Coaches Office with Ky Coaching Legends

The coaches welcome Kentucky coaching legends Randy Reese, Ed Rall and Raymond Webb

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Coach David Buchanan Coach Chuck Smith, two legendary high school
football coaches. This is the Coach's Office, a behind the

(00:33):
scenes look at Kentucky high school football.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to the Coach's Office, behind the scenes with Chuck
Smith and David Buchannan. This is season three, episode eighteen.
I'm Chuck Smith. I'm joined by co host David Buchanan,
our podcast editor, flashback storyteller Mike Yokum.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Our YouTube version of this.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Podcast is at teacop T, dot C, dot O, dot
P and if you access it, then hit like and prescribe.
That helps us out. Guys, we got a great show
for you tonight. It's really an exciting show. I'm really
excited about it. If you're a young coach, it's your

(01:24):
lucky night. You're in for a treat. We have three
of the best football coaches in the game during their time,
their legends in the state of Kentucky. If you're an
older coach, then you'll remember some of these schemes and
techniques and strategies and stories that you are going to
hear tonight.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Stay tuned.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
We're going to bring on Randy Reeves, ed Raw and
Raymond Bred, Raymond Webb here shortly.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Okay, just hang on with us.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
We are going to talk later on the show about
Coach of the Year. It's going to be a discussion
of the coach of the Year and talk about that.
Before we bring these guys on, let me tell you
just a little bit about each coach. Randy Reiz, he's
a three time state champion. He won a state championship
at Ludlow in nineteen seventy five. He won two of

(02:18):
them at Paris nineteen eighty one nineteen eighty two.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
He also had a thirty eight winning street Man. That's
pretty awesome.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
That's quite a winning street He also was the head
coach of Henderson County and besides Ludlow in Paris, he
was the head coach of Henderson County and also the
head coach of Warren East.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
He was in the.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Hall of Fame class of twenty twenty three, so he's
been into the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of
Fame that class at wenty twenty three.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
We also have ed Rawl. He was the head of
football coach at Royle.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
County from nineteen seventy four to nineteen eighty eight, he
won ninety five games. He retired from Boyle and I
Believe in nineteen eighty eight to become the head baseball
coach and an assistant football coach at Center College. He
is one of the most respected coaches ever to coach

(03:22):
at Bull County really across the state of Kentucky.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
And then we have Raymond Webb that's going to.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Be on with us tonight and coach Webb graduated from
Harlan and at Center College.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
He moved to Frankfort in.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Nineteen seventy or I'm sorry nineteen sixty seven, and as
the head football coach, he was the state runner up
in nineteen seventy seven at Frankfort. He's also he also
coached wrestling, and he was honored as a Kentucky High

(03:57):
School or Kentucky High School Athletic Associate Asian Legend in
twenty twenty three. He also officiated for about ten years
after he retired. I remember when he officiated. He did
a couple of our games. Our coaches are known to
have a mouth and always question all of the officiating

(04:19):
calls until Raymond officiated the game.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
And when the Raymond officiated game, nobody on.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Our sideline said a word, and really it was for
two reasons. We all knew that he forgot more football
than any of us ever do over that sideline. And
the second reason is one of the biggest chirpers over
there was Chris Mason, and Chris Mason played for Coach
web and.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
He was scared to death of Coach Webb. And he
was scared Coach webbing come over and grabbing him by
a face mask and jurking not his tale.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
So it was any word said dirty game from Boyle
County sideline when Coach Webb officiated our games.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Three great coaches, great guys. You want to bring them on?

Speaker 4 (05:03):
Hey, I do.

Speaker 5 (05:04):
Before I do, I also want to thank Kelly Wilkins
with five f's fundraising. Kelly did our fundraising in Anderson
County this fall. In the past we'd had a goal
of ten thousand dollars. Around six seven eight is what
we've done, and Kelly came through. We raised twenty thousand dollars.
He did a great job, and I'm really thankful for

(05:26):
Kelly sponsoring our show. And if guys want to get
ready for twenty twenty five, Kelly Wilkins is your guys.
So I mean, these are three of my heroes, and man,
this is a it's one of the best nights of
my life that we get to talk football with these guys.
So we're gonna jump right into it. So I've got
a question for all of you, and so I'm gonna

(05:47):
ask it, and then you guys each way in on it.
All of you all were very successful running a three
back offense. If you were a head coach in twenty
twenty five, would you still run a three back offense?

Speaker 4 (06:01):
Coaches, I'll let you go first.

Speaker 6 (06:04):
That's a good question, David. I don't know. You know,
I've been out for twenty years now, and I'm not
really sure. I've watched the progression of football because my
son's a coach, and of course he spread it out
and threw it all over the place. I would give
it a shot. We would do some things to try

(06:24):
to cross people up somewhat like Army does. Maybe, but
I don't know that I would depend on it as
a full go type offense because it just there's too
much timing and too many wrinkles in it that has
to be developed, especially for the quarterback. It's pretty easy
for everybody else, but the quarterback's got to have schooling.

(06:46):
It's got to give him time to read it, and
so on and so forth. And we did contrary to
what a lot of people thought. We read every place.
So it was and I think it would be a
little more more difficult today to do that, but we
would incorporate some a little bit, if we had a
kid who could do it, we would incorporate some pass.

Speaker 5 (07:06):
Again to question, coach, coach wedd, how would you answer
that question?

Speaker 4 (07:10):
Would you still be in a three back offense right now?

Speaker 7 (07:15):
Other players have gotten two have gotten so much bigger,
there's so much quicker, and there's so much stronger.

Speaker 8 (07:23):
If you are and I know you all did.

Speaker 7 (07:25):
You probably watched the state to playoffs and so forth.
I was surprised at the size of all the kids
we did.

Speaker 8 (07:35):
We did we have, We d have a few kids.

Speaker 7 (07:37):
We didn't have anybody real old three hundred pounds.

Speaker 8 (07:40):
And if you don't have if you've got to face four.

Speaker 7 (07:44):
Guys that come out there and play that on offense
and defense, I just don't just don't think you're gonna
be able to control the lad of screamage.

Speaker 8 (07:56):
I'm a na I.

Speaker 7 (07:58):
Yes, I'd go back to the old single wing.

Speaker 8 (08:01):
To do that.

Speaker 5 (08:03):
Well, there's a lot of that going on. Coach raw,
what about you is you go back to that which
and I think you and coach Webb ran the same
three back offense because it was Ali Leathers offense.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
Is that correct?

