By: Easton Fothergill
There are many people who love the outdoors, but you’d be hard pressed to meet someone more passionate for the outdoors than William Crawford. Crawford is the director of the University of Montevallo’s Outdoor Scholars Program and the head coach of UM’s fishing team.
Crawford was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was heavily involved in sports all throughout high school, and then went on to play baseball in college. This is where Crawford really started to put his competitive personality to work. Along with sports, Crawford’s family was heavily into the outdoors. By default, he took part in hunting camp, fishing trips, and more, because it was just the way of life for his family. Little did Crawford know; he would eventually stumble into the perfect blend of competitiveness and his love of the outdoors for his future occupation.
The fishing team and the Outdoor Scholars Program idea actually did not start with Crawford. It was actually the university’s president, Dr. John Stewart, who had the idea. Like Crawford, Stewart also has a deep love for the outdoors. He had a vision: At the time, Stewart’s vision was kind of viewed as far-fetched. That’s when he met Crawford. The two got together, made a plan, and the rest is history.
The program kicked off in 2014 with only eight students. Today, there are over 100 students in the program. The fishing team started in 2018 and has grown at an extraordinary rate the past few years. In less than a decade, Outdoor Scholars and the fishing team were built from the ground up and have gained national recognition. Crawford stated “watching this team grow has been really cool to watch. We have kids on the team from all over the country. People from California, Minnesota, Virginia, Wisconsin, Texas, and more. The team is still growing, and I’m really excited for what the future holds.”
Many people think fishing is luck, but this is completely not the case. Crawford is one of the hardest working, competitive and driven people, according to members of the fishing team. Nick Dumke, a senior on the team, said “watching coach Crawford coach really is something to see. When we have an intense meeting, we like to call it a Powwow. He will get up in our face and scream at us if we are in the wrong. It really kind of scares you at first. But this is exactly why our team is so successful. You leave those meetings feeling like you could run through a brick wall.” The Montevallo team has a depth chart, which is a running list of who the best boats on the team are. This creates a competition within the team to make everyone that much more motivated. “Its just an extra incentive to do your best at every tournament” team member Nick Dumke said. Crawford is always pushing the team to focus on the little things, always work harder than your opponent, and only control what you can control. He emphasizes that if they do these things, they will be successful.
This past season, the Montevallo fishing team had what was quite possibly the most impressive season any team has had in college fishing ever, winning tournaments in every circuit they could fish in and being named “School of the Year” for the fourth year in a row.
In conclusion, it is Crawford’s drive and competitiveness that drives the Montevallo fishing team. He has the perfect blend of love for the outdoors, and being a fierce competitor, which is what makes him such a great coach. Going out to each tournament, Crawford is excellent at making sure the team is driven and is competing with a purpose. Everyone is driven to win when they pull out of the boat shed. All this is because of coach Crawford.
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