Byrd keeps eagles flying high

By H.B. Dodds, Staff Writer
Posted 12/31/19

VIENNA — Mick Byrd’s life has been good to him, and he’s been good to it. Vienna has served well as the setting. Serving his 39th year as the softball coach at Vienna High School, …

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Byrd keeps eagles flying high

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VIENNA — Mick Byrd’s life has been good to him, and he’s been good to it. Vienna has served well as the setting. Serving his 39th year as the softball coach at Vienna High School, nothing seems to change his attitude about it. In January, he will be inducted into the Missouri State High School Softball Hall of Fame. It takes current in the water under the bridge to make something like that happen.

Since back-to-back state championships in 1983-4; some final four appearances; and some other good post season runs; it’s been easy for onlookers to have expectations for the 2019 and 2020 editions. The Lady Eagles had only two seniors in 2019. There were several returning junior and sophomore lettermen; many had all-conference, all-district, and all-region credentials. In 2018, the squad was 24-1, undefeated in the regular season. It was their fourth consecutive Gasconade Valley Conference championship; they had not lost a conference game in that span. In 2019, they made it to the District Finals, finishing 18-4. The coach, though, has a different view of things. “My expectations are always the same,” he says. “We try to win the next game. Several of them have been close, and we’ve won them late. Softball in Central Missouri is very good. Taking things for granted is something we just can’t do.”

Nor is softball all there is to his life. Byrd is also an accomplished musician and songwriter, writing his first song when he was 13. His song “Afternoon at the Wall” won the 1995 Billboard Magazine Songwriting Contest. He’s the namesake of “Mick Byrd and the Backroad Band.” He’s a regular on Songwriters Night at the Blue Bird Café in Nashville, Tenn. “I’ve never been much of one for the cautious methodical approach,” he said. At the time, he was talking about writing music. It seems to apply to his athletic and coaching career as well. “I thought, well, what the heck, if I’m going to do this, we’re going to create a body of [work] and see if anybody is interested.” As it turns out, whether one is holding a guitar or a softball glove, there is indeed some interest.

He doesn’t seem to feel any competition between music and sports for his attention. Would he ever contemplate retiring from coaching to devote more time to his music? “Not as long as coaching is fun,” he says. One of his favorite words when talking sports is “volatile.” He explains, “Coaching can be a very volatile profession.” That might sound odd, coming from someone who has enjoyed such consistent success. He thinks the even keel comes from being able to work with youngsters who have goals. “I have worked with, and still work with some really, really quality kids. They’re a heck of a lot of fun and keep me young. If you want to stay young and vibrant, hang around young and vibrant people.”

He becomes very enthusiastic talking about his team’s workouts. Most coaches subscribe to the fundamental truth, a team plays like it practices. “Our practices are very intense,” he explains. “They’re not long, but the veterans have the new kids prepared to work hard. It’s expected, and they expect it before they start. We get our work done, and then we go home.” He loves his upperclassmen and alumni rooting for freshmen and other new players. As it turns out, a successor to a great tradition covets that tradition to endure to other successors. He doesn’t count on younger players getting a lot of varsity time in blowouts to get experience and skill. In a program like Vienna’s, that happens. However, he makes sure they get their reps in practice, as well. “All our practice drills deliver the same reps to every player. In some programs, the varsity will get 30 reps while the JV gets five or 10. But not at Vienna,” he says; and he’s serous about it. With the emphasis on tradition and hard work, he maintains, “Winning is a by-product.”

One current player, freshman Abrea Simmons, vouches for the truth of that philosophy. “We all practice the same,” she says. Simmons pitches and plays infield. She won her first varsity game in the circle late in the regular season. Her mother, Dana Simmons, pitched for Byrd in late ‘80’s, graduating from Vienna in 1990. She played for the 1987 District Champions, and is not surprised by what her daughter says. Nor does Coach Byrd’s current situation seem odd to her. “It’s just different being a parent, watching his passion for the game, and how much he loves it. The game is different, but his love for it is the same,” she observes.

