Nashville Coaches Convention

BY: Jimmie McDowell

NASHVILLE---I attended my first American Football Coaches Convention in 1952 in Cincinnati and have attended every one but one since. I am proud to be an Honorary Member of the AFCA for 17 years,chosen after a quarter of a century with the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.

This year's convention was held at the spacious Opryland Hotel in this wonderful Southern city which I have visited quite a few times over the years. My Father was born in Tullahaoma and when Granny Mac was l6 a 40-plus old single gentleman, attracted by her beauty, came by her house and told her he would like to call on her. She politely declined and said she was betroved to Hiram McDowell.

She married Hirman McDowell and the single gentleman never got married. He died a short time later as a result of kicking the iron safe in his office. His treasurer Lem Motlow was in church and had the only key to the safe. The 40-year plus old gentleman suffered a blood clot and died. His name was Jack Daniel. He was in the whisky business.

Now if Granny Mac had married Ole Man Jack instead she could have still married Hiram McDowell after Jack had passed away and I could be running the Jack Daniel Distillery today.
Even so I became a fairly good customer before deciding a few years ago to cut out partaking of the hard spirits which hopefully will add about 20 more years to my life.
So being in Nashville always brings back good memories. It was also the home of my great pal Fred Russell, who was Chairman of the NFFHF Honors Court for over a quarter of a century. I was the Secretary of the Honors Court for over 20 years, succeeding the late Coach Harvey Harman, one of four Executive Directors of the NFFHF. Today's Foundation leadership does not list these men who all contributed to the growth of the NFF, starting with Arthur Evans, George Little, Harman, and McDowell.
My successor was the old Princeton coach Bob Casciola, whose title was changed to President after the All-American Football Foundation was launched in 1994. Every one and his brother is listed in the NFFHF' s splendid 2008 Dinner program except the Executive Directors.
The All-American Football Foundation incidentally will have its 99th Banquet of Champions in Jackson, Ms. Feb 16 followed by the Centennial Banquet in Princeton March 9.
This year's AFDA banquet celebrated the 15th anniversary of Executive Director Grant Teaff,the Hall of Fame Baylor coach taking over the reins from Charlie McClendon, the gifted LSU grid boss. Ty Willingham of Washington, Stanford, and Notre Dame, was the outgoing coach of the AFCA. He did a fine job in this capacity and hopefully will get another shot at a head coach after being terminated by Washington. Dick Tomey of San Jose State succeeded Willingham as AFCA president for 2009.
Joe Paterno and Tom Osborne, the Hall of Fame coaches from Penn State and Nebraska, highlighted the Masters' program. Paterno, 82, has just been awarded a new three year contract and is looking fine, thank you. Osborne returned to Nebraska as Athletic Director. Paterno confessed that as an assistant coach he proposed to the 21 year old head cheerleader. He told her he was 33. When they applied for a marriage license he had to put his true age 35, on the document. No wonder he has been such a successful head coach. He and Sue have now been married 47 years.
Utah's Coch Kyle Willingham was chosen the AFCA's Division One Coach of the Year following his perfect record season, winning the honor over Florida's Urban Meyer, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, Texas' Mack Brown and USC's Pete Carroll. Meyer, Brown, and Carroll lost one game. Stoops lost a pair, including the showdown with Florida.
Texas Tech's Mike Leach had lost only one game before bowing to Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl. The Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt was chosen the South Regional Coach of the Year. Besides beating Leach he also decisioned Urban Meyer. He is a future National Coach of the Year in my opinion.
Had a good visit with Houston in Nashville. He was pleased that his star end Greg Hardy was coming back for his senior year and like all coaches hopes that the youngsters who have early committed to Ole Miss will stay on board.
You never know until signing date. When I was working at Southern Mississippi we thought we had Eagle Day, but something happened between midnight and daylight and Day switched to Ole Miss. Until the day he died the Eagle never told me what happened.
--30---

