Acord: Nuckols ‘makes stuff happen’
Mitch Acord has the pedigree to hand out coaching advice when it comes to Pickle Nuckols, or any member of that 2007 Buffalo Gap state championship football team.
So, when he got a text the other night from Pickle Nuckols informing him that the Buffalo Gap senior was heading to Randolph-Macon to play college football, the coach with 32 of experience under his belt could only smile.
“My big thing is,“ Acord said Monday, “he’s going to play, you know what I’m saying?“
Acord watched Nuckols pre-heat under the Saturday sun as midget and junior coach for the Buffalo Gap Quarterback Club and followed his boys to the Friday night lights when they made varsity. Acord followed the team seemingly every where during the magical 2007 run and continued to show up on Fridays this season to watch the new crop of seniors.
He knows these players. He knows Pickle Nuckols.
“The thing about him too, he is real strong,“ Acord said. “And his center of gravity is below his waist and any time you have that you’re not going to bring him down. You’re just not.“
Nuckols was not a finesse back in high school, though he did show flashes of some deft moves while running with the ball. But, make no mistake about it, Nuckols signature was to power over defenders en route to the end zone.
“If you hit him up high,“ Acord said, “you’re not going to do nothing but bounce off
“That’s spoils a coach, man.“
When coaching Nuckols back in his Quarterback Club days, Acord said he had a simple procedure to get yards. It usually involved Nuckols.
“You give [Nuckols] the ball and five yards on somebody and he’s going to have a hard time getting him,“ he said. “He’ just so strong.“
There are a few more left on the team, but with the 2009 class ready to leave Buffalo Gap in June, Acord’s football-student base is starting to dwindle.
“That two years of boys right there, they’d gone and stole my heart, man,“ he said. “Like they were my own kids.“
Mark Nuckols, Pickle’s father, said now that’s Acord is no longer coaching the Buffalo Gap little league teams, he has plans for the family friend each Saturday starting this fall.
“I told him, ‘You’re going to the game with us,‘ “ Mark Nuckols said.
Acord is looking forward to watching Nuckols play on the next level and says once the coaches at Randolph-Macon see him play, they’ll be hard pressed to keep him on the bench.
“The cream comes to the top,“ Acord said. “All he has to do is get his shot.“
