As this year’s football season grinds to an end, Kevin Sherrington with the DMN writes a touching story about former W.T. White football coach Mike Zoffuto, and why he’s living in an assisted living center in Amarillo these days.
The 62-year-old Zoffuto, who prior to joining White led the 1992 LHHS team to the state quarterfinals with a 12-2 record, today has what appears to be early-onset Alzheimer’s, so he’s living near his daughter in a one-bedroom apartment. His wife, Marcie, died of cancer three years ago, Sherrington writes, and Zoffuto lives out his days struggling with his memory surrounded by "white-haired women pushing walkers and old men staring nowhere."
This is a touching story about a guy who affected a lot of lives in the coaching world — Sherrington says as many of 15 former Zoffuto assistants have become head coaches — but today has trouble remembering to put his socks on.
