Gordon Wood (American football)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2007) |
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Abilene, Texas, US | May 25, 1914
Died | December 17, 2003 Abilene, Texas, US | (aged 89)
Playing career | |
1935–1937 | Hardin–Simmons |
Coaching career ( Victoria HS (TX) | |
1960–1985 | Brownwood HS (TX) |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 396–91–15 |
Gordon Lenear Wood (May 25, 1914 – December 17, 2003[1]) was an American high school football coach in Texas. He was a head football coach for forty-three seasons, winning or sharing twenty-five district championships and nine state championships.
Wood mainly ran a variant of the
Early life
Wood was the fourth son and the youngest of eight children. He grew up in West Texas, mostly in and around Abilene spending most of his childhood picking cotton to help support his family. He decided not to be a cotton farmer at the age of twelve when his family's crops failed and his father moved him to other farms in West Texas and New Mexico to pick and pull cotton. Wood stayed on those farms from late summer until November and didn't start school until December. His father never appreciated education, so Wood didn't start school until he was seven years old. Because his family moved around so much, Wood attended several different schools in and around Abilene before he graduated from Wylie High School in 1934.
Wood was active in sports throughout his education and got his first taste of competition when he played
In 1934, Wood was the third fastest runner in Taylor County and was scouted by coach Leslie "Fats" Cranfill from Hardin–Simmons University, who offered Wood a partial athletic scholarship to Hardin–Simmons. After some convincing, Wood's father gave him his blessing and set his son up living with a friend in Abilene. Eventually, Wood earned a full scholarship, and the University provided him with room and board. At Hardin–Simmons, Wood played football and basketball, ran track, and boxed in order to maintain his scholarship. Despite nearly flunking out his first semester, Wood did well in college. He was never a star athlete at the university, but he did learn a lot about sports and coaching. It was at Hardin–Simmons that Wood decided he wanted to be a coach.
Spur and Rule high schools
After he graduated from Hardin–Simmons in 1938, Wood received his first coaching job as an assistant at
Coach Wood found his first head coaching position at Rule High School in 1940. Rule was already in the midst of a nineteen-game losing streak when Wood took over, and he had a hard time improving their record. He lost the three opening games of the season extending the streak to twenty-two before he earned his first win as a head coach. Rule ended the season with only two wins and eight losses. The next year Wood won the opening game over his old coaching grounds at Spur, but finished the season with only three wins, three losses, and two ties. After two years, Coach Wood finished his first head-coaching job at Rule with a record of five wins, eleven losses, and two ties. Wood was looking forward to a better third season at Rule, but after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he resigned from his position at Rule and enlisted in the Navy.
Wood initially washed out of the
It was in the Navy that Wood met his wife Katharine. He was spending a night out in San Diego when the two met. Gordon and Katharine courted for two months before they married in January 1945. A few weeks later they were expecting their first child. Their daughter, Patricia Wood, was born in September 1945, just days before Gordon Wood received his discharge.
Roscoe, Seminole, and Winters
Because he was a schoolteacher before the war, the Navy allowed Wood to discharge early when he found a job as the principal at Roscoe, Texas High School. At Roscoe, Wood taught three math courses, drove the school bus, and coached football, basketball, and track. While coaching at Roscoe, Coach Wood started using his legendary winged-T offensive formation for the football team. In his first year coaching at Roscoe, Wood took his team through an undefeated season and won the district championship only to lose the first game in the state playoffs. The next year, Roscoe lost the opening game of the season, but it was two ties in district play that cost them the district title and kept them out of the 1946 playoffs. Coach Wood ended his career at Roscoe with sixteen wins, two losses, and two ties.