Speaker 6 (08:15):
That is correct?

Speaker 9 (08:16):
And coach Webb was a lot of people don't know
this when he was my coach and I at Frankfort
High School. And uh so we're pretty familiar with that
that offense, and uh we ran it, and boy, I
don't think you can run it today. The kids, Uh,
Coach Webb stole my thunder because they're just so much.

Speaker 6 (08:36):
Bigger and stronger.

Speaker 9 (08:38):
And I think everybody's running even defenses now, and what
they're doing is they're just you know, really firing through
the gaps if gap control.

Speaker 6 (08:47):
It's not a hit and greed defense like it used
to be.

Speaker 9 (08:50):
And uh, I think it's I think it'd be impossible
to be very successful. However, short yardage and goal line situations.
I think the three back offense still has a place.

Speaker 7 (09:05):
I got.

Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, there's lots of people that still do it now.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
They do it in certain situations, you know, Uh, they
don't really work.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
The whole game with it. But I've seen it.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
I've seen it several times, especially when you get down
the gold line. That's obvious, but they'll still do it,
you know, in the middle of the field when they
want to change up and stuff like that, and you know,
it's it's pretty good.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
I think now I'm going to ask a question, and
I will ask questions to each one of you individually.

Speaker 7 (09:34):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
My first question is to coach web. Uh every player
coach that I have ever met that played for you
would literally attempt to run through the wall for you
with no questions asked. And you know, again, Chris Mason
would be one of those guys. I don't know if
you remember Chris or not, but uh, he will. He

(09:55):
coached for us at Boil and he he obviously fought
the world of you. But everybody that I've ever met
and they just.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
Would run through the wall for you.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
How did you motivate them, you know, to be so
loyal and dedicated to you.

Speaker 7 (10:10):
Well, Uh, I think that's probably more credit than do
because ed they will tell you that I inherited a
program that had been established and frankfort many years ago,
like a lot of others, and they all bought into

(10:30):
for a certain part of heritage and what they are,
what they should and shouldn't do.

Speaker 8 (10:37):
When I came to Frankfort, the.

Speaker 7 (10:39):
Old fieldhouse upstairs had a big picture. It was probably
three by eight feet and it had thirteen fourteen gullys
in it. It was a Frankfort team that was already
forty some years old. And I had the pleasure of
knowing one god the name of Charlie Fird and those

(11:02):
guys that left the legend. If you just didn't come
out for the team at Frankfort High School, you had
to be voted on the team. Now, when the kids
in stubs said that kind of thing, and a certain
amount of it obviously always carries on through and the
old the old graduate will tell you that and they

(11:26):
mean it, and they don't always talk about the big
Blue Nation. But I'll tell you they're not much more
rabbid than you're going to find it on the frank
from high school. In any sport, they get out there
and they do it. They may not have all of them,
but those those kids learned the thing of it. And

(11:48):
uh mister Lethers used to tell them, ed there is
after a ballgame and we're gain success to the having
won it. He would tell my boys, more morning, you
go down there on the street corner, you weary your
letter jackets and you let everybody see know who you are.
And so they carried it, and they you carry that

(12:11):
pride that they haven't. That makes that makes a big
difference starting from nothing. I came from a high school
and art of the high school and we were pretty
much the same way. It was the center of all
attention that everybody knew who you who you were, and
that made a big difference for us. So I really

(12:32):
think that's that's that's part of it. And either when
the kids will tell you we need you, but the
meaning that they would still go ahead and play. But
mister Leathers had a death in the family and he
missed practice before before the ball game is on Friday.

(12:54):
He did his best to get back. You never saw
a bunch of kids that wanted to cooperate anymore. Didn't
practice before he got back. What I always had, I'm
sure I'd probably remember bull was just one more play.
We could one more play for full afternoon.

Speaker 9 (13:19):
Didn't you that we didn't get out till seven thirty.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
I remember when Raymond was coaching that, uh the way
that Frankfort. And I was the head coach of Campbellville
and he brought that Frankfort team down there one year
and just spanked our butts.

Speaker 4 (13:37):
Boy.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
I mean they played hard. I mean they played hard.
They was all over the place and really put it
on us. And I know they they were they would
play hard for him, they would they.

Speaker 5 (13:49):
With those scrimmages we had when I was at Paris
and uh we scrimmaged Frankfort.

Speaker 6 (13:53):
Those were those were August wars.

Speaker 5 (13:56):
Now those kids got after Uh hey, coach roy got
a question, uh here for you. Uh you know, back
in the day, you were the king of knowing when
to send that half back down the middle of the
field on that belly pat and whenever you did it,
he was open. And I'm just wondering, well, what were
you looking for? What were the key? What what did

(14:18):
you see that told you now is the time to
run that play and run that half back down the
middle of the field because he was always open.

Speaker 9 (14:25):
Well, I'll tell you, we only had three coaches that
included me. We didn't have any in the press box
to wire down, we didn't have any telephones, or anything.

Speaker 6 (14:37):
And all we did was.

Speaker 9 (14:39):
We have terrible view from the you know how bad
a view is from the site.

Speaker 6 (14:44):
And the only thing I could.

Speaker 9 (14:45):
Tell you what on this one is I would kind
of watch the safeties in the corners and they start
cheating up because we ran that full house back and
we just tried to power people and and uh we
were and so when it's the only thing I could
see was the safety is cheating up and the corner
cheat up maybe, and then we try to spring it

(15:08):
on them.

Speaker 6 (15:09):
And you're very kind to say we succeeded.

Speaker 9 (15:12):
I remember the ones that failed, but I didn't succeeded.

Speaker 6 (15:17):
But anyway we had that's that's how we did it.

Speaker 9 (15:20):
We didn't even have anybody in the press box to
help us.

Speaker 4 (15:25):
Well it worked pretty good.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
Goat thank you and they got they've got TVs on
the sideline doing instant replays.

Speaker 8 (15:33):
Now, oh yeah, heaven.

Speaker 3 (15:35):
Now with you, I.

Speaker 9 (15:36):
Would it's a different you know, you know that belly
glass five times a night back then, wouldn't you? And
I want to tell you that I really feel privileged
to be a part of this program. And I just
wanted to say that Coach Buchan and you you deserve
a lot of credit. You had many, many, many wins

(15:56):
at a school that emphasized basketball and I and UH
coach Rees treated me so well when I would come
down and visit him, and he was one of two
different schools. And Coach Smith and everybody knows about him.
He's just tremendous what he did at Bulking and UH

(16:19):
Coach Webb was my coach, and he played for the
state championship twice, and he went seventeen straight seasons without
a losing record and he got that's pretty incredible, and
I just wanted to thank you for I really I
feel like an underling with these coaches. Really I do.
I don't think I'm near the caliber that they are.

