Randy Smith: "Polarizing" Steve Chattin Leaves Heritage Softball

  • Monday, April 20, 2015
  • Randy Smith
Randy Smith
Randy Smith

A person with a polarizing personality is someone you either love or hate. That seems to be the case with Heritage softball coach Steve Chattin, who resigned on Friday. Coach Chattin has always been like that. I've known Steve for close to twenty-five years and I found him to be one of the very best softball coaches I ever saw. We coached against each other a few times in the mid-1990s when we were both coaching summer softball. Those who hated him back then were usually the ones who couldn't beat him.

He coached the elite Frost Falcon teams and his coaching philosophy back then was the same as it is today; a very demanding, "my way or the highway" approach.

Normally when a coach resigns at the high school level, it has something to do with a disagreement with school administration. That doesn't appear to be the case this time. Heritage principal Ronnie Bradford couldn't say enough nice things about Coach Chattin, saying his resignation caught everyone by surprise. "I think the world of Steve. I've been a big fan of his since we opened the school."

So.....why did he quit? It couldn't have been a lack of success on the field. Chattin is the only coach in the school's history, winning 198 games in seven seasons, and taking the Generals to the elite eight of the Georgia State Tournament six of those seven seasons. Heritage won four region championships under Chattin's watch and  he had a total of seventeen girls sign college scholarships to extend their softball careers. 

When Tennessee's highly successful softball coach Ralph Weekly was inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame a little over a year ago, among those sitting at his table was Steve Chattin. Weekly said when he took the UTC job in 1994, he learned the "speed game" from none other than Steve Chattin. That's quite an endorsement. 

I would imagine that Steve's departure from Heritage was due to a conflict with a few parents. Parents who want their young ladies to get the glory for winning and being part of a highly successful program, without paying the full price. Under Steve Chattin, that full price has always included a complete dedication to softball, as well as a lot of hard work. Knowing Steve  the way I do, that will never change.

"Polarizing" is a harsh sounding word when used to describe someone. Hard nosed, or uncompromising would be better. To say that Steve Chattin is demanding is a real understatement, but if his successor at Heritage isn't as demanding as he was, the Generals will not be able to generate the same success on the field. If I were Ronnie Bradford, and some of the parents who like Steve Chattin I know exactly who I would turn to. I would try to talk Chattin out of his resignation. I would try my best to rehire him as the head softball coach, because even though he may be a "polarizing" personality, he's polarizing for all the right reasons.

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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.

His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.

He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.

In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.

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