Ginger Pope - President /CEO
Coach Mike Pope - Camp Director
(C) (864) 247-8394 (H) 704-635-7962
MAILING ADDRESS
COACH MIKE POPE
HAWG TUFF! OLINE CAMPS
1712 SUE STREET
MONROE, N.C. 28110
E-mail: hawgtuffcamps@yahoo.com
WEBMASTER -
Coach George Duncan
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HAWG TUFF FORUM NEW |
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2009 Hawg-Tuff Lineman Challenge Event Description |
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Football Program NEW |
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The O-Line Poem NEW |
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O-Line Poem NEW |
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CLICK FOR INFO
HAWG-TUFF VISITORS
      
Coach Pope will be coaching at Wingate University this fall! This is something that he has always wanted to do. He is very excited about working with Coach Joe Reich and staff! Wingate university football link http://sports.wingate.edu/football/default.asp
THE MIKE POPE STORY
(CLICK FOR STORY)
Celebration of Life Thru Sports Award
HELMET CLEATS
BRING TENNIS SHOES IN CASE OF RAIN
COACHES RESOURCES
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This site was last updated 07/30/10
Coach inspires players after losing both legs
MYRTLE BEACH, SC – There is more to a Hawg Tuff Offensive Line Camp than run blocking and pass protection. Coach Mike Pope hosted the camp at Carolina Forest High School on Monday and says he has a bigger message.
"He just wants you to know you're very blessed to be a football player," Carolina Forest rising-senior offensive lineman Jagger Turner said.
Pope is a 30 year coaching veteran who lost both of his legs to a staph infection five years ago. He continues running camps around the country and his example inspires players as much as his high-intensity practice methods do.
"In football you learn if you're knocked down, dust your pants off and try again," Pope said. The message gets through to players loud and clear. "When you fall down, it's easier to get back up, and that's a good message," Turner said. "Just have to fall down and get back up." Pope says he hopes overcoming challenges in his life will motivate his players, but he says he does not want them to feel bad for him. He says he gets to do what he loves every day.
"People see a poor old fat guy with no legs, [they think] he has to have the worst life in the world," Pope said. "I've got the best life in the whole world. I'm the luckiest guy in the whole world." Pope recently had a book written about him called "Do They Play Football in Heaven."
I would like to welcome you to this site. On this site you will find a message forum board and a lot of really great O-line coaching and motivational materials. We will be adding to these as the year goes by.
We are excited
about the
plans for the
2010 Hawg Tuff
O-line Camps
this year as
well as our
Hawg Tuff
Linemen
Challenges. We
will be
setting up the
Hawg Tuff Line
Camps, Hawg
Tuff Linemen
Challenges and
Youth Camps in
several states
this upcoming
year so check
back often for
more details.
You can view
information
about all of
these by
clicking on
the tabs to
the left of
the webpage.
We should have the complete list of camps and challenges up by March 1, 2010.
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I have some great news! The South Carolina Football Coaches Association is sponsoring a book about my life and career. Wilt Browning, a very respected sportswriter and author is writing the book. It will be entitled – “DO THEY PLAY FOOTBALL IN HEAVEN? It is going to be a great read for coaches, players and fans of our great game. You can click on the picture below to see the flyer and order form for the book. The coaches association is offering a special pre-publishing price for the book. This book will not only present my life and career as a coach for 37 years but also a lot of South Carolina High School football history. I am very excited
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The book is $20.00 which includes shipping |
“Do They Play Football in Heaven?” written by Wilt Browning is one of the truly inspirational sports books in an era in which athletes and coaches frequently make headlines for reasons other than wins and losses. Mike’s philosophy of God, family, and football is shared in this biography which shows how God works in our everyday lives.
Mike Pope is a mountain of a man who has coached most sports played at the high school level through more than 35 seasons, though football has always been his first love athletically. And now without his own legs, with the use of prostheses, Mike is entering his second season as a college coach, albeit a volunteer one. One will find him working with offensive linemen at Wingate University located very near his Monroe, N.C., hometown.
In all those years, Mike has won and he has lost, he has been hired and he has been fired. And he has suffered through a series of medical crises so grim that at one point a family member recommended making funeral arrangements. Still, Mike coaches on.
A few years ago, Mike was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, a condition that called for a life-saving quadruple bypass heart operation. Then in March 2005, more heart problems developed and surgeons implanted a pacemaker to attend to the rhythm of Mike’s heart. But instead of giving him the worry-free days for which it was intended, the procedure almost cost Mike his life. While recovering from the trauma of the surgery, he developed an infection, and the source of the infection turned out to be the dread MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).
MRSA cost Mike both legs below the knees. But the infection did not take away the heart of a coach or his spirit.
