Sports obituary: Legendary coach passes

Published 12:00 am Sunday, November 3, 2024

By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

EAST SPENCER — Leland Sherrill Peacock, a notable local high school coach who grew up in East Spencer, passed away on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Born in 1949, he was 75.

Before Peacock coached, he was a mighty player, an imposing physical presence on the line during his high school days at North Rowan, and a ferocious wrestler at 183 pounds.

He was an All-Rowan County lineman during the 1965 and 1966 football seasons when those squads were limited to 22 men. He was an All-North Piedmont Conference tackle both seasons, in an era when making all-conference was a major feat. Both of those All-NPC teams included only two Cavaliers.

As a high school athlete, Peacock, who also excelled in track, was an icon to youngsters.

“I was about 10 years old when he was a standout athlete at North Rowan, but he’s not one of those people you forget,” said Chip Baker, a North graduate who would spend 39 seasons as an assistant coach and director of baseball operations at Florida State University. “Leland Peacock was just one of those rare guys. So rough and tough on the field, but just this wonderful, gentle guy off it.”

Peacock played college football at Elon when they were still the Fighting Christians and still were taking on fellow NAIA schools such as Catawba, Guilford, Presbyterian, Appalachian and Western Carolina in the Carolinas Conference.

He roomed with Boyden graduate Ron Raper, who would also become an outstanding coach. Peacock earned football letters and a degree in health and physical education while he was at Elon. He knew he wanted to coach all along. He served as a student assistant for football and wrestling in 1974. He graduated in the spring of 1975.

He served as a graduate assistant for coach Bill Faircloth at Catawba College during the 1975 football season before returning to Elon in 1976 to help with the offensive line. That was a banner 11-1 season for Elon, and coaches gave Peacock some of the credit for the development of All-America lineman Danny Bass.

When Jerry Tolley was hired as Elon’s head coach prior to the 1977 season — Red Wilson had moved on after 10 seasons at the helm — Tolley elevated Peacock to head offensive line coach.

In July 1978, North Rowan announced that Peacock was coming home. He had been hired as assistant football coach, girls track coach and freshman girls basketball coach. Head football coach Larry Thomason needed a new defensive coordinator to replace Roger Secreast, who had taken the head job at Mooresville. Peacock would be that guy.

That was a stout era for North Rowan football. Thomason’s teams were 125-69-3 over a 19-season stretch from 1969-1987.

With Peacock as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, the Cavaliers went 11-1 in 1982 and 1985. They were 10-0 in the regular season both years. The 6-0 victory against A.L. Brown in the first round of the 1982 3A state playoffs is remembered by all who were there. North’s fierce 1985 defense was even stingier, allowing less than 6 points per game.

In time, Peacock would transition to coaching the offensive line for more strong North teams, with Secreast as head coach. North was 3A state runner-up in 1992.

“Coach Peacock was tough on us,” said former North lineman Brian Blackwell, who played on the 1985 squad. “He’d tell us if we got beat it wasn’t going to be because we weren’t tough. He instilled that toughness in us, but he also had compassion. He’d take us to Lexington to lift weights at Nautilus. He’d feed us and take us on recruiting trips on Saturdays. When I got into coaching, I tried to model my coaching style after his.”

Jeff Chapman, who became a longtime coach in Rowan County and served on staffs for great West Rowan and North Rowan squads, vividly remembers playing for Peacock in the 1979-80 seasons. Chapman describes himself as an average high school athlete who was searching for the right role and a doze of confidence, but Peacock believed in him.

“I’d been running with the defensive ends and linebackers, but one night in the locker room before the game, he says out of the blue, ‘Chapman is starting at nose guard tonight,'” Chapman recalls. “I was as surprised as anyone in the room. I was like, ‘What did he just say?’ He showed me a few things and I went out and played and did OK, and he taught me more about the position every week. Coach Peacock giving me that chance, having faith in me, was a huge thing in my life. I started at nose guard the rest of my time at North. He got the best out of me.”

Peacock will be remembered mostly for football at North, but he also coached strong girls track teams.

“I remember him coaching track at North,” Baker said. “He was an awesome track coach. He saw things that most people don’t see. Like all the great coaches, he got it out of his kids. They gave him all they had to give.”

Peacock owned two master’s degrees — in physical education and driver’s education. He taught a generation of young drivers at North. He taught some biology classes as well as P.E.

His full life included being an ordained minister, a volunteer fireman and a church deacon.

After his long run at North, Peacock coached at East Rowan. He coached track and field and was part of  Jeff Safrit’s East Rowan football staffs in the late 1990s before he retired from the Rowan-Salisbury School System. After “retirement,” Peacock assisted on two state championship teams at Concord.

Chapman went to visit Peacock a few weeks before his death. They shared old war stories and memories. They laughed for hours, although both of them were well aware that Peacock’s time was running short.

“He was a mountain of a man, tough as nails, but he would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it,” Chapman said. “He was the toughest coach I ever knew, but he also was the sweetest. He was a great influence on my life. In my coaching career, I tried to be as much like him as I could.”