Llano’s Golemon is inducted into CCCAT’s Hall of Fame

Steve Golemon’s contributions to Texas high school sports are numerous, and organizations are making sure they aren’t quickly forgotten.

The Llano High School cross country head coach and middle-distance track coach, who died Oct. 19, 2021, was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas June 11. He’ll also be inducted into the Texas Girls Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame later this summer.

“That guy had a fire and a passion for coaching,” Llano athletics director Matt Green said. “He was fully vested in the kids and getting better. He was a competitor and cared deeply for the kids. It’s hard to get kids to run cross country. He was relentless. The kids loved him and respected him. The kids are better for knowing him and being around a man like coach Golemon.”

Golemon, 77, guided six teams to state titles, including the 2000 Lady Jackets cross country squad. At Bandera, Golemon’s teams won state titles in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Golemon also worked at Giddings and Woodsboro. Not many wanted to guess on the number of individual state champions Golemon produced.

“He had a great career,” said Llano coach Beau Burnett, who attended the association’s weekend activities. “It’s a great group of (coaches). They all missed seeing him.”

Coaches nominate their peers for consideration into the association’s hall of fame. Board members then take a vote.

During the weekend, Burnett met other coaches who shared their personal stories about Golemon. One came from a coach who wanted to know Golemon’s keys to success and how to build championship squads. But each time the two started talking, Golemon was more interested in the coach as a person and his athletes. That left an impression on the storyteller, Burnett said.

“At Giddings, they’re still doing his workouts,” the Llano coach said.

Before his death, Golemon coached Llano to District 25-3A titles in October 2021, which illustrated his drive to help his athletes achieve their goals, Burnett said. The Burnetts and Golemons got to know each other well as both men were hired in 2018. Burnett, whose daughter Gwyn ran for Golemon, drove the bus for the cross country teams. Burnett is the head softball coach and an assistant football coach.

For Golemon, it was his second time to coach in Llano. He was there from 1992-2005 before departing for Bandera.

And just like athletes train in the offseason and summer, so did Golemon. Burnett noted that Golemon attended every lecture at every conference he could.

“He’d try to pick up something,” he said. “It changed my whole perspective.”

One honor Golemon received last summer was being named the Texas Girls Coaches Association’s Subvarsity Coach of the Year for the 2020-21 school year, an award that meant a lot to recipient and one Burnett said was well deserved.

“I thought he went above and beyond,” he said. “He was the definition of coaching in any sport. He was a good guy, loving husband and father. He was a state champion, but he didn’t boast about it. He made me a better coach with the details and tenaciousness. If he wanted new mats or hurdles, he’d find a way.”

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