Speaker 4 (16:43):
I disagree, disagree with that.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
Hey, coaches, I have a question. I have a have
a question for Coach Revees.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
During your time you were UH, you know, one of
the most successful coaches in Kentucky high school football, winning
free state championship was one runner up.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
You know what was your secret? How did you get
that done?

Speaker 8 (17:03):
During your time?

Speaker 6 (17:07):
I was just better looking than all the other coaches.
A lot to do with it, early brag.

Speaker 8 (17:13):
When I look at.

Speaker 6 (17:14):
Us tonight, I tell you I'm a Herm believer and
then and that you're you're fortunate if you want the
right kids to coach. And I was very, very fortunate.
I hit a couple of places at the time. Uh,
when we won the state championship, we lost our first

(17:36):
ball game forty to and we were playing Lloyd High
School and that boy, they were good. They were state
champions or something like that year. It was my first
year in Kentucky, in fact, my first year as a
head coach, and we had to I had coached at
Deer Park High School over in Cincinnati the year before
and they didn't open up until the week after that,

(17:58):
and we all came over to see that game and
walked out on the field with the game and one
of them said, Coach, I think you have a long year.
I said, yeah, I believe we will. But we've got
out a lot of things in that and and that's
the key. Uh.

Speaker 7 (18:11):
You know.

Speaker 6 (18:11):
We we picked out some kids that would come and
play and they would give everything they had. They've left
everything right there on the field. And we found the
right spots for the right people at the right time.
At the first two thousand year season, Rusher during that year.

(18:32):
Uh we scored a lot of points and people didn't
realize it. They didn't think much about it because of
the offense that we ran, but which was, by the way,
not an option offense. But we uh we had six
shutouts that year, and uh we played extremely good defense.
Our kids played hard and believed in what we were doing.

(18:54):
But I still maintained that the championship. Championship teams are
built on character, and it's what you do in the
off season that makes the difference, I think, and that's
what makes a quality player a quality team. You've got
to make them believe or get them to believe in
themselves and each other. I'll tell you one quick story.

(19:17):
We were playing Paintful in nineteen eighty two, I guess
it was. We were ranked number one in the state.
They were ranked number two in the state, and they
were loaded. Gosh, they were good, and we went down.
We got we were playing down there. We got down
by a score of seventeen to nothing. We came back
to make it seventeen to fourteen at halftime, and I

(19:38):
went in and when I was going to give my
big fiery speech, and this that and the other did that.
We came back out on the field, and they ran
the kickoff back for a touchdown and went up thirty
one to fourteen. Finally, I just did a wonderful job of,
you know, getting them read well. I didn't know this
until years later, but one of the players we had

(19:59):
a great rund My name is James Clark, and one
of the guys came over and said to him. She says, well, James,
you know it's not gonna be too bad. Well, it
was one game in two years. That won't be too bad,
he says. He turned in and looked at the guy's
probably the best friend. He looked at him and he said, Terry,
I'll tell you something, brother, I ain't losing.

Speaker 4 (20:22):
He scored.

Speaker 6 (20:24):
Sorry, it's herd can tell the story. He scored three
touchdowns after that, five total touchdowns, and we won that.
We scored twenty points in eight minutes. And I didn't
have anything to play calling or coaching, just character, kids,
and that's how you win.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
That's an awesome story, and that really it reminds me
of that. Remember the Titans. I don't know if you
remember the Titans that remember the Titan when at the
end of the game and and that coach said something
similar to what you said, and Julius uh stood up
and said, basically, kid, basically what your kid said a coach.

(21:06):
If you know, it's all the same to you, I'm
not going to lose this game. And it was fire
me up, Randy. I tell you, I remember I was
assistant coach at at Mercer back in your day.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
I remember you guys were a machine. Y'all were a machine.

Speaker 2 (21:23):
And uh, I mean it was really impressive to watch
Paris High School and that run that y'all had, It
was awesome.

Speaker 6 (21:31):
I think we made your year one year, didn't we
or made your career?

Speaker 3 (21:35):
Maybe yeah, maybe maybe it made our It made our career.
I think it mad and it got David Knight hooked.

Speaker 2 (21:41):
We all we talk about that all the time that, uh,
if we weren't hooked on uh, you know, football and
and overachieving, then we got hooked that night because we
felt like.

Speaker 3 (21:52):
We really overachieved because you were you were loaded. You
had a lot of good players at Speed.

Speaker 7 (21:59):
Story Along had a line of our player Rally and
the team and Harlan.

Speaker 8 (22:04):
We had a black high school.

Speaker 7 (22:06):
Every by name of Rosa Mall and they played on
Thursday night and we played on Friday that same field.

Speaker 8 (22:13):
We'll let each other's players get in free.

Speaker 7 (22:16):
So it was their homecoming and the coach told us
we could go down and watch one half, but we
burned out.

Speaker 8 (22:23):
Stay any longer than that.

Speaker 7 (22:25):
Well, we were in there and they were down two
touchdowns from a team out of Virginia. And the guy's
name was Lincoln. Everybody called him Big Link. He stood
about six feet and he waged about two thirty at
that time. And he stood up before the coach ever
got and said, boys, I'm telling all of you right now,

(22:45):
I'm a senior. This is my last year. This is
my last homecoming, and if we lose, I'm going hell
out every one of you.

Speaker 8 (23:01):
Those other guys stand there, stand there looking around.

Speaker 7 (23:04):
They came out in the second half and they came
back and they were the bawl game.

Speaker 10 (23:08):
And I think that they really believed that I did too.
I was ready to play for him. He's going to play.
You're not going to lose my last ball game.

Speaker 8 (23:19):
And it's amazing. Guy, What what kids can say?

Speaker 5 (23:24):
Coach web My next question is for you. I want
to ask you about a couple of your players. Willie
Washington and Ed Rall what made those guys such good
football players at Frankford High coaching? You go, oh, Ed was.

Speaker 8 (23:46):
Up here.

Speaker 7 (23:49):
Yeah, and when he got hurt, he wouldn't tell you player,
come off the field and tell that his shoulder with
her and he couldn't get to get it.