In 1947, Coach Wood followed Roscoe's superintendent to become
Stamford
Coach Wood found his next coaching job at Stamford, Texas High School. His first season in 1951, the Stamford Bulldogs won nine games, but one loss to district rival Anson kept them out of the district championship and the state playoffs. The next year, Stamford went undefeated in the regular season followed by Coach Wood's first ever playoff win. Stamford won two playoff games before losing to Terrell in the state semifinals. Coach Wood ended the 1952 season with thirteen wins and one loss. In 1953, Coach Wood took Stamford through another undefeated season, this time losing to Phillips in the state quarterfinals, and ending the 1953 season with eleven wins and one loss. In 1954, Wood had another winning season when Stamford won nine games, but a loss to Colorado City kept them out of the district championship and the state playoffs. That loss would be the last Coach Wood or Stamford would see for the next couple of years.
In 1955, Coach Wood brought Stamford to yet another undefeated season followed by playoff victories. This time Stamford went undefeated in the playoffs ending their season with a 34 to 7 victory over Hillsboro to claim the state championship. The Stamford Bulldogs went undefeated again in 1956, earning Coach Wood back-to-back state championships and extending the team's winning streak to 32 games. The 1957 season started well when three opening victories brought the streak up to 35, but Sweetwater ended Stamford's long years of success with a 24 to 7 victory over the Bulldogs. A second loss to the Seymour Panthers shut out Stamford's hopes for another district title and another shot at the state crown. The next year Coach Wood moved on to Victoria, while Stamford claimed another set of back-to-back championships in 1958 and 1959. Wood ended his career at Stamford with eighty wins and six losses, a 93% winning record.
Victoria
In 1958, a much better paying job enticed Wood to leave West Texas for the first time as a head coach. He landed in Victoria, Texas, where he reunited with Assistant Coach Morris Southall. That year, Wood also hired Kenneth West as an assistant coach. West had played for Wood at Stamford in 1951. The two grew to be longtime friends and coached together for twenty years. Their first season at Victoria, Wood, Southall, and West shocked many Victoria fans and brought the team a 6-4 winning season. Then Coach Wood brought Victoria another winning season in 1959 with six wins, three losses, and one tie. Wood was getting paid well in Victoria, making about $10,000, but a lack of fan support and homesickness for West Texas convinced him to move back west. He left Victoria with twelve wins, seven losses, and one tie.
The job he really wanted was San Angelo Central, which had just opened after Bob Harrell resigned. However, it eventually went to Emory Bellard, so Wood had to settle for Brownwood.[3]
Before they left Victoria, the Wood family decided to add another member. In 1959, Gordon and Katharine decided to adopt a baby. They had been trying for years to have a second child, and while in Victoria, a friend convinced them to adopt. They adopted a newborn baby boy into their family in 1959 and named him Jim Wood.
Brownwood
Coach Wood found his last head coaching position at Brownwood, Texas High School in 1960. Coach Southall followed Wood to Brownwood, and the two finished their careers together with the Lions. A few years later, Coach West would also reunite with Coaches Wood and Southall. West coached for Coach Wood until being promoted to an assistant principal in 1984.
The Brownwood Lions had long been on the losing side of the football field, only winning one district championship between 1920 and 1959. 1960 was Coach Wood's first year in Brownwood and he brought the team a 13-1 season. Temple was the only loss the Lions received that year and Brownwood easily claimed the district title for the first time in many years. The Lions went undefeated in the playoffs and won their first state championship, beating Port Lavaca Calhoun 26 to 6 for the state crown.
