefit of their child,” Depew insisted. “These people will make the right decisions that need to be made in the best interest of their students. That’s always been the case.”
And Depew is confident in what he says, too, because those are the tales he’s been told.
“That’s why I enjoy hearing from our graduates. Each of them has their own stories because Linsly was an individual experience for them. And, honestly, when I have had those conversations, most of the time it’s overwhelming for me because of what I was a part of and what it meant to our alumni. It makes me proud,” he added. “Very proud.”
