At an early age, Coal City’s Josh Case wanted to play peewee football. But there was just one problem. He was too big. By the time he was able to play football in the sixth grade, he stood 6 feet tall and weighed 250 pounds.

Despite missing out on peewee football, Case’s size, agility and love for the game took him places he otherwise might not have had a chance to go.

Four years of high school football, five years of college football and now a lifelong dream of being a police officer has the 31-year-old Case living his dream.

Early on

Case was born in June 1979, the son of Ronny and Joan Gann of Coal City. Case was in second grade when his birth father, David Case, died. His mother married Ronny Gann in 1987. Case grew up in Coal City and attended schools in the Pell City School System.

Starting sports

Case played a few years of Little League baseball and always wanted to play peewee football but was never allowed to.

“It seems I was always too big to play,” Case said. “I weighed much more than the other players my age.”

Football, finally

When Case started the sixth grade at Duran Junior High School, his football career started too — on the C team. Case looked like anything but a sixth-grade student with his 6-foot, 250-pound frame. Over the next seven years, until he graduated from Pell City High School in 1997, he played football every season.

“My first coach was Tommy Doyle, and he was the one who talked me into playing and kept me going,” Case said. “I then played for head coaches Ricky Brown, W.T. Benefield and Roger Hibbs and assistant coaches Matt Griffith, Terry Isbell, Harry Rawlinson and Tony Cobb, among several others.”

At the high school level

It was during his freshman year at Pell City in 1993 that Case and the Panthers enjoyed the most success. Pell City went 7-3 that season. The next season saw the Panthers dip to 4-6 and then 0-10, and his senior season was a disappointing 2-8.

By the time he graduated from PCHS, Case was 6 feet, 6-inches and weighed 295 pounds. He had caught the eye of several colleges.

Case earned the opportunity to play in the Alabama North-South All-Star game after his senior season.

Making a decision

Colleges interested in the huge lineman included Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Auburn, Jacksonville State, Memphis and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“I visited a few and received letters and telephone calls,” Case said.

According to Case, everything just seemed to click when he went for his visit to UAB.

“The school is known worldwide,” Case said. “The athletic program had been around for a while, but football was somewhat new. Everyone you met and talked to sensed excitement about the program and the potential. The proximity to home was great, so my family wouldn’t have trouble coming to see me play.”

Making history

Case said he remembers walking around the UAB campus with head football coach Watson Brown one day.

“He asked if I had visited Alabama, and I told him yes,” Case recalled. “He asked if I had gone by the football museum while there, and I told him yes. He told me that it was easy to go and look at and see everyone else’s history but that it was challenging and exciting to be able to write your own.”

Case said he knew what Brown meant but that it didn’t hit hard until later.

“It seemed everything we did was a first,” Case said. “The first conference team, the first Conference USA win, the first win over a ranked opponent, the first nationally televised game. And let’s not forget the win over Nick Saban’s LSU team on their homecoming night.”

His very first game was on the road in Lincoln, Neb., against the mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers. His parents made the trip out West.

Case said when the museum is built at UAB, he will be part of all that, and that is something very few athletes his age can say.

Record

During his five years at UAB, Case and the Blazers had an overall record of 27-28. The best season was in 2000 when the Blazers went 7-4.

Case said playing for Brown was great. He also enjoyed playing for position coaches Pat Donahoe and Larry Vanderhayden, offensive coordinator Pat Sullivan and defensive coordinator Bill Clay.

College life

“College life was great,” Case said. “I lived on campus my first two years then moved to an apartment off campus. You really have to learn time-management skills. I had workouts early in the morning, then classes till around 3 p.m. Then there was the visit to the trainers, then watch film, then practice.”

Case said then in the fall, there was all the traveling all around the country, leaving on Fridays, playing on Saturdays, film study on Sundays, and then back to the class grind.

“If anyone thinks the life of a college student-athlete is easy, I would debate them,” Case said.

Case majored in criminal justice with a minor in psychology. He graduated with a B.S. degree in criminal justice in three and a half years.

Injury keeps Case out of NFL

With his size, Case had the chance to continue his football career as a player in the National Football League. However, injuring his Achilles tendons sidelined him during his senior year.

“But when one door closes, another door opens,” Case said. “I was able to assist the UAB defensive line coach, Pat Donahoe, in coaching. Because I played on the offensive line, I was able to watch films and teach the defensive line the offensive line tendencies to help them recognize certain blocking patterns and help them in deciphering the play.”

Always enjoyed law enforcement

During college, Case did internships with the Birmingham Police Department and the Riverside Police Department. He also had numerous rides with other agencies, including the Pell City Police Department and the St Clair County Sheriffs Office.

“Once law enforcement got into my blood, there was no turning back,” Case said. “I got hired on with the Talladega Police Department, and they sent me to the police academy.”

Today

Case and his family live in Guntersville, where he is a patrol lieutenant with the Guntersville Police Department. He is also part of the department’s Traffic Homicide Unit and the Motor Carrier Safety Unit (Commercial Vehicle Enforcement).

He and his wife, Leah, have been married five years and they have a 3-year-old son, Ethan.

Those who made an impact

Case started with his family.

“My family (was) always supporting me, making sure I stayed on the right path,” Case said. “There is no telling how many rides to and from practices and workouts they took me to. Then following me all around the country, watching me play for UAB.”

Case then thanked all the coaches who pushed him every day and refused to let him settle for anything less than giving his all.

“There were also all the teachers who made sure I was prepared for the next levels of education,” Case said.

Contact Gary Hanner at ghanner@thestclairtimes.com.