Stephens returns to Bartlett

You can go home again, especially if you're an area legend like Dick Stephens.

The veteran coach returned to the Bartlett sidelines on Tuesday as a voluntary assistant coach at the request of his former assistants, Hawks head coach Tom Meaney and offensive coordinator Mark Williams.

"I feel pretty good," said Stephens, 73. "I've had five bypasses and I have diabetes, but what the (heck). You either sit down and die or you keep on moving. I love football. There's nothing like coming back to the school you started and seeing how far it's come."

Meaney and Williams decided on Saturday they could use one more coach to round out the Bartlett staff, so they made a phone call to the upper peninsula of Michigan, where Stephens was spending the summer.

"So, I called him up," Meaney said. "He's out walking in the woods and fishing and says, 'Heck, I can coach football. When do you want me, tomorrow?' He came the next day. He winterized his cabin, put the jet ski in the dock and was ready to go. He got here Monday."

The all-time winningest coach at Elgin High School during two stints from 1969-1977 and 1987-1995, Stephens also coached for 23 seasons at four schools in Michigan and has a lifetime coaching record of 211-203-4.

Stephens is the original architect of the successful Bartlett football program, which he and a staff that included Meaney and Williams built from scratch in 1998. He underwent quintuple bypass surgery during the 2003 season and stepped down afterward.

Stephens returned to Michigan and spent the last four seasons as head coach at Western Jackson High School. However, that rebuilding program went 4-32 during Stephens' tenure and his contract was not renewed in February.

Stephens will coach the defensive line for Bartlett while bunking at the Williams' home.

"We love him," Williams said. "Dick started (Bartlett) and he gave us all our chance. Coach Meaney and I both served under Dick at Elgin and he gave us both our first sophomore jobs. We owe a lot to him for building the program to where it's at, for making the playoffs eight straight years.

"He's probably one of the toughest men I know. He had an open-heart surgery with five valves fixed and was on the sideline within (four) weeks. That was amazing. That old school toughness - every football team needs it."