Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Dick Tighe walks out of the locker room after his final game as a head football coach for the St. Edmond Gaels inside Dodger Stadium in 2016. Tighe died on Tuesday at the age of 94.

Dick Tighe was a simple man.

He loved his family, his friends and football — especially Notre Dame football.

Tighe, who passed away Tuesday at 94 years of age, made quite an impression on nearly every single person who came in contact with him.

For much of his life, Tighe was around high school football, spending 63 seasons on the sidelines as a head coach with stops at St. Edmond, Webster City, Carroll Kuemper, Iowa Falls-Alden and even in Canada.

He would amass a then-state record 432 victories until his retirement in 2016. But Tighe continued to make appearances at local events over the years and remained around high school sports in general — especially back home in Webster City.

The Webster City baseball social media account had a post Tuesday following news of his passing that truly showed just how generous Tighe was with his time.

“The last few summers of (Tighe) being a part of the Kiwanis Club that aided in our baseball concession stands, there was never a dull moment when he talked to you,” they posted. “With an infectious laugh and opinion on anything, and everyone, he was truly one of one. He leaves big shoes to fill, but let us all strive to be as impactful as he was on the field, and equally, off.”

As someone who spent the better part of his coaching career with the Gaels covering him on a weekly basis through the fall, that statement sums up Tighe perfectly. When it came to building a football team to compete, he never played favorites, focusing instead on putting the best 11 out there who would run all five of his plays just as he saw fit.

Sure, there were times when he might have forgotten the name of a player at that moment during our interview. Get him going on the “old days,” though, and Tighe was as sharp as ever.

He would bring up the 1980s, when his Webster City teams reached the playoffs seven consecutive years and appeared on the brink of getting to that first championship, only to be denied by “that dang Harlan” squad, as he would say.

A key players during that stretch was Tim Anderson, who would go on to play at the University of Iowa for Hayden Fry after a standout career under Tighe in Webster City.

“The biggest thing Coach Tighe did was, unlike coaches getting into the sport today, he kept things simple and executed,” Anderson said. “It wasn’t complicated, and that’s how he wanted it. We would execute and play a physical brand of football, and it worked as the results showed. I have a lot of respect for Coach Tighe.

“Even in his older years, I’d see him around town and we’d always talk about football. Every time I was around him, that’s what he wanted to talk about. It was always a joy for me.”

My first season covering St. Edmond football came as Tighe returned to the program. He would help lead the Gaels to success never seen on the gridiron before, including that elusive state championship game appearance.

St. Edmond went from a stretch of consecutive winless seasons prior to Tighe’s arrival to nine playoff appearances over an 11-year period. They reached the state quarterfinals and semifinals other times during that period, and Tighe placed his name atop the record books in the process despite being in his 80s.

While the wins were always greeted with that infectious laugh and a smile after, the losses were just as memorable because of the way he approached it all.

By keeping it simple.

We would maybe spend anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes talking after games. Maybe a couple of those were actually about what just happened on the football field.

The rest would be questions about my family, or some kind of comment about how the Clemson Tigers would lose on Saturday. Then he would always — always — brag up his Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Thanks for the memories, Coach, and for helping me make deadline by shortening the game with all your running plays — win or lose.

Dana Becker has been a Messenger sports writer for over 20 years, covering schools and their athletes from across the area at all levels.