The Toughest

In 1970, following almost two decades of losing football seasons, the town of Blytheville, Arkansas decided to hire a new coach. But the Athletic Director warned 'You may not be tough enough to handle him.' A normal AAAA High School has over 100 players, but this new coach ran off most of them. The ones that were left weren't the fastest, nor the strongest. In fact, their starting center was legally blind. And the starting safety weighed 118 pounds. With just a few dozen players, they were put on one of the toughest regimens that any high school team had ever known. They were still small, but surprisingly strong and extremely well-coached. The result: A perfect 10-0 season in 1973. Then disaster struck: A player has an aneurism on the field during two-a-days. Many of the parents ripped their boys from the team, fearing it was the coach's fault. Then, one-by-one, the starting players were taken out with season-ending injuries. So the school board fired the coach. He left town in disgrace. But what they never knew was the coach's true dedication: He was married, with four children and lived on an annual salary of $12K. Yet he delivered groceries to his poorer players and drove them to doctors appointments. But what became of these players in adulthood is the biggest shock of all. On July 16th, in Blytheville, the team presents 'The Toughest' to this 86-year old retired coach, as their way of saying, 'Thank you, Coach Wright.'