Speaker 8 (23:59):
Up high enough to throw the ball. And I won't say,
don't come talk here where the head man go see him.

Speaker 7 (24:07):
But that's to be smart and played on defense, and
that makes a big difference. I think the players a
lot of them looked to him to tell them what
was going on.

Speaker 4 (24:20):
You know.

Speaker 7 (24:21):
I learned that almost a hard way. We were down
playing Stanford and Uh. I always talked that they had
about one hundred guys that were about four foot seven
and weighed about two hundred pounds. Monday, as a fifteam,
we couldn't we couldn't.

Speaker 8 (24:41):
Handle them too well, and we knocked down Rag out.

Speaker 7 (24:45):
We went in in halftime and I said something about
was we are they got to be some kind of
key over there? Uh? But little quarterbacks still he played
safety and he said, well, coach, I don't know where
they're going. Every time I said what he said, I
know which side they were doing.

Speaker 3 (25:03):
To every time.

Speaker 7 (25:04):
I said, boys, don't keep it a secret, and.

Speaker 8 (25:09):
He did.

Speaker 7 (25:10):
He called, he called the defense the second half, and
they were nearly as tough as we thought. But that's
what you're talking about, and and get and get done.

Speaker 8 (25:23):
And as smaller as uh dealing with Willie Washington.

Speaker 7 (25:27):
He wasn't the fastest bike I ever had, but he
had one nobility that you can't coach, and that is
that he could go go through and he could see
the tackles coming, and he could put on his break
and dart three or four feet one side, and then

(25:49):
the next step he was full speed again. And we're
playing Woodford County and we we were doing too well
because they'd been upset the week before. But what wasn't upset?
Both undefeated in Somerset beat him. So they want to
get revenge, no doubt. But he came up, he came
off the sidelight. Hegadn't wonder why we got paid anything.

(26:12):
And he told me, he said, pots it. I let
me have the ball and tell him to give me
the ball. I want to go over the right guard
the way he got to lose. When you go and
been playing three and punt, you know, so we got in,
he got out. He went in there and he called
it was a simple dive play. But he had noticed

(26:34):
more than a coaching staff anybody that their two linebackers
were streaking.

Speaker 8 (26:41):
They went right, everybody else went left.

Speaker 7 (26:45):
He came, He came in in there and give him
the ball, and just as soon as he passed the
line of scrimmage, he turned to his left out of
fifty to ninet degree angle, came that way and kicked
back the other ways.

Speaker 8 (27:00):
All the problem for the rest of the night.

Speaker 7 (27:05):
Sometimes sometimes we learned we need to talk to them
and sometimes kids. I'm sure all of you trying to
get them kid to go up in a hole, and
uh we had we had another reason him all night long,
you or the assistant coach calling and he said.

Speaker 8 (27:28):
Just go into the hole. It's supposed to be there
a lot of kid running through there. And he broke open.

Speaker 7 (27:35):
He after school, he came over to the satellite and
got right up to the assistant come said, man, I
know what you're talking about now. So we don't always
play with a dumb bunch of people. And I was
all with us, and uh, we try to keep everything,
uh pretty pretty safe. His head he'll tell you what

(28:01):
would up the.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
Little that's.

Speaker 8 (28:08):
That's awesome.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
That's an awesome story.

Speaker 2 (28:10):
I agree with you too on some of them stories
there you got sometimes just ask the kids. They'll tell
you that the nerves banging your head against the law,
and hell, they already know.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
But now I was to go to UH.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
Coach Rollo and UH ed when I came.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
When I first came through a Boil.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
Whenever one of your former UH players came around the program,
they spoke with such respect and admiration.

Speaker 3 (28:44):
You know what, what a just compliment.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
You know, to be honest, it will want to be
nervous and they would come around they would start talking
about you know you and and how much they respected
you and admire you.

Speaker 3 (28:57):
And I'm it was UH got to know I understand
why they.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
Year I honored you at one of the home games,
one of the Boil home games for your time as
they had.

Speaker 3 (29:09):
Football coach.

Speaker 7 (29:11):
UH.

Speaker 3 (29:12):
You know what, what what did that ceremony mean to you?

Speaker 9 (29:17):
Well, I tell you that's a great question, and I
was totally overwhelmed. We had about sixty guys who came.
One guy came from Australia, another kid came from Virginia, Ohio, Florida,
Arkansas out these kids came for that ceremony, and I

(29:40):
was overwhelmed, and uh, I think it's the nicest gesture
anybody's ever done for me. And uh, I just uh
it makes you think that maybe just maybe you did
some good along the way. And I understand it with that,
and uh, I tell you, it was just uh it
was a great experience and just I didn't know anything

(30:03):
about it.

Speaker 6 (30:03):
It was a big surprise.

Speaker 9 (30:06):
Our radio guy there told me I needed to come
over that afternoon and do a little blip.

Speaker 6 (30:11):
On the radio.

Speaker 9 (30:13):
So I got over there and there's sixty guys in
the cafeteria and I should have known something was up.

Speaker 6 (30:19):
My wife made me change clothes.

Speaker 9 (30:23):
Anyway, but it was it was a total I'll cherish
that experience forever.

Speaker 6 (30:30):
But thanks for bringing that up, because it sure meant
a lot to me.

Speaker 2 (30:35):
That was that was that was a great compliment, you
know what what you meant to those kids. I mean,
as you said, some of them came a long ways
for that.

Speaker 9 (30:44):
I mean, yeah, one kid was from Asheville and he
was involved with the flooding down there. And still you
know that flood had just hit there and he came anyway.

Speaker 6 (30:59):
So that.

Speaker 5 (31:02):
Hey, so hey, and very very much so well deserved,
Coach roll. I got to see those teams up front
and close, and they were they were awful good teams,
Coach Reese. My next question is for you. You know, Paris
had so many legends like Bill Arnsparder, Lad Collier. What
was your best or most memorable interaction with one of

(31:24):
those Greyhound legends or just the tradition in general of
Paris High School.

