Copyright Arkansas Online
FAYETTEVILLE -- Former University of Arkansas coaches, players and employees spanning decades and multiple sports are mourning this week following the death of Dave England, a long-time athletic trainer for the Razorbacks. England died Tuesday at Washington Regional Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized for several days after suffering an aneurysm. He was 69. "He fought as hard as he could, but his body finally gave out and things moved quickly," his wife, Heather, and daughters Alyson and Jennifer wrote on a CaringBridge page that updated England's condition. "He was peaceful, surrounded by his girls and their husbands, with Springsteen playing -- just as he always made me promise." Counting his time as a student, England worked more than four decades at Arkansas, including as head athletic trainer from 1989-2019. He was best known for his work with the Razorbacks' men's basketball team, serving on teams coached by Eddie Sutton, Nolan Richardson, Stan Heath, John Pelphrey and Mike Anderson. "I think he was a tremendous ambassador for the program," said Scotty Thurman, an All-America basketball player under Richardson from 1992-95 who later assisted Pelphrey and Anderson from 2010-19. "He's definitely going to be missed in more ways than one. He's one of those people that everybody doesn't get a chance to come across and a lot of people get a chance to read about him, but if you ever knew him, you know Dave was an unbelievable human being." Known by multiple nicknames but best known as "Diamond Dave," England had a decorated career as an athletic trainer. In 1999 he was inducted into the hall of fame for the Arkansas Athletic Trainers' Association, an organization which he helped found in 1987. In 2016, the SEC presented England with the Chris Patrick Award for most outstanding athletic trainer in the conference. England, who grew up in Clarksville, began as a student athletic trainer for the Razorbacks' football team. In that role he worked with Frank Broyles' final Southwest Conference championship team in 1975 and Lou Holtz's first team in 1977 that won 11 games and the Orange Bowl over second-ranked Oklahoma. In addition to football and basketball, England worked with the Razorbacks' baseball teams coached by Norm DeBriyn. He left Arkansas in 1981 to work with the St. Louis Cardinals' minor league teams, then returned to Fayetteville in 1984. Tom Pagnozzi, an All-Star and three-time Gold Glove catcher during his 12-year MLB career, had England as a trainer during his playing days at Arkansas and during his early years in the Cardinals' system. "Trainers not only provide medical, but they provide a sounding board when you're struggling," Pagnozzi said. "Especially trainers that have been around, they've seen a lot come and go. For Dave ... we could talk mental makeup and he would tell stories about different players and how tough they were mentally. "You absorbed those things. That's what he was good at. He would tell a story about a certain player who was really good, but didn't come to play. A smart guy picks up on the little things is was what he was saying -- come to play every day." Brad Dunn, an Arkansas assistant basketball coach from 1991-2002, was a close friend to England. Dunn said England was organized and a hard worker. "Nobody worked more hours," Dunn said. "If practice started at 6 in the morning, he was there at 4:30." Thurman recalled a story from his time as an assistant coach, when England slept in the training room at Walton Arena to help Delvon Johnson rehab an ankle sprain during a quick turnaround between games. "They set the clock for every hour, every 45 minutes or so, and he would get up and treat the kid," Thurman said. "The kid was able to play the next game with almost no pain. I had a lot of respect for Dave already, but that gave me a tremendous amount of respect for him even further in terms of how he took his craft seriously and wanted to help kids be able to perform at their best." Thurman recalled his own time in the training room with England. He sprained an ankle against Centenary as a junior in December 1994 that caused him to miss two games. "I came down on somebody's foot on an out-of-bounds play," Thurman said. "He took me off the floor to get me treatment. ... I remember when I first came back to the locker room he just grabbed my ankle and I was like, 'Dave!' He was like, 'Man, stop being a baby.' "That was one of his things, to kind of make you realize you're hurting, but you're still here, so we've got a chance to heal you up and get you back going." England had a national championship ring from Arkansas' basketball run in 1994. After Thurman hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 50 seconds remaining, England played his own role late during the Razorbacks' 76-72 victory over Duke in the title game. With 17 seconds to play, Corey Beck was fouled and missed his first free throw off the front of the rim. Before he could take his second attempt, an official spotted blood on Beck's arm. "I always took pride in getting somebody back out in the game really quick, but I kind of took my time with Corey a little bit," England recalled during a 2024 interview with KNWA-TV. "So we ended up having to put Al Dillard in to shoot the free throw. Then I wrapped Corey up and he was back in on defense." Dillard, a 79% free-throw shooter, made the second attempt to put Arkansas ahead 75-70. Beck shot 67% from the free-throw line that season. "Trainers can be competitive also," England said. "That was a little bit of my competitive thing. I felt a whole lot better with Al shooting a free throw than I did with Corey." In addition to his role as trainer, England handled logistics like travel and meal planning for the team during those years. "I don't remember one time when things didn't go in the right direction," Thurman said. "I'm sure he got some help from Coach (Wayne) Stehlik, but I remember him writing everything down on a notepad and being extremely organized." Dunn said England was instrumental during practices. In the late 1990s he came up with what Dunn called "Diamond's boot camp," a rigorous offseason conditioning program. During one practice, England noticed something about a walk-on the coaches did not. "Diamond goes, 'He's limping on the wrong leg,' " Dunn said. "I would have never noticed that. I go, 'OK.' That kid finished practice." Like his organizational skills, England's relatability with players was a strong suit. "You let your hair down with the trainers and relax," Dunn said. "They always have a great pulse of what's going on with the team. "He had that dad thing going on. At the same time he was a professional, and players are drawn to that when they're away from home, especially the younger ones." Thurman said that role is important to a team. "He was a buffer between the staff and the team. You've got to have that," Thurman said. "He's going to hear some things that we aren't going to say in front of the coaches. We may be talking amongst one another in the training room, and he was able to take those conversations and probably utilize them to help Coach Richardson and the staff, but also to help us understand where the coaches were coming from. He was a tremendous bridge." England may have trusted the players as much as they trusted him. Pagnozzi had just turned 21 when he arrived to the Cardinals' instructional team in Florida in 1983. England's oldest daughter was a baby at the time. "We're in the training room and Dave was saying he hasn't been on a date since the baby was born," Pagnozzi said. "I was like, 'Man, hey, I'll babysit. I'm a Razorback. We're Razorbacks.' That was a big thing. "I babysat for him and his wife to go out on a date in St. Petersburg, Fla.). We would always laugh about I had never babysat a baby yet and they trusted me with her. It turned out OK." Speaking to the Razorback Sports Network before his retirement in 2019, England said the relationships built over his years on the job were meaningful. "You see them at their very lowest and you see them at their highs," England said. "If you can be just a little bit of help to get them there, it makes it all worthwhile." In a Nov. 1 post to Facebook, Heather England asked for those interested to make donations to a local food bank, shelter or church pantry with a note that says: "In Honor of Diamond Dave England." "That would be an incredible way to honor a wonderful man who's spent his entire career serving others," she wrote.