By: Jimmie McDowell
DALLAS---It was a pleasure to be back in Dallas for the last Cotton Bowl game to be played in the famed Cotton Bowl Stadium and watch Houston Nutt's Ole Miss Rebels come from behind and gun down the favored Texas Tech Red Raiders,47-34, in the highest scoring Cotton Bowl game ever.
I have seen OleMiss play now in their four Cotton Bowl games, dating back to Eagle Day,. the Mississippi Gambler, Paige Cothren, Buddy Alliston and Company shade favored TCU and All-American Jim Swink, 14-13, in 1956. I also saw The University of Texas hand Ole Miss its only Cotton Bowl defeat, 12-7 with the Red and Blue playing without All-America Fullback Billy Ray Adams, who had suffered a crippling accident on the way back to the Campus after being honored by the Jackson Touchdown Club.
Adams, a back with power and breakaway speed, went to sleep driving on the Natchez Trace and his car collided with a tree. Never again did an Ole Miss senior come to the Touchdown Club season ending meeting without an assistant coach. Adams' injury cost him a lucrative pro football career as well.
Eli Manning led Ole Miss to a Cotton Bowl victory as a senior. Cotton Bowl officials, remembering how many fans came to Dallas for that game, were elated that Ole Miss became bowl eligible again in 2008. Ole Miss fans, over 30,000, were on hand to watch Jevan Snead spark the Rebels to the sensational win over once-defeated Texas Tech,the only team to beat the University of Texas in regular season play.
Ole Miss lost a fourth opportunity to play in the Cotton Bowl after the 1948 season when there were not many Bowl games. The Rebels were 8-1, losing only to Tulane and the great Eddie Price. On that day a Tulane lineman broke All-American Barney Poole's jaw with a forearm and no penalty was called.
Spitting teeth and blood the Barnabus was on his back when his brother Buster, the assistant coach, came out on the field and asked " Barney, are you OK?" Barney spitting out more blood and a couple of teeth said he was all right. Buster said: Well, get up, it doesn't look good and Momma is in the stands." Barney got up and played the final games wearing a protective face guard.
Coach Johnny Vaught thought the Cotton Bowl would invite Ole Miss to play SMU, led by All-American Doak Walker and killer Kyle Rote. Out of the blue the Cotton Bowl invited the University of Oregon, sparked by the great Norm Van Brocklin, and Ole Miss stayed home.
Years later I learned that the Rose Bowl, fearing that the Ducks would not bring many people too Pasadena asked the Cotton Bowl to do them a favor and invite Oregon which they did.
Jevan Snead, the native Texan, rose to the occasion this time around, and led the Rebels to another great win, after the Florida conquest. Snead has now bested two of the four Heisman finalists,m Tim Tebow of Florida and Graham Harrell of Texas Tech. Snead,who has two years of eligibility remaining, now moves as a dark horse in next year's Heisman Trophy picture.
On the same play which got Ed Oregeron fired at Ole Miss, Texas Tech chose to run on fourth and four and All-America defender Peria Jerry stopped Harrell to give Ole Miss possession of the ball. Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach said miscommunication was the problem, and he hoped to draw Ole Miss off sides but that did not happen.
Ole Miss is in the Cotton Bowl history book now with the final victory at Cotton Bowl stadium. plus the biggest score ever in the 73 year history of the game. The Cotton Bowl moves to the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in 2010.
With Snead and Dexter McCluster, voted Offensive MVP, heading a fine group of returnees the Rebels will be in the SEC title pursuit this fall. The win has to help Ole Miss recruiting as well.
On another note, Ed Orgeron is joining the University of Tennessee staff as Assistant Head Coach rather than accept the invitation to take the same job at LSU, which would have made the battle for the new Magnolia Bowl Trophy even more meaningful.
2008 goes down in the Ole Miss grid records as one of the best ever. Hotty Totty, gosh a mighty.
---30------