This is an opinion piece.

Don Creasy was a “man’s man.”

That is one of the many glowing phrases Pell City coach Steve Mask – a Hall of Famer in his own right – used to describe his mentor on Wednesday morning.

Creasy, who won a pair of state football titles at Colbert County, died Tuesday in a traffic accident in Sheffield. He was 79.

Creasy is a legend in Alabama.

He won 186 games during a 23-year stint at four schools.

He was a winner on the field. A true Hall of Famer in coaching but more importantly in life.

“He was a good coach and a better man,” said Jack Wood, executive director of the Alabama Football Coaches Association. “Don Creasy was all that is right about our profession. He was a heck of a dog gone good football coach first, but also a total professional and a good guy.

“You would want him to coach your kid, and that is something that goes a long, long way. He loved the game, and his players loved him. He was a legend in north Alabama. No doubt.”

Creasy’s head coaching career started at Central Florence in 1973. He spent five years there, winning 32 games, before moving on to Colbert County in 1978. That is where he cemented his legacy. Creasy won 126 games in 12 years, including state titles in 1979 and 1985.

In 1979, he hired a young coach who was so green that he used Xs for both the offense and the defense in scouting a future Colbert County opponent.

That young man was Mask.

“He was my mentor, basically my father,” Mask said of Creasy. “He raised me in everything since I first got into coaching. What little I know, he taught me all of it.”

Their relationship started innocently enough.

“Arthur Andrews was the basketball coach then (at Colbert County), and he had raised me a little,” Mask said. “When my Dad left when I was 11, he took us under his wing. Coach Creasy said, ‘Well if you are going to be hanging around, I will put you to work.’

“He gave me a little gas money, sent me out to scout some games. I would come back on Sunday and bring a report. I really didn’t know anything about anything at that time.”

Mask eventually graduated and had coaching opportunities at other schools.

Creasy wouldn’t let him leave Colbert County.

“He called me and said, ‘You are coming to work for me,’” Mask said. “He was my guy.”

The two worked side-by-side for the next 11 years. Mask started as a student coach and eventually made it to defensive coordinator. During that span, the Indians had just two seasons – 5-5 in 1980 and 7-4 in 1986 – when they won less than 10 games.

“Coach respected everybody,” Mask said. “We would watch film early in the week and, frankly, we would be playing an opponent that wasn’t very good. But, when we left the meeting, coach would have us convinced we were playing the Green Bay Packers. We never lost to someone we weren’t supposed to lose to. We didn’t lose to many people period.”

Mask said one of the many things Creasy instilled in him was always have respect for the coaches and players on the other side of the field.

“He was such a competitor, but he never lost touch with the fact that the guy on the other side of the field had to go home to his players, too,” Mask said. “He never ran the score up. It would bother him to score 50 points on someone. He knew those players had to go home, too.”

I’ve seen that same trait in Mask over the years. I used to joke with him that he would tell me each opponent was “well coached” even if they hadn’t won a game. Now, I know why he said that and where it came from, and I respect it.

Following the 1989 season, Mask and Creasy parted ways. Creasy took the job at Coffee High School. Mask became head coach at rival Bradshaw.

“We went to rival schools, but it never affected our relationship,” Mask said.

Creasy spent two years at Coffee, then finished his career with four years at Mountain Brook. He was named Coach of the Year twice by the Alabama Sports Writers Association (1982, 1985) and was inducted into the ASHAA Hall of Fame in 1998. He also is a member of the Colbert County Hall of Fame.

“Coach Creasy was an outstanding coach who truly had a major influence on the lives of the many student-athletes placed in his care,” AHSAA executive director Alvin Briggs said. “His legacy will live on.”

It clearly lives on in Mask and so many others who coached under, played for and even coached or played against Creasy. That list includes Mask’s son, Brett, and Creasy’s son, Allen, both of whom have gone on to successful coaching careers in their own right. Ironically, both Steve Mask and Brett Mask eventually had their own stints as head coach at Colbert County.

Steve Mask eventually made his way to south Alabama where he won four state titles at St. Paul’s Episcopal. Until recently, he and Creasy still talked weekly. When Mask was chosen for the Colbert County and the AHSAA Halls of Fame, his first call each time went to Creasy.

“He was a guy I looked up to so much,” Mask said, choking back emotion. “He meant the world to me and my family. I learned so much by just watching and listening to him. I called him, ‘Dad.’ I loved him.”

Colbert County plans to honor Creasy at this week’s home game Friday against Colbert Heights at C.T. Manley Stadium.

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected]. His weekly column is posted each Wednesday and Friday on AL.com. He can be heard weekly on the Cooper Restaurants “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.