By STEVE BARLOW
For nearly 40 seasons, Fred Williams has sat on his haunches along the sidelines at Northwestern High on his way to coaching immortality in Connecticut.
With Saturday afternoon’s 59-34 win at Shepaug, Williams, 65, became only the third girls basketball coach in state history to achieve 600 career victories.
His record of 600-292 trails only Dave Strong (704 victories at Masuk) and Nick Economopoulos (619 at Lyman Hall, East Catholic, Coginchaug) on the Connecticut list.
His teams have won 10 Berkshire League titles, including eight in a row from 1987-94, and 141 straight BL games during that span. Northwestern also won the 1990 Class M state title.
The Sunday Republican asked some former and current rivals for their thoughts about coaching against him:
Paul Ebbs, Thomaston
“I always thought it was funny that in eight years (1987-94) I only won three times, but that was the best anybody did against Fred. He had all of our numbers. He’s an excellent coach and a great guy. Nobody held it against him. Jealous of him? Yes, because of all the wins he had, but nobody held it against him.”
“We beat them in the (BL tournament in 1993) and that ended the streak. It gave my kids confidence, knowing how good Northwestern was, and that was the year we went on to win the Class S title.”
Ken Gladding, Wamogo
“That 1-2-2 matchup zone defense of his gave me fits. I wasn’t smart enough to figure it out. He said to me one time, ‘When you retire and I retire, I’ll tell you all about it.’”
“Fred is the Geno of the Berkshire League. He can take average talent and make it into a good team. There were years when he had talent — (Beth) Finn, (Tricia) Blood, (Christine) Wallace. He did have talent, but he’s in every game, it seems. They’re always fundamentally sound because he’s a great fundamentals teacher.”
Al Ciarlo, Shepaug, Lewis Mills
“One year, we went to Housatonic for the Berkshire League tournament. I held the ball the whole time. The halftime score was 9-1. (My assistant) said, ‘We don’t even have a basket.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but they only have nine points and they average 60.’ But Fred was patient. Christine Wallace got a couple of three-point plays in the second half and they won it.”
Bob Anzelotti, Litchfield
“His teams were always ready to play, and his games were always so tough, especially on their home court. You always had to have your team ready to play against him.”
Tom Morgan, Nonnewaug, Terryville
“He has had good players, but not an unfair amount of good players. But they play better defense. That’s the constant with Northwestern: defense, defense, defense. Nobody has come close to holding us to 30 points as many times as they have.”
Gerry Hicks, Gilbert
“From my girls, they always say he brings out the best in his players. That’s my girls talking. He always has a good word for the girls on the other team. He’s interested in them and what they’re doing.”