Speaker 6 (31:31):
Well, you know, it's interesting. I never did meet Coach Callier.
I got to know his wife fairly well, I got
to know his daughter's fairly well. But I didn't get
to know Coach Caller at all. Uh. He was always
busy coaching whenever I had the opportunity, or I was
busy coaching or whatever. But Bill Arnsberger and I, I
want to say we became close friends, but we have
pretty good friends. Sitting in the office there at the

(31:54):
field house during the summer and going over some uh
schedules for practice and this and the other. And I
was sitting there by myself, and all of a sudden,
a person walks into the door, walks into the office
and he sits down and he starts to talk. Now, David,
I don't know if it was there when you were.
We had an old sofa that the bottom had fallen

(32:15):
out of it, and uh, that was you know, that's
where everybody sat. Well, Coach Arnsburger came in and he
sat down on that and he said, that looks like
nothing has changed. And uh, and we talked football, I
mean literally talked football, deep down stuff, greedy, diddy, gritty
for about forty five minutes and I finally asked him.

(32:36):
I said, sir, would would you mind telling me who
you are? He got all I'm sorry I should have
introduced myself. My name is Bill Orangeburger. And I as
I got up off the floor, Uh, you know, I
was in such all of having the opportunity to speak
with the period. And we continued to talk. We talked
mostly defensive football, and and he gave me some hints

(33:00):
on of course we ran a four to three. Most
everybody called it thought it was something else, but it
was truly a four to three defense. Just we played
a monster corner and uh, he gave me some handsome
you know, some of that, and so on and so forth,
and we got along very well. In fact, we stayed
in unch with each other quite a bit. I was

(33:20):
reluctant to do so, but when he got the job,
I think it was LSU. Yeah. I gave him a
call and I said, coach, you wouldn't have an opening
for a guy from Kentucky. He said, no, Randy, I don't.
He said, I'm going to have to hire a high
school coach, but it's going to be from Louisiana. He said,
I hired a coach from Kentucky. Get chewed up, he said,

(33:42):
but I have to tell you something I wanted to
patch on the back, say you were the first guy
I thought of, and I really respected that. I didn't
want to go anyhow, but I thought I was stupid
if I didn't at least give it a shot. So
he was. He was a fantastic person. You can't imagine

(34:03):
the people there that knew him and played with him,
and all the things that they knew about him and
so on so forth. He was highly respected, as was
coach Collier. Close Callier was I think the two things
that the things that those two guys taught me without
ever knowing them, just knowing the people that knew them

(34:25):
was a teacher to treat your kids with respect, and
they did.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (34:31):
They were hard on him, They were very hard on him.
But you know, if you get what you give, and
that's what they taught me, was was respect for the players.
And the worst player on our team was I kept telling, hey,
this is the most important gunner team. If he gets better,
everybody else had to get better too. So never to

(34:52):
name that player, but I think a lot of people
always knew who we were talking about. Whoever the worst
one was, you know, that was the best. But one
of the last years I was there, we we dressed
sixty five kids for a class a school. Very amazing
because we only had one hundred and twenty five boys

(35:12):
in the school and we dressed sixty five kids and
of those sixty five, forty five of them letters. And
those were not givens, you know those You had to
earn them. You had to earn a letter. So kids
played hard, and I think they respected the authority and

(35:33):
I respected them, and I think we loved each other tremendously.

Speaker 4 (35:38):
Playing along those lines.

Speaker 5 (35:40):
What was that like eaching Chris Haney, Larry Harrison, Jeffries.

Speaker 6 (35:45):
Well, Chris Haney was Yeah, it was. It was not
a tremendous athlete, but it was a tremendous person. And
if you told him to do something, it got done
exactly that way. You didn't want to fool around and
saying that listen, you go ahead and do what you
want to do. Here. You told him exactly what to do,
and he did it. We had a part of our

(36:05):
offense was a big part of our offense was to
get the backside garden tackle if possible, across the field
to set up downfield blocking. And Chris was probably the
best at that. That was the key to so many
big yardage games was to get that downfield blocking. Uh

(36:28):
you know, the blocking into that screens was a lot
all that hard, but getting down to get somebody to
hustle there, but thirty forty yards down the field ever
play that was a different story. Larry was an unbelievable athlete.
We had a kid in Larry's junior year by the
name a Laney Fomus, who is one of the fastest
kids I ever saw. And Larry broke his arm and

(36:52):
a ball game down against Pichel and it was dislocated
and broken, and he missed nine ball games and he
was the type of kid that all the kids depended on,
and you could see when they saw that he was injured,
the confidence just kind of left him for a while.

(37:14):
But at the same time, it felt like maybe we
got to pull together. We had to come back and
win and do the best we can for Larry, and
they did. I mean, he was a leader, never said
a word, just didn't. Coaching Jeff a different story. Jeff
started coaching when he was in about the fifth grade.

(37:35):
He studied film. I love to watch film and we
would sit at our house and he may have been
in junior high by that time, I don't know. He
would lay underneath the table and when I would project
on the wall and he was dad to see that,
and I didn't, you know, I wouldn't notice. I would

(37:57):
put it on the Skyring report. I wanted people to know.
I didn't say that he did it. And when we
were at Henderson, I didn't want him to play the quarterback.
I had no desire whatsoever that he knew how to
do it. I couldn't throw a lick. I mean we couldn't.
We couldn't complete a pass very thing. Or then becomes

(38:19):
a quarterback coach. I go figure that. But anyhow, he
the first three games we have scrimmages and three games
or something like that, we scored eleven times. And he
and the other kid that was playing quarterback. The other
kid went to the Louisville by the way, played got

(38:39):
a football scholarship, He got on the basketball team, and
he set a school record on the track team. This
is that lool reminis athlete. But that he could not
run the option, and he could throw a ball one
hundred miles, but he never knew where it was going.
And he didn't either. He wanted to run the ball

(38:59):
every time. You can't run the option that way. Well, now,
the first eleven touchdowns we scored, jeffs was in a
quarterback at ten. I thought, I want to be a choice.
We're going to ask play this kid. So he was.
He was a coach's son. He he when you put
him on the field, you can count on him telling

(39:20):
everybody else what they had to do. If they didn't know,
he could tell him what to do, but he because
he knew it. But I was I was very fortunate
to having two kids that played for me and and uh,
Jeff was a stand that never never in the world
running to play quarterback, but he did a great job.

Speaker 5 (39:38):
Well, guys, hey, you all love. Before we let you
out here, I just I do want to say to
the three of you. Uh, you know, Coach Ree is
a big reason I wanted to go to Paris, and
I did go to Paris is because of you, because
I looked up to you so much. And uh, Coach Webb,
you're one of my dad's best friends. He loved you dearly,
and uh, anytime he was headed Frankfort, I wanted to

(40:00):
go with him. And then you know, Coach Roll, Okay,
you really helped me after the whole Bull Mercer stuff.
And I tell you it, I had a lot better
attitude about Bull County after things didn't go real well
for my dad at the end. But you're a big
reason why. And you guys have just been a huge

(40:23):
influence on me.

