Team bus drivers might conjure up images of buttoned-up men and women who stay at arm’s length from players and coaches and kill time on the bus or in their hotel rooms during games.
That’s not Jackie McCloud, Courtney Ellis or Larry Thurman.
When the Kentucky baseball team wins, McCloud celebrates with the Wildcats and belly-bumps them at the end of the handshake line. He even was in the dogpile a couple years ago when they clinched a spot in the College World Series.
Ellis gives pep talks and leads cheers in the Delta State dugout. He is even on the greeting committee when players cross the plate after hitting a home run for the Statesmen from Cleveland, Mississippi.
Thurman, who stepped away from driving TCU this season because of health issues, watched games from the dugout or bullpen, lent an ear to players who were struggling and entertained them during down time with stories about his colorful life.
They are practically teammates.
Mr. Jackie the motivator
McCloud was a longtime high school athletic director and girls softball coach in Winchester, Kentucky. He started driving motorcoaches about 20 years ago for Blue Grass Tours and has spent most of that time with Kentucky athletics. He has been the Wildcats’ bus driver for 17 years and, at 74, has no plans to retire.
“I’m so attached to these players and coaches,” he said. “I have a family at home, a wife and two kids and seven grandkids. But this is my family away from my family.”
Mr. Jackie, as he’s called, pumps up the baseball team as soon as the players step on the bus to head to the stadium. Part of his ritual is to shake his head and make a sound similar to “brr,” as if he caught a chill, and then, together, the team yells “Boom!” When the Wildcats sweep a series, he’s waiting at the bus door with a broom making a sweeping motion.
“We travel the world with him,” said Devin Burkes, the catcher on the 2024 CWS team. “We’re with Mr. Jackie for a crazy amount of hours, and if you treat him bad, you’re in trouble. He’s the most giving man I’ve ever known, a man with a servant’s heart. And it goes deeper than him driving us from Point A to Point B.”
Best gift ever
McCloud attends Bible study with the team before Sunday games, he was invited to the baptism for coach Nick Mingione’s son and he’s prayed with players before surgeries.
McCloud is so beloved that the Wildcats wanted him with them at home games, so in 2019 Mingione hired him as umpire room attendant and as one of the officials who do NCAA-mandated pregame bat testing.
Of the many gifts McCloud has received from the team, one stands out. After the Wildcats were eliminated from the CWS, McCloud drove the team to its waiting chartered plane. He planned to do the drop-off and then drive the 14 hours back to Lexington. Instead, Mingione got off the bus, turned around and told McCloud to get on the plane, too. Another driver was sent to Omaha, Nebraska, to pick up the bus.
“Someone asked me how I liked the flight,” McCloud said, “and I said I cried the first half-hour. It was a very emotional thing.”
‘I’ve got the mojo’
Ellis, 42, has been driving for Knight Coach for 20 years and full-time with Delta State teams for eight. He spoke by phone this week from Pensacola, Florida, where the Statesmen were playing in the NCAA Division II tournament.
“I’m in the dugout with the baseball team, I’m on the sideline with the head coach on the football team and I’m on the last seat on the bench with the men’s basketball team. That’s how I roll,” Ellis said.
Ellis said coaches embrace his big personality, and he relates well with players because he has children about the same age. He gives pregame motivational speeches, tells players to keep their head up after a bad play and generally lifts spirits.
“I don’t act old,” he said. “I act like them. Coach said I’ve got the mojo.”
Thurman, 75, drove TCU teams for nine years for Echo AFC Transportation and bonded with players and coaches by telling them tales. He was in the Army for 26 years and did three tours in Vietnam and seven in Central America, and said he briefly worked in White House security. He drove 18-wheelers, worked for a company that used helicopters to place cell towers in remote locations and drove national park tour buses.
“He was always cheerful, so happy to be around us, and it uplifted us to want to be better,” fifth-year pitcher Louis Rodriguez said. “Look at what he’s done in life. I can tell you I wouldn’t want anyone else driving me because I know he’ll keep me safe.”
Keeping sons safe
Thurman, who still attends home games, said a lot of bus drivers miss out by choosing not to get too close to their teams.
Like McCloud and Ellis are with their teams, Thurman was a constant presence at the field, at team dinners and in the hotel lobby for serious and unserious conversations. Thurman said a lot of players shared his passion for hunting and fishing, and they would while away the time talking about it. A couple players visited his house to see his trophy room.
Thurman also became friends with players’ parents, all of whom would thank him for keeping their sons safe on the road.
“That’s the main thing about all this,” Thurman said. “We’ve got precious cargo.”
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This version corrects the spelling of Delta State bus driver Courtney Ellis’ last name.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
