Oct. 2, 2016
Virgil Starks
By Jack Smith
It was the kind of day Virgil Starks loved. The air was crisp and the autumn sun was shining at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
It was November 8, 2008. Senior Day.
In keeping with tradition, the plan for the pre-game recognition was for senior football players to emerge from the tunnel as their names were called. They would jog onto the field, receive a keepsake football from the head coach and then hug family members there waiting for them on the field.
Only this time, two seniors had nobody to hug.
Their parents couldn't make it for one reason or another.
Linebacker Chris Evans was one of the players who thought he would be standing alone on Senior Day. But while Evans and his teammates were dressing for the game, Starks and two of his co-workers were scrambling to make sure each player had family on the field.
Compliance staff members Rich McGlynn and Bernard Hill had walked up and down the stands, marking names off the list as they found player parents. But they couldn't find anyone for Evans or receiver Robert Dunn.
Starks looked concerned, but Hill had an idea.
Starks would stand in as family for Evans, while Hill would stand in for Dunn.
"Now that's a strong idea," Starks replied with a hearty laugh.
Moments before Chris Evans' name and hometown echoed over the stadium's PA system, Starks hustled onto the field and stood waiting for the Mobile native, beaming like any proud father would.
Evans ran out expecting to stand alone for what could have been an awkward photo op.
But he looked up and saw Virgil Starks waiting for him, a wide grin on his face. He smiled right back at the man who had become more than a mentor during his time at Auburn.
"It was not planned for him to stand with me," Evans said. "He just appeared. He hugged me and told me he was proud of me, not because of the success I had achieved but because of the adversity I had faced to get there."
The photo snapped that afternoon captured the magic of the moment. It was a poignant portrait of a man who celebrated the academic achievements of Auburn student-athletes as passionately as any fan cheered the biggest touchdown.
Starks has his arm around Evans, smiling so brightly the crowd surely thought he was family.
In many ways, he was.
"Virgil and his staff were almost like parents to us when it came to education and our future plans," Evans said. "He always stressed that it was more than just about football."
Evans and Starks had a special bond. And their share of inside jokes. Evans wore #59, the same jersey Starks wore as a nose guard at Rhodes College in the early 1980s, where his coach once said he was "the heart and soul" of the team.
Virgil Starks and Chris Evans
It was likely the last picture ever taken of Starks. He died of cardiac arrest only a few hours later while driving home from the game.
As tragic as the day turned out, those who knew and loved Starks said their final memory of him personifies who he was.
"The last official act that Virgil did here and the last time most of us ever saw him, he stepped in as a father figure for a student-athlete who needed one," McGlynn said. "You really could not script a better story for Virgil Starks. That's who he was."
His death devastated his beloved wife, Donna, and their three beautiful girls: Carolyn, Victoria and Anastasia.
Evans, his teammates and all of the athletes at Auburn who revered the man who oversaw the athletic department's academic and support services struggled to make sense of the tragedy.
"Senior Day is not a fond memory for me because it was the day I lost a great friend, and a day his family and Auburn University lost a great man," Evans said.
His death deeply saddened the hundreds of student-athletes he worked with and got to know personally, according to Troy Smith, one of Starks' closest friends who still works as an academic counselor at Auburn.
"He knew every student-athlete's name, their hometown, their parents' names, all those details," Smith said. "It wasn't a façade. He was that concerned about all of them individually. It didn't matter if they were on scholarship, walk-ons or all-conference. Virgil valued every individual the same."
'The definition of love'
Starks' sudden death stunned his co-workers in the Auburn Athletics Department, who respected his passion and admired his love of people.
"Virgil was passionate about all facets of his life," Director of Athletics Jay Jacobs said. "He cared for Auburn student-athletes as if they were his own children."
At his visitation a few days later, the line of people waiting to see the Starks family was so long it curled around the building. Twice. It was indicative of how many lives the gregarious Hartselle native touched.
