People call him Coach.......
    Staff writers ~~The Monahans News ~~ February 25,2005

"Even though I was just the girlfriend of one of his players he will always be Coach to me," said Angie (Ahern) Cawson of Leakey.

"We had quite a battle for my boyfriend, now husband, that first season with Coach Paul Ables.  My husband, Brad Downum, was for all purposes, an orphan.  He lived by himself and really had no one to answer to.

"That changed with Coach Ables.  He wanted to know what, where and when, but he always gave what he took.  Brad learned about loyalty, setting goals and working hard, in the years he played for Coach.  Lessons he continues to use today," Dawson said.

Coach Ables moved to Monahans after making history with his 1975 football team where he was the head coach of the Leakey Eagles.

The first year Ables coached in Leakey, his team won the State Championship.

"I consider that a great accomplishment, as it was his first time ever to coach eight-man football.  After getting to know Coach Ables, I was not surprised at such an accomplishment.

"He taught us through example that nothing was unattainable through hard work and perseverance.  He always had or made time to listen to his students/athletes.  From the beginning of the football season to the very end, he had us believing in ourselves individually and brought us together as a team.

"He always made us remember to take it one game at a time never letting us get  ahead of ourselves," said Rolando Navarro Leakey, class of 1976.

The small town of Leakey won the last state championship in 8-man football against Follett in Brownwood.

"We had two good running backs that I can still remember, Lance Blazek and Baldemar De-Long," Ables said.

Leakey is a small town on Highway 83 about 40 miles north of Uvalde.  Their high school now plays Class B more commonly know as 6-man football today.

"Coach Ables was the greatest motivator as a football coach for the 1975 Leakey Eagles 8-man State Championship football team.

"He made certain that each player had to work for a starting position on the team and to keep it, you had to work hard or else lost it to another teammate," said Mario Navarro, Leakey classmate of 1978.

"His passion for the game itself and the way he instilled it into each of his players was the key to our success.  He expected hard work, sacrifice and your heart to play for him.  No one can take those memories of him away from me."

"Coach Ables was the best coach ever.   He wanted me to give 100 percent on Friday night.  He made us feel like a team while he made each of us feel special appreciated as an individual.  I have the highest respect of Coach as a person as well as a coach,"  Frankie DeLeon, member of the 1975 Leakey team, said.

Ables stills visit Leakey every summer.  Recently the ex-football players visited him in Leakey for his 70th birthday celebration.

He moved to Monahans in 1979, leaving history behind in Leakey.

A friend from college was in need.  Monahans Athletic Director Frank Krhut needed help coaching junior high football.

Krhut and Ables attended college together at Connors Junior College in Warner, OK and again at Sul Ross University.

"His favorite food was banana pudding.  Every weekend during college he would go home and bring back banana pudding," Krhut said.

They have kept in touch throughout the years.

"He was always following me," Krhut laughed.

When asked about Ables favorite vacation places, Krhut said, "Las Vegas.  He's a gambling man.  He loves to play cards, slot machines and pinball machines."

Before coaching at Leakey Ables coached in Missouri, Arkansas, El Paso, Jefferson and Llano.

"He did an outstanding job coaching the junior high boys," Krhut siad.

"He believed in all the kids, no matter what size or build they were," Assistant Transportation Director Gina Williams said.

"I can remember one trip back from Big Spring.  I heard this 'ping, ping'.  I turned on the lights to see what was going on.  The boys had put on their helmets and were throwing ice.  When we pulled up behind the Complex, Coach Ables got out and told all the parents, 'Turn off your headlights, the boys are running.'

"The parents turned their headlights off while the boys ran.  That showed that parents and kids alike had respect for him."

"Coach Ables was a tough guy.  He focused on trying to make you tough and instilled discipline into his players," said Kyle Sanders, MHS Class of 1996.

"When he found out I was going into coaching, he made me a name plate for my desk.  He is a good guy who always cared about his players and kept up with them as they went into high school and college."

Robert Dendy, MHS Class of 1998 said, "the most memorable things I remember about Coach Ables was all the sayings he used to have such as 'you wouldn't bit a biscuit if it had honey on it' and 'my sister used to hit harder than you'.  He was a humorous coach to watch."

Frank Walker, a member of the Leakey Class of 1978 remembers Coach Ables well.

"Coach Ables is more than just a coach," he said.  "he was our teacher, counselor and disciplinarian, and to some of us, a father figure.

"With Coach you always knew where you stood.  He told us the way it was, even if it wasn't what we wanted to hear.  Most of all, he taught us how to deal with life.

"He did more than develop winning teams.  He instilled character and values.  We learned to play for each other, our school and our community.

"When the score wasn't in our favor, we learned to play for pride.  Coach might throw rocks at us for loafing around the track, but he would also take us 40 miles to the hospital at 1 a.m. to get stitches in your chin after a hard-hitting game.

"He might also fall out of his chair in government class while lecturing us about the downfalls of being lazy.

At times we might have loved Coach, laughed at Coach or hated Coach, but one thing for sure, he had a positive impact on all of us."

Once Ables moved to Monahans, he said he never planned on moving again.

"He was a great coach.  My only regret was not being in football under him.  He was fair.  You know, he was honest.  He treated everyone with respect.

He made you want to try to do things as best you could," Juan Chavez, MHS class of 1979, said.

Even though he retired from teaching and coaching, he still stays busy volunteering at the Ward County Golf Course and serving on the school board.

Ables is one of the few volunteers that help maintain the golf course.

"Our golf course is one of the best, and it is one of our drawing points into Monahans," Ables said.

While working at the golf course, he also heads up the Weaver-Johnson Tournament held every year.

This tournament helps raise money for a scholarship given in the memory of former Lobo Coaches David Weaver and Max Johnson.

The scholarship is granted to a graduating senior who participates in the school golf program.  Local coaches vote on the recipient.

This year will be Able's third and last year as a member of the school board.  He decided to step down in the spring.

"It is time for someone else," Ables said.