When several former high school football players regularly visit their coach of some 50 years back, he means more to them than anything tangible.
That’s why former Tryon High School Football Coach Elmo Neal remains so dear to many of his players from decades back.

“He taught us the game of football, but he also taught us the game of life, which is so much more important.” said Bill Brock, who played for the Tigers’ 1962 through 1965 teams under Neal. “He was such a role model. It’s hard to find those kinds of people. He was a real leader. To this day, they (former players) respect him so much they bring their wives and children to visit him.”
Neal, who coached at Tryon from 1962 through 1976, and 1981 though 1990, occupies a chapter in the recently published “Stories from the Sidelines,” NC High School Football Tales from Murphy to Marion, by Michael E. Hughes.
More than that, he occupies large portions of the hearts of many of his players.
Now, 87, Neal, who is in failing health from Parkinson’s Disease, and living in Spartanburg, S.C., remains bonded to many of his former players, who continue to revere him. Brock mentioned a recent visit to Neal, and Neal’s wife of over 50 years, Toma.
‘“Coach Neal, do you remember me?’” Brock asked, knowing that Neal’s vision was also failing.
“”Of course I remember you, Bill Brock,”’ was the reply.
Toma refers to Brock and several others who visit Neal every two or three weeks, as the “Faithful Five.” They include Lewis Crissone, Newt Raft and Glenn Thompson.
Brock recalled that in 1961, the year before Neal was hired as varsity football coach, Tryon’s team was 1-9.
A retired Army Colonel named Safford lived in Tryon at the time, Brock recalled.
“It seemed like he was always involved in sports programs at Tryon High School.”
Safford and Jim Wolf(e) knew where to look for a new coach. Neal, who had grown up in Summerville, S.C., where his junior and senior-year football teams were undefeated, had coached at Hartwell, Ga. High School, from 1955 through ’60. He took over head coaching duties at Tryon for the 1962 season, with a cast of just 17 players.
Brock remembers Safford introducing Neal to the players before the 1962 season, saying, “Gentlemen, this is your new football coach at Tryon High School.”
Under Neal, recalled Brock, players bonded with each other, toward a common goal of winning games.
“We were all good players,” remembers Brock. “We had a job to do, and we did it well.”
They also worked hard physically.
“I guarantee we were in good shape, ”Brock said. Practices included so much running that “We thought he (Neal) was a track coach. He believed in putting a guy on the football field who was in shape. In the third and fourth quarters, we were always in better shape (than the opposing players).”
Talent aside, “We had a lot more heart and pride, and we won a lot of games.”
Under Neal, those 17 young men “played with a lot of spirit and a lot of guts,” recalled Brock. They also went 7-3, as did the 1963 team. In 1964, the Tigers were 8-1-1, cooling off slightly in 1965, to 5-2-3.
A Navy veteran of WWII, Neal co-captained the 1949 conference-champion Western North Carolina University team that was named to the school’s Hall of Fame.
Neal taught his players, “Do the right thing, no matter where you are, and who you’re with,’” said Brock.
“We always did the right thing, no matter where we were, and who we were with,” said Brock.
Brock remembers that after a win, Neal would praise his players, while a loss would prompt him to blame himself.
Polk County High School football coach Bruce Ollis reminds Brock a bit of Neal, in putting the students first.
When Neal took over as head coach in 1962, Bill Berry became his assistant. The two grew very close.
“They were the best of friends, and worked together as well as two coaches could,” Brock said.
In the late 1960s, Neal, just home from a football clinic several hours away, in North Carolina, learned that Berry has suffered an aneurysm. He drove straight to visit Berry in Atlanta. Berry passed away soon after.
“In my opinion, he (Neal) is a Tryon legend,” Brock noted.