"Virgil was the definition of love," Executive Associate AD Tim Jackson said. "He loved life like no other person I have known. He was passionate about helping people be the best they could be."
Jackson said Starks taught him a valuable lesson about young people, even those who looked to be beyond reach.
"I learned from Virgil that we should never give up on any human being," Jackson said. "I saw Virgil invest, invest and invest in people who I didn't think could be reached. He usually proved me wrong."
Those who worked with him said memories of Virgil almost always make them smile.
He had a zest for life and an infectious laugh that could fill up a room. And funny sayings he often used to make a point.
Donnay Young, Phillip Yost, Jason Campbell, Thomas Anderson, Virgil Starks, Troy Smith, Rich Trucks, Jeremy Ingle, Bret Eddins and Ronnie Brown.
August 5, 2004 - Todd J. Van Emst
Senior Associate AD Dr. David Mines will always remember one of Starks' favorite quotes.
"Virgil was famous for saying, 'If you see a turtle on a fence post, he didn't get there on his own.' What he meant by that was when you see successful people, someone helped them get there," Mines said.
'He got real with you'
Starks would fearlessly advocate for the student-athletes under his care. He would also give them tough love when needed.
"He got real with you, even when it was uncomfortable, because he loved you," academic counselor Dr. Kirsten Perkins said.
He was also the rock many leaned on during tough times.
His longtime administrative assistant, Cathy Ogletree, went through her own trials just one month before Starks' death when her father passed away.
"He was my rock during that time," Ogletree said.
Ogletree knew what some may not have known. Starks had seen his share of suffering.
At just 13, he became the man of the house when his father was killed in a car accident.
Then in 1985, on what should've been one of the happiest days of his life, tragedy struck again. The day before he was set to graduate from Rhodes College, the messenger of misery came calling once more.
His mother had driven through the night with his two sisters to get to Memphis to watch her son become the first person in his family to graduate from college.
As Virgil and his classmates were practicing for graduation, the dean pulled him aside to deliver devastating news. His mother was gone. She had fallen asleep at the wheel and was killed instantly when her car left the road and crashed into a tree.
Despite the tragedy he endured, or maybe because of it, Starks lived life to the fullest.
He loved to cook. And he loved to dance like nobody was watching.
A video still on YouTube captured Starks dancing at his daughter's poolside birthday party only months before his death. He's the only adult doing "The Cupid Shuffle" with gusto. None of the kids dancing along seem surprised.
Wherever Virgil was, there was laughter. And often times, a party.
"If Virgil was eating, everyone was invited," Perkins said. "He used any excuse to have a party, holiday or not."
Perkins is one of many people who can tell stories about how Starks impacted their life.
"Virgil encouraged me to finish my doctorate, but it wasn't complete until after he passed away," Perkins said. "I wish he could have been there when I walked. He was one of those leaders who you didn't want to disappoint."
Auburn Senior Woman Administrator and Executive Associate AD Meredith Jenkins said Starks "never wavered" from his beliefs. But what Jenkins remembers most is how much Starks loved his family.
"What I remember about Virgil is that he had such a deep love of his family and was so proud of his girls," she said.
Eight years later, a special homecoming
He would've been particularly proud of his family on Saturday as Auburn hosted Louisiana-Monroe for homecoming.
His middle daughter, Victoria, looked radiant as a member of the 2016 Auburn University homecoming court.
Victoria Starks
And while he wasn't there to stand in as the father this time, Starks' spirit was felt at Pat Dye Field. His widow, Donna, escorted their beaming daughter across the field, crossing near the spot where Starks had stood in the gap for a young man who needed him eight years earlier.
There would be no tears on this sun-kissed day at Jordan-Hare Stadium, only happy memories of the man whose love and laughter made Auburn University a better place.
As the homecoming festivities ended on a glorious Saturday afternoon, those who knew and loved Starks couldn't help but think about the man who was such a unique life force.
And somewhere, Virgil Starks was smiling.