Walt Abbott says that what makes the best linebackers are the people that play in front and behind them.
If the line and the defensive backs aren’t doing their jobs, it can be difficult for the linebackers to have much success at theirs.
“Good linebackers look good because they have people that help make them look good,” said Abbott, once a standout linebacker at the University of Maine. “You’re surrounded by good people.”
So when he is honored this weekend in Orlando, Fla., Abbott will be the first to say that it wasn’t just because of something the Rumford native and longtime professor and former football coach achieved. It is recognition of all the people that Abbott associated himself with and influenced along the way. Abbott will be honored for distinguished service by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association at a banquet on Sunday.
“It’s a great honor,” said Abbott. “It’s been part of my life, but it’s been fun. You want to help people. That makes sports what it is. It’s made it a really enjoyable time for me.”
Abbott has been teaching and coaching at Maine since 1960 and has influenced thousands of students. He’s an associate professor of kinesiology and physical education in Maine’s College of Education and Human Development, where he specialized in the areas of the coaching profession, physical fitness and outdoor leadership, safety and rescue.
“As you go through life, you’ve got some good things,” said Abbott. “First, there’s your family and then there are kids you work with, that play for you and you watch go on and have their own success.
“You have an awful lot of pride in the people you’ve been associated with. It’s about people and what they stand for and the success they’ve had.”
The Distinguished Service award is presented annually to recognize length of service, special accomplishments and contributions to interscholastic athletics. Nominated by the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, Abbott is one of 14 individuals nationwide and one of four from outside the field of athletic administration to be recognized.
“I was very surprised,” said Abbott. “They only pick four outside that field. I feel very humbled and very honored to be one of those four.”
The nomination describes Abbott as a role model and mentor who has dedicated his life to helping others achieve their goals. In 45 years, no other person has had the lasting impact that Abbott has or possessed the passion and energy he has brought to the cause.
“It couldn’t be more fitting,” said College Dean Robert Cobb. “Over the years, the strength of his influence in developing coaches has earned him a veritable legion of coaching protgs across the northeast who still contact him regularly to discuss all aspects of coaching and of sports in general.
“Whether it concerns player development or team tactics and strategies, he has seen it all and done most of it. He has learned from his vast experience as a coach and a trainer of coaches and has been ever so willing to share that expertise with anyone and everyone.”
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