I have to tip my hat to my high school music teacher...

我要向我的高中音乐老师致敬。

But personally, I don't tip my hat to anyone who rides someone's coattails.

但是就我个人而言，我不会像任何靠关系升迁（rides someone's coattails）的人致敬。

So I gotta tip my hat to him for what he pulled off and what he created.

因此，我必须向他致敬，感谢他取得的成就和创造的成就。