Everett Whiteside has been coaching cross country and track and field at Washington
High School for more than 15 years. His accomplishments include a Team Cross Country State
Championship, individual State Champions, multiple top five team finishes and multiple county
and district championships. However, it is not only his statistical accomplishments that make
Whiteside a great coach, but how he has changed his runners’ lives.
“I think there are many things that make a great coach,” Whiteside said. “First, I think
one needs to believe in what he or she does. I think you have to live the example you are
teaching. I think you have to be self-evaluating and willing to learn from your mistakes. I think
also that one needs to be willing to learn from his or her athletes.”
There is no doubt that Whiteside has the passion to believe in what he does. He said he
is more motivated now than when he first started. In the first eight years or so he was just finding
his way, so to speak. In the past eight years or so he has found that he actually likes his
athletes.
Whiteside is unlike many other coaches in the fact that he was once a successful cross-
country runner at the University of Alabama and has had a very successful career running post
collegiate. He has won many prominent local races including the popular Pensacola Double
Bridge Run since he started coaching.
“I think it helps me understand what it’s like on the other side,” Whiteside said. “The guys
also, at least pretend to, like my college stories. The whole post-collegiate thing adds some
legitimacy to the things I’m telling them. It shows them, I hope, that running for me goes beyond
a job. It’s my lifestyle!”
Whiteside’s lifestyle allows him to coach in another way that makes him unique. “I think
the thing that makes me most unique, although, it won’t last much longer – if at all, is that I
model the behavior I expect.” he said.
He doesn’t ask his runners to do any workout, run, or anything that he is not prepared to
do himself, Whiteside said. If he asks them to run 13 miles with the last 3 at sub-6-minute pace,
then he is ready to run it with them. If he asks them to do their homework and not party, then
he’ll do the same.
As with most great coaches, Whiteside’s accomplishments are not always limited to the
races or practices. He said, “I’m really proud of the fact that some of the men and women I have
coached have taken running and things from my program and made them part of their lives.” He
said a great source of pride is when former runners tell him about running in their lives or
become coaches themselves.
“I would like my runners to understand their place in the world, take responsibility, and
hopefully, contribute to the whole in some sort of positive manner. If it involves running, then that
is just icing on the cake,” Whiteside said.