The Corlew Years. Nine seasons and 35 wins: three .500 starts, an 8–3 Industrial Bowl team in 1981, collapse to 0–10 in 1984, the 1985 Tobacco Bowl rebound, and a final 1987 season preserved on four dated game masters.
William “Buddy” Corlew led Greenbrier from 1979 through 1987. The nine-year run moved from stability to an eight-win peak, through the program's winless 1984 low, back to a bowl in 1985 and finally to the 1987 handoff that preceded the Sorrells rebuild.
9Seasons
35–57Overall Record
8–31981 Peak
Before the Head Job
Corlew's connection to the program predates 1979. Two surviving scrapbook pieces put him on Greenbrier's sideline during the Jerry Pearson years — evidence of the continuity that eventually led to the head-coaching job.
1976 Industrial Bowl. The championship recap credits assistant coach Buddy Corlew with helping build a defense that allowed only one touchdown during Greenbrier's 35–6 bowl win over Livingston.Oct. 7, 1977. Assistant coach Buddy Corlew gives Ricky Green instructions during the Brentwood Academy game — two seasons before Corlew became Greenbrier's head coach.
