Pretty much just like I was saying here at the site last year….We need to honor our former high school football coaches from Guilford County on this date, the Fourth of July and why????? Because their number is dwindling, with the death of Doug Henderson(Western Guilford HS) within the past year and many other of our old coaches, they are not getting any younger, they are still with us, but their current path is not getting any easier, as the years add up…
We still have Marion Kirby with us, he is former head coach at Page High School and a multiple State Championship winner, while leading his Pirates….
Dick(Richard) Kemp is still on board and coached back-to-back State Champions, at Ragsdale High School…
C.K. Siler, the man who ran the football program for many years at Southern Guilford High School is still hanging tough and the days are getting tougher for Coach Siler, the grandfather of Daryl Brown, the current head football coach at Grimsley High School…Coach Siler won numerous conference championships and turned out quite a few college football players, during his tenure as the head coach at Southern Guilford/Sumner High School….
And then we have Coach Bill Slayton…Coach Slayton took the Southeast Guilford Falcons to the 1968-69 State Football Semifinals, and he left his mark many times over at Southeast Guilford HS…They call him, “Coach” and the coach is still up and kicking well these days and on this day, July 4, 2018 he is celebrating his 87th birthday, and on this day and at this time, we take time to wish Coach Bill Slayton, a very Happy Birthday…
Back in the day, I played football against the teams that all of these men represented, and had some great nights facing the best they had to offer….The nights were great because you were facing the best these men were putting on the field and when you met their best, it brought out the best in you, and that led to great games coming out of/from both sidelines…
Coach Kirby with Craig Fuquay at QB, Coach Kemp with Ricky Adams, Harold Odom, John Turner and others leading the way, Coach Siler with the McQuiston Brothers, Barry and Larry, Kim Smith, Joey Hackett, Mickey Atkinson and others driving the attack…..Coach Slayton with Ernie Woods, Chris Justice, Mike Gero, Charlie Welch, Charlie Gamble III, David Bain and many more Falcons moving the pile….And then Coach Doug Henderson pushing his Hornets to be the best while raising Doug Jr., Chuck and Rob Henderson…
We saw them all back in the day and we will not forget them and you should not either….
Why on this day do we remember our old/former coaches???
The reason being is we have a little extra time on our hands today and it is just about time to get ready for the East-West All-Stars Football game and the high school football practice season will begin in less than a month….
We remember these outstanding high school football coaches and we in turn, should really take time and remember all of our former coaches today….Football, Basketball, Baseball, Wrestling, Track, you name it…..The coaches helped build the structure of our lives, just like the men who built our nation back in mid-1700’s….
Where would we be we be without these outstanding leaders…..Slayton, Henderson, Kirby, Siler, Kemp, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton and the list is one that should catch your attention…..
As we celebrate the birth of nation today, let’s also remember our old coach Bill Slayton, as he celebrates his birthday on this Wednesday….To the USA, Happy Birthday #242 and for Coach Slayton it is #87, and for both the USA and ‘The Coach’, we are still counting, as they are still kicking…
God Bless the USA and God Bless Coach Bill Slayton and all of our former coaches that are still in our midst….
Coach Slayton is still a hard-working man and these days he works hard to take care of and support his wife Darcy and they are a great team…A Championship Level team and again we wish a very Happy Birthday to the ‘Old Coach’, Coach Bill Slayton and we thank him for what he has done in and around our county over the years, as a current member of the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame….
Coach Bill Slayton a former high school football and baseball coach, a former military man who served his country and that makes this day even more important/special, Bill Slayton, from Granite Falls, North Carolina, was born on the 4th of July and he served his country well…
He coached the Southeast Guilford Falcons to the 1969 NCHSAA 3-A State Baseball Title and took the Falcons to several conference championships in football…Saw that baseball team be led by a young man who later turned pro with the Baltimore Orioles organization, Terry Clapp(now deceased)…Saw his early football teams be led by future FBI agent Don Causey….
Terry Clapp was one of the top draft picks in Baltimore Orioles history and he had a season back in the 70’s where he hit 30 home runs and drove 108 runs/RBI in the Orioles minor league system…When Clapp was drafted, many observers felt he was selected/picked/drafted to be the man to eventually replace Brooks Robinson at third base for the Orioles….
Bill Slayton taught Falcons at Southeast Guilford and Wildcats at Eastern Guilford and helped countless kids along the way…One of them was the kid that worked hard to get through Eastern Guilford HS, later played football at Western Carolina and then went on to become a high school principal(Lance Sockwell), and the list goes on and on…Lance Sockwell, is the current principal at Eastern Guilford High School…
Coach Slayton trained and worked with Scott Youmans, who was named to the All-ACC Football team while playing at Duke University and Coach Slayton trained, drilled and drove Dino Hackett to get into perfect playing shape, after Dino suffered an injury that nearly ended his professional football playing career, as he was leaving the Kansas City Chiefs and he was on his way to the Seattle Seahawks…Coach Slayton helped former East Carolina basketball standout Jim Modlin get back on the right road, when ‘Big’ Jim was headed toward a rough landing….
Terry Clapp, Don Causey, Lance Sockwell, Scott Youmans, Dino Hackett, Jim Modlin, we could go on and the list would get long….
Coach Slayton served his country/nation with dedication in the military and he showed the same dedication during his 30-plus years of service in the Guilford County Schools System…
Born on the Fourth of July, Coach Bill Slayton and we all need to sing a line or two for the ‘Old Coach’ today:
Happy Birthday Coach Bill Slayton….
**********Be sure to look up and put in a good word for your former coaches on this Fourth of July and tell them GreensboroSports.com sent you and they might have whipped/beat us a few times over the years, but we beat them a few times too, and won the Battles many times, when the War was on the way, and could not be avoided…..**********