That was more of a comment directed at play prior to the "official" free agency period. As I've always said, I wouldn't have changed the experience my family had as Tarpons for a state title going anywhere else.
Here's the piece Patrick Obley did on Binky :
"PREP FOOTBALL
BINKY’S FIELD
Charlotte honors Waldrop in best way
PATRICK OBLEY Sports Editor
PUNTA GORDA — He was easy to spot because he has a routine.
For the past five or so years, Binky Waldrop has set up shop in the same spot for football Friday nights at Charlotte High: The far side of the south end zone, near the still-new jumbotron. Popping open the folding chairs and chatting with long-time fellow former football coach and friend, Wade Taylor, Waldrop was in his element.
It was 26 years ago this week that Waldrop debuted as Charlotte High’s head football coach.
What does he remember of that game?
“Not a thing,” Waldrop said with a laugh on Friday night before Charlotte’s 2025 spring game against Barron Collier.
But … “I know we won.”
Junior Bruce Gipson took a handoff, broke through the middle of the line, then raced to the sideline where, 24 yards later, he scored the only points of a 7-0 Tarpons spring exhibition win at Sarasota.
It was May 20, 1999. Waldrop officially won the first of 168 games in Charlotte’s season- opener that fall — a 26-13 victory at Riverview.
“This is one of the biggest wins in Charlotte history,” Waldrop told The Daily Sun’s Dennis Maffezzoli that night.
Six days later, Waldrop sustained the first of his 72 losses — a 21-0 debacle against Naples in the Tarpons’ home opener, marking the first time in 10 years Charlotte was blanked in its friendly confines.
A word about those friendly confines: On Friday night, they were named in his honor.
‘IT WAS A SPECIAL RUN’
Binky Waldrop Field at Smuggler’s Stadium was christened with a 42-0 Tarpons victory against Barron Collier. The Tarpons are under the guidance of Cory Mentzer, one of Waldrop’s former players who is in his fourth season at the helm.
Former players, coaches, faculty and Waldrop’s extended family were on hand for the halftime ceremony celebrating the field’s naming. Dozens more shouted his name from the stands as his accomplishments were read over the public address system.
In going 168-72, Waldrop led Charlotte to nine district titles, six region championship appearances and two region championship wins — in 2002 against St. Thomas Aquinas in Punta Gorda and a double- overtime thriller in 2016 on the road at Charlotte’s oldest rival, Fort Myers.
“In 1999, I never would have imagined all of this,” Waldrop said. “This was never my goal. I just wanted to win football games and our community got behind us. It was a special run.”
He was named the FHSAA Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2015 and was inducted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2022.
That last honor came three years after Waldrop hung up his whistle at the end of a 9-4 campaign in 2019.
“I probably got out at the right time,” Waldrop said. “It was just getting harder and harder. I had a lot of talks with kids about social media and what not to do and all that. I don’t handle that well.”
Barney Duffy first came across Waldrop when the man for whom a field would be named was a sophomore at Charlotte High.
“I was an assistant principal here and I watched him play through high school,” Duffy said. “You could tell even then that he was a driven kind of a kid. I think the unique thing about Binky is, for him, it was more about the people than the sport.
“It was the way he treated his teammates.”
When Waldrop headed to Arkansas State to play football in 1983, Duffy filed his name under “prospective coach” in his mental rolodex. Not long after Waldrop graduated, Duffy brought him aboard at Port Charlotte High, where he had become the Pirates’ principal.
Waldrop coached football under Tom Mut and took on the baseball team until Charlotte came calling in the mid-1990s. He returned to his alma mater as an assistant football coach under Eric Moore until, a few seasons later, Moore moved on.
In one of his last hires as athletic director, Wally Keller promoted Waldrop as Moore’s successor.
“My kids played for him,” Duffy said, referring to Ryan and Sean. “He taught more than football. He taught lessons in life. I know that’s kind of cliché, but I think if you talk to a lot of people here, that’s what they’re gonna tell you.
“They don’t remember first downs and wins and losses. They remember what he gave them in terms of heart and soul.”
‘HE WENT THE EXTRA MILE’
Tom Massolio took over as the Tarpons’ boys basketball coach not long after Waldrop began his head coaching career. Both coaches kept Charlotte High in the loftiest of circles during their tenures, naturally feeding off each other’s success.
“We worked so well together; probably a great marriage,” said Massolio, who is now Charlotte’s athletic director. “We supported each other all the time and I don’t think there were many playoff games, ever, that he missed. We just complemented each other really well.”
Like Duffy, though, Massolio marveled at Waldrop’s work beyond game nights and practices.
“I don’t think people realize how much time you put in as a head coach,” Massolio said. “He went the extra mile. Fundraising, just being around a lot of the time, and I know he had a great relationship with his assistants and they spend a lot of time out here together.”
When Waldrop gave his Hall of Fame induction speech, he noted how his coaching staff had virtually zero turnover.
“After that banquet, probably 10 guys came up to me and said they couldn’t believe that,” Waldrop said. “We had an incredible coaching staff and the core of us stayed together for 25 years.”
Ubiquitous on Friday night were blue commemorative t-shirts celebrating the christening of Binky Waldrop Field. The man behind the shirt is Paul DeGaeta, which makes a lot of sense.
Waldrop grew up watching DeGaeta & Co. play during Charlotte’s early-1970s powerhouse years.
Life would come full circle when all three of DeGaeta’s sons played for Waldrop.
“As a father, you always dream you’ll have one kid play football and I had three of them,” DeGaeta said. “And he made them so successful. He just builds men. He builds character. He’s selfless and he’s funny and he knows how to handle a team.
“He and his staff squeezed blood out of a turnip so many years,” DeGaeta continued. “I mean, we shouldn’t have been hanging with some of the teams we hung with. It was the coaching.”
‘MEMORIES ARE ALWAYS THERE’
While standing at the center of attention during the halftime ceremony, Waldrop scanned the faces around him. The one he settled on most often was just to his right. Often, he gazed into the smiling face of his wife, Mary, who was corralling a granddaughter that was equally silly with, and suspicious of, the large gathering.
Hugs and photos followed, as is the way of such things. As the crowd broke up, Waldrop kept scanning. Not so much for a hug or selfie, but for old acquaintances, eager catch up.“ The memories are always there,” Waldrop said. “I loved every kid I coached. We’ve got the best student body in the world and we always had great athletic directors. Brian Nolan always made sure we had what we needed to have in order to win. I’ve always had a great administration.”
Always eager to create new memories, Waldrop will be right back in his chair for Charlotte’s next game, and he’ll be even easier to spot now that the nearby jumbotron sports his name in large, golden varsity lettering.
“I mean, people know how passionate I am about Charlotte High School,” he said. “As long as I’m alive, I’ll always come back here every Friday night and do what I can for Charlotte High School."
