Coach Ray Dalton passes away

[mjgIII]

Longtime Brentwood Academy wrestling and assistant football coach Ray Dalton died Thursday night after a lengthy illness and complications from hip replacement surgery.

 

 

 

A Franklin native, Dalton began his coaching career in Tifton, Ga., after graduating from the University of Tennessee. He returned to Franklin and coached wrestling while assisting with the football program, then did the same upon joining the staff at Brentwood Academy in 1980.

“He was a dear friend and a great coach,†said Carlton Flatt, former football coach at Brentwood Academy. “He coached our defensive front people and he started our wrestling program, won two or three championships.

“He was a loyal person, respected authority, a great family man — everything you look for in a coach, in a dad, in a friend. He was the top of the top.â€

Jeff Jordan played football and wrestled under Dalton at Franklin during the mid-‘70s.

 

 

“Coach Dalton was a hard coach,†said Jordan, current wrestling coach at Clarksville. “A lot of my friends, he was so tough that he ran some of them off. When I wrestled for him, he wasn’t much of a wrestling coach; he was more of a football coach. He got a lot better, as all of us did. But one thing — he was tough, and he taught toughness to us.

 

 

“One of the trademarks of me and my teams has been toughness and discipline, ‘stick-to-it-ness’. I attribute a lot of that to Coach Dalton. He taught me some moves, but most of what he taught me was bigger than technique.â€

 

 

Before his retirement in 2007, Dalton coached six individual state wrestling champions at Brentwood Academy — including Bubba Miller and Scott Wells, both two-time state titlists who went on to play football at Tennessee and in the NFL — and won three dual state titles. At Franklin, he coached Butch Burnette to the 185-pound state title in 1976.

 

 

Dalton, 69, is survived by his parents, Frank and Marian; his wife, Betty Ann; daughters Leah Dalton Berry, Mary Rae Dalton Moore and Julie Dalton Teglas; and four grandchildren.

 

 

During his final days, Dalton was surrounded by his family and by his former athletes.

 

 

“As you watched his players, his wrestlers, come in and you saw the respect they have for him, it was an unbelievable thing to watch happen,†Flatt said. “We’ll dearly miss him.â€

[clintabbott]

Ray Dalton was truly a very good coach and a great coach to officiate for. When he questioned, you listened.

[facenthecrowd]

So sorry to hear about Coach Dalton. He was a real pioneer in Middle Tennessee wrestling as he led Franklin High School and Brentwood Academy. Coach Dalton made Franklin High School a powerhouse back in the day and won some state championships at Brentwood Academy. He will be missed by all.

 

My prayers are with him and his family.