Speaker 4 (40:24):
And I'm very thankful for you all.

Speaker 5 (40:25):
And hey, this is a dream come true to have
you guys on this podcast tonight. So I just want
you to know I'm really thankful for you guys. I
really look up to you and you guys are the best.
Thank you so much for being on here.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
And I want to second that as well. You guys.
You know, you guys are just tremendous. I respect all.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
Three of you, and and I've really followed your careers
and done some things that you've all done because you
all did it first.

Speaker 6 (40:58):
Yeah, well you guys. I appreciate you inviting me on.
I assume that, you know, people have forgotten about what
we did while I was coaching. Not what I did,
but what we did while I was coaching. It's been
twenty years since I walked on the field and along
behold the Y's two nights, I dreamed about starting a

(41:19):
high school football team. I don't know like that that
would be something, But thank you for inviting me. Thank
good Dad, Thank you, David, Thank you, Chuck. Really appreciate it.

Speaker 8 (41:33):
Thanks, thank you, pleasant hour, plentour ever what it was?

Speaker 5 (41:39):
Hey, thank you coaches. Hey you guys, have a merry Christmas.

Speaker 6 (41:44):
Yeah, merry Christmas to you today, You too, David.

Speaker 2 (41:48):
I guess the next part of the show was to
talk about the Coach of the Year.

Speaker 5 (41:53):
Yep, all right, so I'm doing this one. I'm play
by my own rules.

Speaker 4 (42:02):
I got three coaches. Hey, do you want do you
want to go?

Speaker 5 (42:05):
You want to tell me who your coach of the
year is or you? Okay, alright, I got three coach
of the year, all right. My big school coach of
the year is Brandon Smith from South Warren. I thought
he did a great job, and even more so after
the state championship game.

Speaker 4 (42:25):
Uh to think that that.

Speaker 5 (42:28):
South Warren split with Bowling Green, I think that's pretty incredible.

Speaker 4 (42:34):
So that's my big school. My small school coach of the.

Speaker 5 (42:37):
Year, I'm gonna go with Chad Pennington, who is also
the coach in the kfc A hospitality room. He was
the predominant favor from that, and I think in the
small school category I would go with Chad Pennington. And
then in a turnaround coach of the Year award, I'd

(42:58):
go with Wes Hagar out of Prestiansburg High School. That
program has just been really struggling. It's been down for
a long long time. They had an excellent season. I
don't have the record right in front of me right now,
but I think the only lost one or two games.

Speaker 4 (43:17):
I should have done my research like you did.

Speaker 5 (43:20):
I did have it, don't have it in front of
me right now, but coach Hager at Prestonsburg, I thought
he did an incredible job resurrecting Prestiansburg football because I'm.

Speaker 4 (43:32):
Gonna tell you what, when it hit right bottom.

Speaker 5 (43:34):
It has been rough, and it has been rough in
an area that they're surrounded about a lot of good
programs and kids were leaving, and he got those kids
to stay. And I mean, he's got Prestensburg back the
way I remember him back when.

Speaker 4 (43:49):
We played him in the playoffs. And I know you
went up there and played them too.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
Yeah, yeah, we did.

Speaker 8 (43:55):
We did.

Speaker 3 (43:57):
I like your choices, David. I think you put and
fall into it. I felt very good choices.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
I you know, I have a Coach of the Year
and I'm going to come across very biased what.

Speaker 3 (44:10):
I give your mind. But uh, and I understand that.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
I understand people will think that I'm biased and I
and maybe I am, I don't know, but uh, it's
also coming from the same It'll be coming from the
same guy who never let Brandon win when we went
out and played in the backyard when he was a kid,
and when we shot basketball, I wouldn't let him win
through the ball, would let him win. We played checkers,

(44:36):
I wouldn't let him win. He had to earn the
right to beat me, so, Uh, I am biased, but
it is coming from that same guy. I thought that
with all of the adversity, and if you want to
know the adversity, I'm not going to go through it again.
I went through it on last week's podcast. Uh, you know,

(44:56):
with we had some guys that were supposed to play
that play uh and really left five starting positions open,
uh going into you know, the fall practice and and
I talked about that last week when I was talking
about Bryce Button, you know for mister Football. Well, I
think that uh, you know, Brandon just did a masterful.

Speaker 3 (45:19):
Job of uh of putting pulling all that together.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
I mean, and there was a lot of dejected kids,
a lot of dejected coaches, and heads were down and
really felt like, you know, it was kind of doomsday.
But you know, Brandon, Uh, Brandon didn't allow that. I mean,
he he did a just a masterful job of of

(45:45):
bringing everybody together.

Speaker 3 (45:47):
He had a he had.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
A plan, and he sold the plan, uh to the
team and to the coaches, and uh he wouldn't let
anybody get off of that plan, you know, for the
entire year, and you know, end up being twelve and
two and maybe the semi finals and just really a
couple of plays away from getting to that state championship game,

(46:11):
you know. And I you know, I really give Brandon
a lot of credit for that. I mean, uh, he
was the he was the person in charge, and he's
the one who took control of it. And you know,
I keep saying it was a masterful job. I think
it was one of the best coaching jobs I've ever
been around. I know the Brandon has won three state championships,

(46:32):
but I don't know if he's done a better job
of coaching, uh than he did this year with that,
with it, with the situation that he had in front
of him. You know, again, I thought it was a
great job. And but anyway, that's that's my spill on it.
That's who I would have voted for Coach of the

(46:53):
Year if I had a vote. Also, like Chad, I
think Chad did a great job. He got he took
a program that he started, and he took them to
the state championship and they won the state championship game.
And Uh, to be honest, I wasn't expecting them to win.
I thought, you know, that Bracelin would win that game
because they'd been there before. I also thought think that

(47:16):
Sean Thompson did a great job at you know, at
Paducah Tillman. I think he had a you know, he
uh he overcome you know a lot of pressure, uh
to get that state championship win. I think we had
some really good, really good uh uh you know, coaching
jobs this year. And uh, I think that we got

(47:37):
some really good coaches in the state of Kentucky, by
the way, I do.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
I think I think sateia Kentucky.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
And I said this when I was at at the
University of Kentucky, you know, and I would go around
from state state recruiting. I said that, you know, Kentucky
is as well coached as any other state there is.

