VIDALIA, La. — Vidalia High head football coach Dee Faircloth chuckled when asked where he was from.

&uot;My dad was a coaching gypsy,&uot; he said. &uot;In 12 years I went to 10 different schools.&uot;

Perhaps that’s why Faircloth has spent the last 33 of his 35 years of coaching at Vidalia.

&uot;Well, it sure ain’t the money,&uot; he said.

No, the reason Faircloth has finally made his home in Vidalia is for a far more precious commodity than cash.

&uot;It’s working with kids. It always has been,&uot; he said. &uot;We’ve got great kids in Vidalia. Even the ones in prison, the warden always tells me they’re good kids.&uot;

Although obviously flippant at times, Faircloth is serious about his and other coaches’ part as a mentor and role model.

&uot;We try to teach values as much as we can,&uot; he said. &uot;Teach them to be good citizens, family people. Teach them to take care of the youngsters.

&uot;We have a motto down this way — take care of business.&uot;

To further try to instill values in his charges, Faircloth, who attends the First Baptist Church of Vidalia, has spoken out in the past on allowing prayer in public school.

&uot;When I take over the world, I will restore prayer in schools and at football games,&uot; he said.

&uot;I’ll do away with homecoming, too,&uot; he added, because of the distraction the event causes his team.

But that, of course, is a coach talking, not the 150-pound quarterback and middle linebacker who played college football at Northeast Lousiana University.

&uot;I like to got killed,&uot; he said of his playing days.

He survived, however, graduating in 1968. He has been married to his wife, Dot, for 36 years and the couple have two children and three grandchildren.

Coaching football is a family vocation for the Faircloths. Faircloth’s father was the first head football coach at Block High School, and he later was an assistant coach at Texas A&M.

&uot;My dad coached until his death,&uot; Faircloth said.

From the sound of things, Faircloth would enjoy a similar fate.

&uot;The best part of coaching is watching the kids develop,&uot; he said. &uot;To see them come in as ninth-graders and leave as seniors, to go out into life and launch their careers.

&uot;We just try to be as much a part of that as we can.&uot;