A Fitting Tribute

As many already know, there is a special kind of camaraderie that goes along with the coaching profession, particularly when it comes to coaching in Montana.

When it comes to high school basketball, especially along the Hi-Line, being a coach is kind of like being in a fraternity. Sure, the men and women who battle from the bench every night want to beat each other, but that doesn't mean they aren't still friends and colleagues when the clock hits triple zero.

And if ever there was an example of a man who was not only a great basketball coach but also a great friend it was Griff Bye, the long-time high school basketball coach who suddenly passed away earlier this year at the age of 56.

In these parts, we are lucky to have known and watched many legendary coaches over the years and Bye, who was born and raised in Sunburst, is easily counted among them. He didn't have the greatest winning percentage and never won a state championship in all his years coaching, but over the course of three decades, Bye coached more than 900 high school boys and girls basketball games.

While Bye certainly coached and won a lot of basketball games during stints at Rocky Boy, Sunburst, Valier. North Star and Power, his impact, on both players and coaches, went well beyond the basketball floor.

The impact of Bye can be measured in a lot of ways. When his funeral was held last May, around 2,000 people showed up to honor him. And this past weekend, at preseason basketball tournaments in Shelby and Chester, the coaching community decided to honor Bye again, by donning his patented look of a Hawaiian shirt and white Adidas shoes.

"When you have that many people show up in less than a week when it all happened," North Star boys basketball coach Walynn Burgess said of the funeral service. "It was insane and they had big flood lights and they didn't want anyone to go home. They wanted people to stay there as long as they could. It's something you can read about, but you can't really understand the magnitude and how much he meant to lots of people. I think just about every person from North Toole County was there and they were all his friends."

Burgess got to know Bye, when he was the head coach of the North Star girls basketball team a few years ago. And just like the coaches at the Shelby tournament, Burgess and the coaches at the CJI Preseason Tournament honored Bye by wearing his patented Hawaiian shirts, along with the white Adidas shoes.

"You know we opened up with Power," Burgess said. "And Power and North Star were the last two schools that he coached at, so that was pretty cool. Jeff Graham (Belt girls head coach) and I tried to kind of make it a statewide thing that first weekend to get everyone that knew Griff to rock the Hawaiian and the Adidas, the good ole Griff look."

Not only did Burgess wear the Hawaiian shirts, but so did all of his players. The North Star girls team also joined in the effort, as did both teams from Power.

"It was pretty cool," Burgess said. "We had a couple of his buddies come up to me and say 'Geez, I didn't know there was that many Hawaiian prints on the Hi-Line.' Because we had both our boys and girls teams, as well as the Power boys and girls team wearing the Hawaiians. Dutton-Brady's head coach and our girls coaches wore them Thursday, the first day. There was a lot of participation. Also before we played Power, Brian Campbell (North Star athletic director) gave a speech that was a tribute to Griff, and we had a moment of silence. To do that off the top of his head was pretty cool."

The funny thing was, according to Burgess, that Bye might have been onto to something with his coaching attire. Maybe just maybe, it wasn't all just for looks.

"It's definitely a little easier to get in a stance and show the kids how to do some defensive slides," Burgess quipped.

Belt girls basketball head coach Jeff Graham didn't quite agree. He said that was unique to Griff, who was also unique in his own way.

"Maybe for him it worked, but that was a little weird for me," Graham said with a laugh. "I don't think that anyone could ever copy that. That will always be his own thing I believe. Anyway, I don't think I could pull it off."

Burgess, who's first year as the head coach of the North Star boys also coincided with Bye's last year coaching the North Star girls, said he learned countless things from Bye, who was known throughout the state for his love of the game and his penchant for drawing up plays, on any surface, during any time of day.

"Griff taught me a lot," Burgess said. "I remember to this day, we played in Hays and we weren't supposed to beat them and ended up losing by like two. And Griff, he always used to stand near the front of the bus, he would never sit down. He would just chat your ear off, then the only time he would sit down was when he would say 'Come on get your phone out and let's draw up some plays.' And we would just sit there and draw up plays and talk basketball. I remember that night, we drew up plays and just talked basketball until we were about 10 minutes outside of Havre. We finally stopped because my phone was about to die."

Yet, with Bye, it wasn't always about basketball. And according to Burgess, it was never about himself, it was always about others.

"He used to affect people's lives and he didn't even know it," Burgess said. "He was just being Griff and he just wanted to meet new friends and find out how you were doing. It was never about him. He always wanted to find out what was going on in your life. That was the one thing that you could always take back from him. He was the most unselfish, genuine guy that you could ever meet."

While Burgess knew Bye well, Graham's relationship with the long-time coach went back even farther.

"He used to play softball with my dad, so I knew him from back when I was a kid," Graham said. "When I played in high school, he coached against me, so it was pretty cool to be able to coach against him in the (Northern C Division)."

Graham recently named his son, James Griffith Graham who is just a month old, after his father but also after Bye, who was a close friend. And like many others, he has plenty of stories to tell about Griff Bye, stories about what kind of coach he was and, more importantly, the kind of person he became. But so much of Bye's life was spent on the basketball court with the kids he loved to coach and the game he enjoyed being around so much.

"The thing about him, was that even when you met him you felt like you knew him for years," Graham said. "He was just genuine. That's one of the words you use. He wants you to do well, and he called me about every single gameday for the last 10 years, just to check in and wish you good luck. He is about the only person I would answer a phone call from after losing a state championship game, just to cheer you up and lift you up. That's just how he was, not only as a coach, but as a person."