VYPE Magazine editor Brad Heath caught up with Duncan High School Athletic Director Bobby Cook to discuss the upcoming school year and the direction of the Duncan program.
VYPE: Where did you get your start coaching and where did you originally graduate from? High School and/or college.
Cook: I graduated high school from Locust Grove High School. I attended college at Syracuse University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. After finishing my athletic career, I finished my degree at Northeastern State University. I then started my teaching and coaching career at Locust Grove. I have taught and coached at Locust Grove, Woodward, Lawton MacArthur, and Duncan.
VYPE: This is a difficult time dealing with unusual circumstances, how do you feel the covid response by your coaches and staff has been and how ready is everyone to get back into a more normal routine?
Cook: I felt we did a fantastic job dealing with the pandemic this past school year. Our trainer, Amanda Woods, the coaching staff, faculty, nurses, and administration worked extremely well together in dealing with the issues that arose throughout the school year. I believe everyone is very excited to come back to some normalcy with the upcoming school year.
VYPE: What is the message to the athletes at Duncan under your guidance and leadership?
Cook: My message to our athletes is to learn life lessons that the sport(s) you are participating in can teach you. Sports provide an opportunity for student-athletes to learn to win with grace, deal with adversity in failures, and everything in between.
VYPE: Do you have a coaching/teaching mentor? Someone you have looked up to or call on for advice? Maybe it’s someone who has influenced you in the past.
Cook: I was heavily influenced early in my coaching career by my three brothers and Ellis Holt. I am fortunate enough to have been able to reach out to those guys as well as my former college coaches for guidance.
VYPE: Let’s have a few fun questions so Duncan fans can get to know you a little better. Tell us your favorite place for lunch or dinner if you’re eating out?
Cook: I’m a good eater, so I have several “favorite” places for lunch and dinners.
VYPE: Do you have any hobbies?
Cook: I love to cook and I enjoy quarter horse races.
VYPE: Do you have a favorite sports team, college or pro?
Cook: New York Yankees.
VYPE: What is the best sports movie of all-time?
Cook: Major League.
VYPE: What was the first concert you attended?
Cook: Pearl Jam.
VYPE: Have you ever traveled outside the United States and if so, where did you go?
Cook: Several places in the Caribbean.
VYPE: Tell me what you have come to love most about Duncan, your athletes and where is the future of the program headed?
Cook: I love the community support that our students receive. The support in Duncan, for its size, I feel rivals anywhere. We have great kids in our district, and it is a fantastic school district to have kids in. I am very pleased with the direction of the Athletic Department as a whole. Our participation numbers continue to improve, and our athletic programs have seen much success over the past three years.