Byrd’s assistant coach is daughter Ellie Glick. Glick is also a Lady Eagle alumna, graduating in 2002. During her four year varsity career, Vienna won four conference championships; they never lost a conference tilt. “She was a very fine pitcher,” asserts Byrd. She was all-conference for 3 years, and conference MVP or Co-MVP each of those three. She also got an all-district patch for her letter jacket. Playing for her dad was “certainly a unique experience,” she says. However, she was ready for it when it happened. She grew up in the dugout, sweeping, picking up bats and helmets, and shagging foul balls. She enjoyed the company of what she regarded to be her “big sisters.” When it came time to put on a uniform, “I knew what the expectations were,” she asserts. “It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.” Her father confirms her coaching amplifies his message well at practices and games.

The whole thing has been a family project. Wife and Mom, Debbie, has long been the official scorer at home games, keeping book on the road as well. Brother and son Curt was a baseball player, continuing his career at Westminster University in Fulton.

Tammy Kleffner, Vienna class of ‘88, played softball and basketball for Byrd. She was a member of the 1984 State Champions, serving as a courtesy runner her freshman season. Later she played 2nd base and catcher. With that career behind her, she looked forward to her daughter Jada’s experience. “I wanted Jada to have the excitement, memories, and friendships I had playing softball,” she explains. “He still says some of the same things. It’s the things that carry on with you in life. ‘The sun will come up the next day.’ I still have the same respect for him today I had then. I still call him Mr. Byrd.” Jada, one of the team’s better hitters, plays left field, just finishing her junior year. She recalls her mother telling her, “You will have a lot of fun and make a lot of memories.” She already has some. “He likes to give us nicknames,” she says. Observing the cooperation between her coaches, she adds, “Mr. Byrd’s kind of old school but Ellie’s young and upbeat. They make a good father/daughter combination.”

While Byrd has seen a lot of the world besides Vienna, Maries County’s seat holds him. He was born at a local doctor’s office in 1957. He graduated from Maries County R-1 High School in 1975. There, he was a letterman in all three sports available at the time: baseball, basketball, and track. Like Babe Ruth in Boston, he was a pitcher/outfielder. He had a very good career on the diamond at the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout. As well as coaching, he taught at Vienna for 31 years before retiring from the classroom in 2011. “I coached high school basketball for 33 years, and high school track for 22,” he says. “I’ve been an assistant football coach, a junior high football coach, a volleyball coach, and a cross-country coach. At a small school, you wear many hats.” He even drives the team bus.

What sets him apart from some modern coaches would be the diversity in his life. When he talks music, sports metaphors pepper his dialect. When he talks softball, some musical allusions sneak in. He didn’t invent the expression, but wants people to know he believes it: “I don’t coach softball. I coach kids.” He’s very conscious of helping young people become winners. He cares about that more than winning games. “Just because you’ve got the lower score at the end of the game doesn’t mean you’re a loser,” he preaches. As it turns out, winners do seem to celebrate their share of victorious games; but there’s more to it than that. He knows, and his players do, too: a lot of life is going to happen after that softball uniform comes off for the last time.

Richard Messersmith, Vienna class of ‘86, played junior high football for Byrd. Now his daughter, Marsie, a junior, is an ace pitcher on the softball team, also playing some at the hot corner. Both are impressed by Byrd’s big-picture perspective. “He told me one time, I don’t just want these kids to be good ball players; I want them to be good people,” says Messersmith. Marsie seconded the motion, adding, “We’ve had lots of good seasons. It’s definitely been exciting all the way through. He definitely likes to build character.”

Can Vienna be proud of him? The town may have a ways to go before it can claim to love him more than he loves it. “One of the things which contributes to our success here is that it’s a close, tight community,” he brags. “What I’m most proud of is that it’s all been at one spot. Every win and every loss, every ball game has been for my hometown. In this day and age, that is hard to do.”