Lancer Nation is mourning the recent passing of Mickey Crouch, the varsity football coach who from 1992 to 2001 led to the program to three state championship games.
An Altavista native, Crouch steered the Lancers to a 77-39 record in 10 seasons and a 56-12 state final victory over Sherando in 1995. The Lancers were state runners-up in 1994 and 1998, respectively.
“Coach Crouch was an instrumental figure in so many of our students’ lives and we are thankful for his service to our community,” Robert Curd, Amherst County High School’s athletic director, said in a statement.
Before coming to Amherst, Crouch had a 26-18 record at Altavista and took the Colonels to the regional playoffs three times.
At the time of his departure from Amherst in 2001, he said in a (Lynchburg) News & Advance interview 14 Lancer alumni were playing college football at the time.
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“This has been the best 10 years of my life,” Crouch said in the 2001 interview. “We had the complete support of the kids and the parents. I’m proud of what we accomplished.”
David Pugh, a player from the 1995 championship team and current member of the Amherst County Board of Supervisors, said Crouch’s passing marked a sad day for the county.
Crouch came to Amherst when the football program was “in the cellar” and in a matter of a few years took them to back-to-back state championship games, Pugh said.
“Coach Crouch had an amazing ability to evaluate talent and then place that player in a position to succeed,” Pugh said. “He certainly was instrumental in my development as both a player and student and had a major impact on my college recruiting by sending film out to various Universities. I can still vividly recall sitting on his couch with my father as he told us that Virginia Tech had offered me a scholarship.”
Pugh, who played on the 1999 Virginia Tech team led by former NFL star Michael Vick that came up short against the Florida State Seminoles in the national championship game, said Crouch made sure he stayed clear of trouble and watched out for his future.
“Mickey was an old school, hardnosed coach who believed in tough love and that was exactly the type of coach Amherst needed and it’s also the exact type of person this world could use a few more of,” Pugh said.
Pugh said he wants the Crouch family to know his former coach will always have place in his heart.
Amherst County Public Schools Superintendent William Wells said he had the pleasure of being an assistant coach for Crouch for 10 years.
“He had a rough outer shell but those who got to know him well could see that he truly cared for his players and his coaches,” Wells said. “I was lucky to have worked with him as he treated his staff not just as coaches but as family.”
Wells said through Crouch’s leadership and dedicated service he put Amherst County High School football on the map in Virginia in the Lancers’ storied 1995 season. He will be missed by his many players and coaches, Wells said.
“To this day, I look back to those years with fond memories of the time spent coaching and working with Coach Crouch.”
