Wartburg High School 1951 football team reunion

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http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/ma...tburg-central/

This is from the Knoxville News Sentinel. The remaining living members of Wartburg High School's 1951 undefeated football team just had their 60 year reunion. Several of them have passed on, but the coach is still doing fine at 84 years old. In the photo he actually looks better than some of the players (3rd from right on front row). It was his first head coaching job after graduating from Centre College In Kentucky. It wasn't much of a job (he actually had to make a football field for the team to play on), but it was the first step in a career that would lead all the way to the NFL where he became head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1978.

How about a "Who-Dey!" for Homer Rice still looking good at 84!

I especially like the part about him coaching the football team for the state prison in Morgan County in order to get extra uniforms for his high school boys.

[big_dish]

that link doesnt work for me

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[quote name='big_dish' timestamp='1306241122' post='994392']
that link doesnt work for me
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http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/galleries/2011/may/23/1951-wartburg-central-high-school-football-reunion/

WARTBURG, Tenn. - They've lost a step or two. And gained a pound or two.

Whoever thought to pass out the name tags, they came in handy.

They're 60 years removed from their heyday, but time hasn't dimmed the memories of that fabulous 1951 football season at Wartburg Central High School.

"We were surprised until about the third or fourth game," said Don Patrick, the old right guard who lives in Powell, "and then we figured out we had it.

"I think we knew it was going to come a pretty good season for us."

Pretty good? Try the first undefeated season in Wartburg Central history. The survivors celebrated Saturday with a reunion.

Thirteen players, plus two managers, were present. Eight are deceased.

"Let's see a flip," somebody cracked when a couple of former cheerleaders joined the team picture.

"You're dreaming," shot back Charlene Swint Gregg.

One man required no name tag. Coach Homer Rice is still spry at 84.

Anyone who has paid attention to football the past half-century knows of Homer Rice.

He was a head coach at the University of Cincinnati and Rice University, an offensive coordinator at the universities of Oklahoma and Kentucky. He coached the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals in 1978-79.

His longest stint was as athletic director at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets won the 1990 national championship on his watch.

Before any of that, he was a high-school guru, recording eight undefeated seasons in 11 years at three schools.

And it all started in the hills of Morgan County.

After graduating from Centre College in his native Kentucky, Rice got a letter from Wartburg Central offering the job.

"I didn't even come to look at it," he said. "I just took the job. I wanted to be a head coach."

He wasn't just the head coach. He was the only coach, in every sport.

There was no football field. Games were played in the yard in front of the old high school. It's where the Rite Aid store sits now.

"We'd walk the field before every game picking up rocks and sticks," recalled Ray Bardill, the quarterback, who drove up from Tallahassee, Fla.

The shop teacher made goal posts. In need of more uniforms as the roster grew into the 20s, Rice took on a second job, coaching the team at nearby Brushy Mountain prison before school started in the morning. The prison had extra uniforms.

"I didn't tell the players or anyone but my wife," Rice said. "That was something you didn't want on your resume."

Rice used his first job to introduce an offense he had designed, the triple option.

"Before he came we were single wing," said Bardill, who was sporting his old letter jacket. "This was Bob Neyland country.

"But I could just tell from the minute I looked at Coach Rice he was something special."

The triple option was a success and so were the Bulldogs. They took down Oneida and Kingston. They beat rival Sunbright for the Morgan County championship.

That was as good as it got. There were no state playoffs until the late 1960s.

At season's end Rice left for Spring City's offer to double his salary.

"And they had a football field," Rice noted.

Rice went undefeated at Spring City and then later at Fort Thomas (Ky.) Highlands. His first team, though, holds a place in his heart.

"These kids," Rice said, "they jump-started my career, the way they responded, or I may not have had the success that we did later on."

They're not kids anymore. But they'll never forget how the stars aligned in that fabulous fall of 1951.

At one point Saturday, the old coach greeted his old halfback, Lloyd Lowe, who was walking slowly with a cane.

"Do you remember that touchdown you threw against Oneida?" Rice asked. "I'll never forget that. Do you remember that play?"

Lowe leaned on his cane, looked at his coach and replied: "I remember 'em all."