This will be Mike Pope’s story. It will include the laughter and the tears that come with life for a coach. Mostly, the book will deal with the triumphs his life represents. There have been many, and not nearly all of them were announced in scoreboard lights. More than 14,000 boys and one girl have attended the “Hawg Tuff” camps for offensive linemen that Mike has been holding every year in many states in the South, Southwest and Midwest. Countless numbers of high school athletes have called him “Coach” at a half dozen school where Mike has walked the sidelines. The readers of “Do They Play Football in Heaven?” will hear from many of the athletes like Troy Brown of the New England Patriots, whose lives the Popes have touched, and from coaches with whom and against whom he has worked.
This book is a great read for people of all ages, as the Pope family shares their story of what God can do in your life and how you can affect so many people around you.
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Rather than give in to illness, football coach helps strengthen players
7-13-09
COLUMBIA, SC - Mike Pope could've quit coaching a few years ago when he suffered a personal tragedy. Most people would. Instead, the longtime South Carolina coach travels around the country helping football's unsung heroes --the lineman -- all for the love of the game. Pope loves football grunts.
"Lineman are special," he said. "They're like the forgotten child. We just need to do all we can do to build them up." So for the past 20 years, this former offensive lineman has been holding inexpensive camps for kids as far away as Texas. They're called Hog Tuff. "I'm the boss hog," he says. During camps like the one this week, players run home-grown drills with rodeo-like names like root hawg and bull pull. The tire flip requires plenty of strength. "It's hard," said one player. And it's their fun that drives Pope. Four years ago, he lost his legs after getting a staph infection in the hospital. "For six months it was eating me up," he said. But getting back on the field motivated him.
"God decided he wasn't going to take me four years ago," said Pope. "For whatever reason, he's going to let me stay and I hope he lets me stay longer. There's lots of things I want to do."
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Joe DeLamielleure – legendary Pro Hall of Fame offensive guard has joined in with Coach Mike Pope and will be coaching at some of the HAWG TUFF! OLINE CAMPS this year. Joe brings an immense love for the game, some superior o-line skills and unique strength and conditioning methods to the camp experience.
COME VISIT JOE D’S HAWG TUFF! PAGE AND LEARN ABOUT A LEGEND!
HAWG TUFF! OLINE CAMPS
PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
CANTON, OHIO
JUNE 28, 2010
PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME HAWG TUFF! OLINE CAMP COACHING STAFF
2010 East Jackson Linemen Challenge
2010 Wingate Camp
2010 Trinity Camp
2009 DESCRIPTION OF LINEMAN CHALLENGE EVENTS
PLEASE CLICK
Linemen come together at Walhalla
Daniel
High
School
linemen,
from left,
Richard
Miller,
Cody
Thurlow
and
Matthew
Craig pull
the rope
during the
tug-of-war
competition
at the
Hawg-Tuff
Lineman
Challenge
on Friday
in
Walhalla.
WALHALLA — Sure,
there isn’t much
from the Hawg-Tuff
Lineman Challenge
that is going to
directly translate
to the gridiron
when it counts on
Friday nights.
But according to
all parties
involved in the
matter, that’s
really not what’s
important.
On the other hand,
they’ll point out
it’s the indirect
things, like
confidence,
camaraderie and a
sense of teamwork,
which were all
stressed on Friday
in Walhalla, that
can pay huge
dividends when the
lights come on in
the fall.
With that in mind,
linemen from 10
different schools
traveled to
Walhalla for the
competition on
Friday afternoon,
including local
notables Daniel,
Seneca and
West-Oak in
addition to the
Razorbacks, with
Blue Ridge
ultimately taking
the title after
competing in 10
events, which
ranged from the
bench press to a
tug of war.
Daniel and Seneca,
which both brought
enough players to
form two squads,
saw their top
units finish tied
for second place
with 84 points,
though the Lions
officially took
second in a
tiebreaker.
But in the end, it
wasn’t the final
rankings anyone
was truly
concerned about,
as Friday was all
about having a
good time and
building bonds.
“It’s just fun to
watch them go out
there and
compete,” Walhalla
head coach John
Boggs said. “I
thought it was a
lot of fun, and
I’d rather do this
than
seven-on-sevens
any day.”
Seneca’s Casey
Baldwin, who
captured top
honors in the
bench press while
finishing second
in the bull pull,
said the same
thing, as he said
he enjoyed his
second straight
year of taking
part in the
competition.
“It’s an overall
combination of
speed, strength,
agility and
endurance, and
it’s just a really
good time out
here,” Baldwin
said. “It’s a
pretty good
experience, and we
just came out to
have a good time
and get better as
a unit.”
And with the
prevalence of
summer passing
leagues for the
skill position
players getting
the limelight,
Seneca head coach
Ron Duncan said
opportunities like
the Hawg-Tuff
competition are a
good way to give
the guys in the
trenches a good
time.