Speaker 3 (47:55):
They we got some really good coaches.

Speaker 6 (47:58):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (47:58):
These guys, uh, you know, do a good job of
developing their players and developing their their you know programs.
And I think Kentucky as well as a wealth coached
football state. And I still stand.

Speaker 5 (48:13):
By that well, and I'm sure not going to disagree
with you, you know, just like the three gentlemen we
had Tony to them connected to my dad. And I've
got ad biased, Okay, I am biased. I do think
Kentucky High School football coaches are really good. I think,
in my opinion, I think our best thing and when

(48:35):
we're our best. It really sort of goes back to
a lot of things you said about Brandon, which is
that you know, Brandon wasn't the state championship coach this year,
but man, he got a lot of mileage out of
what he had. And I think in general, Kentucky high
school coaches do a really.

Speaker 4 (48:55):
Nice job of taking what they've.

Speaker 5 (48:57):
Got, whether it's talent, resource, his facilities. They sort of
take what they got and I think they get a
million miles out of it. I think they're pretty dagone
good at it. And uh, I hope it's okay. I
tell this story real quick on coach raw Uh Coach Rall.
One year, I think the freshman jv and varsity had

(49:19):
both kind of been like thirty and one or something.
I mean, it was crazy how good it was. And
it was him and I think just one other coach.
He had one assistant, and so he went to the
superintendent who I won't name him.

Speaker 4 (49:35):
He's a good man. Good man.

Speaker 5 (49:36):
They went to the superintendent and said, you know, mister
so and so, do you think we get hires another
assistant coach or two, and the superintendent said, you know,
ED said don't if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Speaker 4 (49:52):
It's like Ed, I mean, the only need too. You're
thirty and one, what I mean, we don't need anymore.

Speaker 5 (49:58):
So I just share that though, because I do think,
you know, like different relationships with reconditioners and salesmen and
things like that. Kentucky a lot of places, man, they
are thin on resources, and you got to be creative
on how am I gonna maximize what I got? And

(50:21):
I think Kentucky coaches are really.

Speaker 4 (50:23):
Good at it.

Speaker 5 (50:24):
And you know, I think this season has been another
example of it, and.

Speaker 4 (50:32):
You know, I'm very proud to be associated with it.

Speaker 5 (50:34):
A I sent my family a text today, Hey, I'm
gonna not that anybody cares.

Speaker 4 (50:39):
I set my retirement date today. You wanna hear it?

Speaker 5 (50:42):
Yeah, December twenty second, twenty forty five. I'll be eighty.
I'm gonna coat that last season at eighty and then.
But but I'm going to retire at Christmas because I'm
I'm still gonna go to school. If I'm want to coach,

(51:03):
I'm gonna go to school and be with the kids
and I'm gonna do the whole deal.

Speaker 4 (51:08):
I think so.

Speaker 5 (51:09):
Anyway, And I mean, you know, if God, if God
permits me, allows me to do that. But where I'm
going with this, though, is that you know, there's a
lot of truth to what coach Rees said that eighty
six game.

Speaker 4 (51:25):
Really in a.

Speaker 5 (51:26):
Lot of ways, I think got us hooked and it
was like a dang drug.

Speaker 4 (51:32):
And I you know, but but I love being a
part of this.

Speaker 5 (51:37):
I love being a part of this, and you know,
and I appreciate you in this podcast because you know,
I love selling the footballs. That's cool, because it's a
great football. I like the quarterback workouts, that's that's good.
But outside of coaching football, this podcast is the closest

(51:57):
thing to that dynamic of coaching high school football. The
interaction with the coaches, the stories, the relationships.

Speaker 4 (52:05):
Uh, it really has that vibe.

Speaker 5 (52:07):
So hey, I'll be I'll side a coach to eighty
and then we'll keep doing this podcast till I don't.

Speaker 4 (52:15):
Know what ninety we'll see, we'll see what we got.

Speaker 3 (52:17):
Let's set the stage for that.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
You keep talking about that eighty six game and Randy
brought it up to is that kind of set the
stage for it is David and I were assistance at
Mercer County and Mercer County really hadn't wasn't known for football,
had won a lot in the past, and we were going, Uh,
we were playing Paris.

Speaker 3 (52:38):
I guess it was the playoffser.

Speaker 5 (52:40):
Now it was the regular season game three because I
scouted him week two, because week two Mercer went to Anderson,
and Anderson beat the crap out of us. Playing that
split four with Sam Harp. We never did start to
block it. But anyway, I was scouting at Paris. You're danna,
but yeah, so were So it was.

Speaker 2 (53:01):
A regular season game, but Paris was This was you know,
Paris was in their heyday or right at the end
of their heyday where they were.

Speaker 4 (53:09):
Reseason number one, pre season number one, went in you know.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
State championships, had a thirty eight game win streak, so
they had a reputation as a powerhouse. And we went
in there as a heavy underdog, and uh we were
able to come away with a win.

Speaker 3 (53:26):
I don't know how, but we got to win out
of it.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
Larry French was the head coach, and uh, you know,
it was the first time that I don't know, maybe Mercer,
but also the first time US as coaches were able
to play against a reputable powerhouse program.

Speaker 3 (53:44):
And come away with a win. And as David said,
the kind of hooked us. We've been doing it ever since.

Speaker 5 (53:52):
Hey, you know, I think I tell people about that game.
You know, our kids all played both ways. We scraped
their he's up off that field. When the game was over,
they supposed to me they were exhausted. Yeah, they were exhausted.
They played their tails off. And then I love to
throw this in. The Paris cheerleaders that night were over

(54:14):
there saying Mercer County. Where's Mercer County? And you know
how I know that, that's why.

Speaker 3 (54:22):
I heard one of them.

Speaker 4 (54:24):
That's right, I started. I even told Emma.

Speaker 5 (54:26):
Emma and jo sigh came over to eat dinner with
us tonight, and I'm getting ready to come do the podcast.
I said, Emma, I said, you wouldn't even be here
if it weren't for coach Reese. Because Coach Rees says
why I wanted to go to Paris? And she just
started laughing. She just she thinks I'm nuts. But anyway,
uh but but I but I guess though, what I
would say about all this, you know, my friendship with

(54:49):
you and playing for a What about coach French on
the list, Serve trying to buy flouring for Middlesbrough High
the other day. I mean, he's been a head coach now,
his first he was nineteen seventy eight, and it sounds
like he's still going.

