@jayRecher
You never want to wake up to a text like that.
But that's what happened Sunday morning.
I rolled over and picked up my phone and saw that legendary coach and good friend Frank Permuy passed away after a long bout with brain cancer. He was 77.
A very sad day here in the 813 as Coach Permuy touched thousands of lives in the Tampa Bay area, but I wanted to give you all a little glimpse into the friendship that he and I had and what I learned from him.
Frank once joked that if I was 40 years older and grew up in Tampa, that I would have been part of the group with he, Coach Jim Macaluso from King, Coach Pop Cuesta from Jefferson and the late, great Hillsborough coach Billy Reed, and we would have gotten in WAY more trouble. (You can see a great picture of Frank, Pop, Mac and myself BELOW).
I coached against Frank when I was at Freedom but when I started working at WDAE, that's when I was fortunate enough to really get to know him.
One night in the Jefferson press box, Frank and Pop cornered me and voiced their displeasure with how high school baseball was covered in the Tampa Bay area.
That night, I swear to you, I knew I had to do something.
And that's why I started covering high school baseball for WDAE.
I didn't get paid any more. And I lost a LOT of hours of sleep.
But what was I going to do? I couldn't say no to those guys.
They've given DECADES of their time to this community and the great game of baseball and I just felt like if I could do just a little bit to help spread the word, then I had to do it.
From that day forward those two have had my back and have supported me in everything I've done, even outside of covering high school baseball, and I am forever grateful for that.
Ironically enough after coaching at Gaither for all those years, the Cowboys took home a state title the year after Coach Permuy retired, with his longtime assistant Nelson North at the helm.
I was lucky to be in the stadium in Fort Myers that day and I was even luckier to sit there and watch it with Coach P.
This man didn't utter one word of sorrow that he wasn't in the dugout for that championship win. He was more focused on being happy and grateful and heaping praise on Coach North, the coaching staff, the players, and their families.
I learned so much about humility, leadership and thoughtfulness on that day.
Same thing happened a couple years later when Coach Mac and King won the iconic Saladino Tournament.
I just remember sitting there looking at Frank grinning ear-to-ear like HIS team was the one who took home the title.
You could tell that he was a person that took joy in the happiness of the people around him.
We had many talks over the years about baseball, but you could tell what he really loved was his friends and family. That's what really made him happy.
The chats we had about how he met his wife Danae and how he used to rile up Coach Mac back in the day are conversations I'll never forget.
He was so proud of the job Kevin Cash did with the Rays and he always texted me when he was in his seats behind the Rays dugout to come down and say hello when I had a break.
He was such a kind, generous man who always had a nice thing to tell me about somebody.
He loved Orestes Destrade and how he treated the Tampa Bay fans and he did everything he could to help my buddy Allan's baseball bat business, Beacon Bats, get some exposure.
It's still weird to look at his Facebook page and realize that he's gone.
This one hurts.
For a fantastic piece from our friends at 813Preps.com on Frank's life and career with some heartfelt words from some of the people closest to Coach P, CLICK HERE.
On behalf of everyone at WDAE and iHeartMedia Tampa Bay, we send our thoughts, prayers and condolences to the Permuy family, the thousands of friends Frank had around the world and anyone else who was lucky enough to cross paths with him.
#RIPCoachP