“It’s something
good to get those
big guys
competing,” Duncan
said. “We do a lot
of passing leagues
in the summer, and
this is something
really good for
our linemen to
compete with and
it went really
well.”
And while it may
not be the biggest
thing, Duncan said
he was able to see
some noted
improvement
compared to the
Bobcats’ showing
from last year, as
his second squad
captured a
fourth-place
finish this year.
“We can kind of
judge our program
on how we did last
year compared to
this year, and
strength-wise the
speed and agility
of our linemen
kind of shows
we’re making
progress,” Duncan
added.
On that note,
there was no move
for Daniel in the
standings this
year, as the Lions
finished in second
place for the
second time in as
many years.
However, Lions
offensive line
coach Jamie Wilson
said he noticed a
big change in his
group this time
around.
“These guys are
tighter together
than any guys
we’ve got,” Wilson
said. “Last year
our wide receivers
were really
together, and our
linemen weren’t,
but it’s not like
that this year.”
Instead, Wilson
said both his
offensive line and
the team as a
whole are growing
close, as many of
the Lions’ skill
players even came
out early in the
day to cheer on
their teammates.
“They didn’t have
to come over
here,” Wilson
said. “This is
team building, and
I’m happy with the
effort we showed
today.”
And that is really
what the Hawg-Tuff
Lineman Challenge
is all about.
Hawg-Tuff Lineman
Challenge team
results
1. Blue Ridge 95
2. Daniel (1) 84
(tiebreaker)
3. Seneca (1) 84
4. Seneca (2) 79
5. McCormick 59
6. Walhalla 55
7. Wren 49
8. West-Oak 46
9. Daniel (2) 39
10. Dixie 33
11. Crescent 31
12. Woodmont 20
THE HAWG-TUFF CAMP IS APPROVED BY THE
SOUTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL
LEAGUE
CAMP SCHEDULE
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8:00 - 9:00 |
Registration |
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9:00 - 9:30 |
Welcome and Lecture |
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9:30 - 12:00 |
Run / Pass Instruction |
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12:00 - 12:45 |
Lunch |
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12:45 - 1:00 |
Lecture |
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1:00 - 3:30 |
Run / Pass Instruction |
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3:30 - 4:00 |
Academic Emphasis |
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SAT PREP |
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College Recruiting |
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End Camp! |
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Hawg Tuff Summer Tour 2010
NEWS
How it all got started....
Twenty years ago, Coach Mike Pope began the Hawg Tuff! Camps out of a desire to provide quality instruction to offensive linemen at a fraction of the cost of big camps where kids were paying high prices but not getting their money's worth. The first camp was held at Indian Land High School (SC) where 40 young men attended. Since that time, camps have been added and attendance at the camps has grown. We will be having over 25 camps or challenges this year.
Young men have attended the Hawg Tuff! camps from South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio and Georgia in the past few years and now Hawg Tuff! will be going into Texas, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Tennessee this year. . Some of these campers have gone on to play at the collegiate and professional level. All of them improved their skills and made themselves better high school players and an asset to their respective teams.
The success of these camps has always been the result of the excellent coaches involved. They are all dedicated, hard working, and enthusiastic with a vast knowledge about offensive line play and technique. Some of the great coaches that have been involved in the camp over the years are Allen Sitterle, Bucky Tillotson, Ernie Hughes, Emet Reyes, Danny Sawyer, Marty Williams, Carl Startsman, Scott Steen, Mark Holiday, Brian Strickland, John Boggs, Mike Martin, Hal Brown, Mark Dempsey, David Pierce, Tom Turner, Bernie Keubler, Duane Garrick, Jim Anderson, Steve Gabriel, Derek Ayers, Brice Nelson, Andrew Heady, Dan Dickerson, Dain Clark, Caleb King and many others.
THE GOAL OF HAWG TUFF!
It is the goal of Hawg Tuff Camps to offer a fun, inexpensive, well- organized and high quality learning experience for any young man who is a rising 7th grader through rising high school senior. Campers are divided into three groups - middle school, junior varsity, and varsity. All groups receive instruction in run and pass fundamentals and technique.
In addition to seven hours of outstanding instruction, all campers receive a free T-Shirt and lunch. The Cost of the Camp is only $50.00 if pre-registered and $60.00 the day of camp in South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina. In all other states the cost of the camp is $60.00 if pre-registered and $70.00 the day of camp. CAMPERS MAY PRE-REGISTER ON LINE USING PAYPAL AT:
OR PRE-REGISTER WITH THEIR SCHOOL’S COACHES USING THE FORM PROVIDED TO ALL PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS.
HOPE TO SEE YOU AT ONE OF THE CAMPS OR CHALLENGES THIS YEAR!