In 1961, Terry Southall, the first of Coach Southall's three sons, suited out for the Brownwood varsity squad. Coach Wood's team won eight games that season with one loss in non-district play, but a tie with
In 1965, Coach Wood picked up a tip from Coach
The 1968 Brownwood Lions opened the season with a loss to Abilene Cooper followed by a win over
The third Southall son, Shae, joined the squad in 1970, and Coach Wood was able to bring him and the other Lions to another winning season. After losing the opening game to Abilene Cooper, Brownwood claimed victories over twelve opponents and won another district title. A tie to
The 1971 season opened with two losses to Abilene Cooper and Abilene High, but Coach Wood left no disappointment the rest of the season, and the Lions claimed their fifth straight district title. Coach Wood was able to get his team as far as the state semifinals, where they were defeated 10 to 8 by
In 1974, Brownwood lost their season opener to Abilene Cooper, but went undefeated the rest of the season to claim the district championship. They won two playoff games before tying Gainesville at 20. Gainesville advanced to the finals on first downs, and the Lions turned in their equipment. In 1975, Coach Wood suited out his son, Jim Wood, at the end position. That year, Brownwood lost their opening game to Abilene Cooper, and a loss to Perryton in district play cost the Lions the district title. The 1977 season fared better. After an undefeated season, the Lions clinched the district title and advanced through the state playoffs only to lose the state championship game to Dickinson, 40 to 28. In 1978, Brownwood lost the opening game to Abilene Cooper, but that game was later forfeited and Brownwood went undefeated the rest of the season to reclaim the district title. Coach Wood led the team to their sixth state championship with an undefeated record of fifteen wins.
Wood opened up the 1979 season with a loss to Abilene Cooper. The Lions suffered a second loss to
Wood started the 1981 season with a loss to Abilene Cooper, but that would be the only loss the Lions would see that season. Brownwood went on to win thirteen victories to claim another district title and their seventh state championship. The Lions opened up the next season with their first win over Abilene Cooper since 1977. That game was also historical because it was Wood's 366th win, which tied Red Franklin's record set back in 1958. When Brownwood won their next game over Weatherford, Coach Wood became the winningest high school football coach in the United States with 367 wins. Although his team lost to San Angelo Central and another loss to Cleburne (9-3 at TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium, est attendance of 38,000 fans) cost the Lions their district crown the UIL passed a new rule in 1982, which allowed two teams from each district to advance to the state playoffs. Brownwood took the second place spot, but lost their first game in the playoffs to Gainesville, 14 to 12. Wood's team put away their cleats with nine wins and three losses.
In 1983, Coach Wood suffered non-conference losses to Abilene Cooper and San Angelo Central, and a 30-3 home, district loss to the Cleburne Yellow Jackets cost Brownwood's Lions the district title. Wood won the rest of the regular season games that year finishing with eight wins, but Brownwood lost a nail-biter to Vernon 11 to 6 in the first playoff game. Wood took the Lions to six more wins in 1984, but losses to Cleburne, Abilene Cooper, and
Legacy
Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant of Alabama was once asked why he left Texas A&M for the University of Alabama. Bryant said, "I left Texas A&M because my school called me. Mama called, and when Mama calls, then you just have to come running."[citation needed] Bryant had played at Alabama from 1931–1934. Later, Bryant was again asked why he left A&M, and he replied, "I had to leave Texas. As long as Gordon Wood was there, I could never be the best coach in the state."[citation needed]
Wood is remembered throughout the coaching realms as always being a student of football. Former Dallas Cowboys' head coach, Bill Parcells, once told the story of how Wood drove five hours each day for weeks just to watch his Texas Tech linebackers practice. Baylor's former head coach, Grant Teaff, said that Wood once spent the night in his film room just to ask how a particular play had been run. He had also been a major opponent to the "no pass, no play" laws of the early 1980s. Wood hardly lost any players after the laws had been passed.
After his retirement, Wood stayed very active in the coaches associations he had become involved with over the years. He gave an abundant number of speeches and is notable for being one of Grant Teaff's Master Coaches in 2002. Over the years, Wood developed several medical conditions including skin tumors, artificial hips, a stroke, and having triple bypass surgery in 1990. He attempted to keep up with his hobbies, but over the years his conditions would no longer allow him to do so. The only hobby Wood would never give up is football. Even after retirement, he would travel across the state to watch high school teams compete on the gridiron. He watched many high school games vigorously until he died in December 2003. Coach Wood suffered from a heart attack and died at the age of 89.