Speaker 4 (55:03):
A million miles an hour.

Speaker 5 (55:05):
And I just I tell you what, all of our coaches,
all the guys out there that are listening and their
Kentucky high school football coaches, past president or future, I
really think we're part of something special.

Speaker 4 (55:21):
I really believe it.

Speaker 5 (55:22):
Speaking of that Jimmy Reid, our executive director, what a
wonderful man has done so much for all of us.
Got to see him a couple of weeks ago, and
I'm thankful for you having this idea on this podcast
because I think that it's great that we have a
way to celebrate Kentucky high school football.

Speaker 2 (55:43):
Just like the night David, we got to celebrate, you know,
three of all time breaks.

Speaker 3 (55:48):
And it was really a pleasure to have them on.

Speaker 2 (55:51):
And I love the stories and I love their answers
to the questions and sharing you know, their knowledge and
their experience with our listeners.

Speaker 8 (56:01):
It was.

Speaker 2 (56:01):
It was really a good show. I think we've had
a great I think we've had a great season. I
think this has been, you know, our third season at
probably our best season.

Speaker 3 (56:10):
We Uh, I think they're all good. And you know,
I appreciate you too.

Speaker 2 (56:15):
You do a lot of work on this program, and
I really do appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
And we got a good off season plan.

Speaker 4 (56:25):
We do.

Speaker 5 (56:25):
And I don't know how much we got to say
about it, but I do think we're gonna have I
think our season is going to be great and uh,
you know, and I think our listeners probably get this. Uh,
you know, we're sort of that Abbey Road side to
whatever our last episode is gonna be, it's gonna be
our best one. I mean, we always are trying to

(56:47):
get better, and that doesn't just apply to the teams
we're coaching. We want this podcast to be great. We're
thankful for our listeners. We want it to be worth
a coach's time to spend an hour listing. And so
we're gonna keep working like dogs to make it great.
And we'll kick out the off season January twenty twenty five.

Speaker 4 (57:08):
And it's gonna be awesome.

Speaker 3 (57:10):
It's gonna be great an off season, we do one,
we do one a month.

Speaker 5 (57:14):
Yes, that is correct, We'll do one a month. And hey,
we're gonna we're gonna do the best we can to
make it great, that's for sure. And speaking of which,
man Mac, we never dreamed this historical segment was gonna
grow into what it's become. But you know, make Yoakam
has really done great and sort of stole the show.

Speaker 3 (57:34):
And need to listen.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
Need to hang on and listen when we sign off,
because he'll have another good one tonight.

Speaker 4 (57:39):
Yep, you sure will.

Speaker 3 (57:41):
Appreciate you all. U's turn it. Tune in in this year.

Speaker 4 (57:44):
Hey, thank you guys, and Merry Christmas.

Speaker 11 (57:47):
Sports and in particular, high school sports, are woven into
the fabric of Americana. High school sports are part of
the DNA of communities across the country, and that is
sir true. In Kentucky, fans know the stories of the
big names, but there are many names and many stories
that have been lost to history. This series highlights those

(58:12):
forgotten he Rose. Welcome to another episode of Forgotten He Rose.
I'm your host, Mack Yocum. The nineteen twenty nine Notre
Dame football team was coming off of five and four
season from nineteen twenty eight. Those four losses were one
third of all of the losses Newt Rockney suffered in
his entire coaching career. The Great Depression was just beginning,

(58:37):
and of all of that wasn't enough. Notre Dame had
no field for the nineteen twenty nine season. Coach Rotney
had designed the new stadium, but it required tearing down
Cardier Field, and to top it off, Rodney developed severe
phlebitis and coach games from a wheelchair or a seat
on the sideline, or actually even lying in a cot.

(59:00):
Notre Dame's All Americans in nineteen twenty nine were Frank
Caradello and Jack Cannon, but it was a speedster from Lebanon,
Kentucky who preserved the Fighting Irish's undefeated season and their
national title. Jack Elder played at Lebanon High before heading
to South Bend. Not much is known about his high

(59:22):
school career, but at Notre Dame he became a legend.
Jack Elder wasn't just the fastest player for Notre Dame,
but he held the world record in the sixty yard
in the seventy five yard dashes and finished in the
top five in the one hundred yard dash in the
NCAA Championships. He was known for his long runs out

(59:45):
sprinting helpless defenders. In nineteen twenty nine, he scored both
touchdowns and a fourteen to nothing win over Indiana. He
caught a touchdown pass in the win over Navy, and
he threw a fifty three yard touchdown pass in a
thirteen to twelve win over Southern California. The Irish took

(01:00:05):
their unbeaten record to Yankee Stadium to face Army before
eighty thousand fans and over three hundred thousand fans had
requested tickets. Army's Hall of Fame coach Biff Jones had
announced his retirement and Army was determined to send him
off with a win. Coach Jones, though, did come back

(01:00:27):
years later to coach at LSU, Oklahoma and Nebraska. The
eight degree temperatures made the field slippery and hardest concrete.
Neither team could move the ball, but Army was able
to run the ball some. But it was an errant
pass by quarterback Red Cagle that changed the game. Lebanon,

(01:00:47):
Kentucky's Jack Elder leapt at the goal line caught the
pass and landed at the four yard line and sprinted
down the sideline for the game's only touchdown. Elder was
credited with a ninety six yard interception return. However, years later,
Notre Dame, after watching the film, gave Jack Elder credit

(01:01:11):
for a one hundred yard interception return. That interception still
ranks at the top of the list of greatest plays
in Notre Dame's long illustrious history. Thanks to Jack Elder's return,
Notre Dame stayed unbeaten and claimed the national title, the

(01:01:32):
only major college football team to ever win a national
title while playing all of their games away from home.
After graduation, Jack moved to southern California to work for
Sinclair Oil. He helped found the Catholic Youth Organization. He
was president of the Notre Dame National Monogram Club, and

(01:01:53):
in nineteen eighty seven he received the prestigious Henry Foster
Man of the Year award from Notre Dame for his
community service. December sixth, nineteen ninety two, Jack Elder was
walking into a Palm Springs, California hotel for a Notre
Dame Communion breakfast. He collapsed and died of a heart attack.

(01:02:13):
He was eighty six, and most appropriately, Jack Elder was
wearing his nineteen twenty nine Notre Dame hat and his
Notre Dame tie, and he passed away surrounded by his
Notre Dame.

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
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