Record
Wood set a state and national record with a total of 396 wins, 91 losses, and 15 ties in 43 seasons as a head Texas high school football coach, an 80% winning record. Over those 502 games, Wood made stops at eight schools and won eleven state championships, nine in football. His first state title came from his 1948 Seminole track team, and his second was his 1954 Stamford golf team. The first two of his nine football state championships came from his 1955 and 1956 Stamford teams. He won seven more at Brownwood in 1960, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1978, and 1981. On top of that he either won or shared 25 district titles.[4]
Wood's original record had been believed to be 405-88-12 (81%). He was awarded for that record at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, which had inducted him in 1983. Coach Wood was believed to be the only coach to ever achieve four hundred wins, however, the 405 wins record came under scrutiny when researchers found discrepancies in 2001. After corrections were made, the
Awards and accomplishments
On top of setting the record for most wins in the twentieth century, Coach Wood has received numerous other awards and accomplishments. He coached four Texas All Star Teams: two in 1957 and 1958, and two at the Oil Bowl Classic in 1977 and 1985. His teams won in 1958 and 1977. Coach Wood also gained experience with professional football when he coached the summer camp for the Canadian League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1972 to 1974.
The Texas Sportswriters Association named Wood Coach of the Year three times: 1956, 1970, and 1978. The Texas High School Coaches Association named him their president in 1959 and inducted him into their Hall of Honor in 1967.[1] Hardin–Simmons University presented Wood with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1979 and inducted him into the Hall of Fame in 1996. In 1979, the National High School Athletic Coaches Association named him the National High School Football Coach of the Year and, in 1996, inducted him into their Hall of Fame [2]. The American Football Coaches Association decided to honor Wood in 1983; the same year he was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. In 1984, Wood was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame.
The Touchdown Club of Houston presented Wood with the Touchdowner of the Year Award in 1986. In 1999, the NCAA presented Wood with the Football Coaches of America Lifetime Achievement Award (Grant Teaff Award). In 1993, Martin Communications Publications named Coach Wood Co-Coach of the Century along with Coach
Further reading
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2007) |
- Cashion, Ty (1998). Pigskin Pulpit: A Social History of Texas High School Football Coaches. Austin: Texas State Historical Association. ISBN 0-87611-168-1.
- Cohen, Rachel (2001-08-01). "Recount Can't Change Legacy: Coach Says Report Doesn't Diminish Solid Reputation". Dallas Morning News. pp. 1B & 11B.
- Bill Hart, "Gordon Wood: A Teacher and a Winner" King Football: Greatest Moments in Texas High School Football History, ed. Mike Bynum, pp. 238–247 (Birmingham: Epic Sports Classics, April 2003)
- Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel, "For the Record" Sports Illustrated, p. 36 (v. 99 i. 25 2003)
- Herman L. Masin, "A Texas Leaguer" Coach and Athletic Director, p. 10 (v. 67 i. 4, November 1997)
- Kevin Sherrington, "Gordon Wood" Dallas Morning News (17 November 1999)
- Kevin Sherrington, Article Dallas Morning News (2004)
- ISBN 1-57837-409-X.
- Wood, Gordon; Carver, John (2001). Coach of the Century: An Autobiography. Plano, Texas: Hard Times Cattle Company Publishing. ISBN 0-9663579-2-2.
- "11-Man Football – Team – Coaching: Most All-Time Wins" NFLHS: Home of High School Football http://www.nflhs.com/news/records/11man_coaching.asp (National Football League, 25 March 2007)
- "Gordon Wood: Texas' Living Legend" Scholastic Coach, pp. 44–46+ (v. 53, March 1984)
- "Remembering a Legend" Coach and Athletic Director, p. 6 (v. 73 i. 9, 2004)
- Texas High School Football Hall of Fame, Texas Sports Hall of Fame Jay Black, Curator, (Waco, Texas)
References
- ^ Obituaries: Gordon Wood
- ^ Beilue, Jon Mark (2003-12-21). "Gordon Wood: A Texas treasure to the end". Amarillo Globe News.
- ^ McFarland, John (2002-10-12). "Prep coaching great reflects on record, career". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Texas All-Time Coaching Wins Lone Star Gridiron
- ^ Texas All-Time Coaching Wins Lone Star Gridiron