Coach McKissick a big part of Summerville's success

Beaufort High's 33-3 loss to Summerville last Friday was heartbreaking, because I was hoping to see the Eagles defeat a highly rated team and take a step towards a state championship.

Prior to the game, I had an opportunity to talk with Summerville head coach John McKissick and we spent a few minutes talking about the past. Coach McKissick and I met in 1968 when he came to a Clemson spring practice, and I met him on other occasions while at Clemson. From that time, he was one of my favorite high school coaches. In my mind, he is like Joe Paterno, my favorite college coach.

I bet a lot of football fans in South Carolina don't know that the Palmetto State is the home of the country's winingest football coach. McKissick has won more games than any coach -- pro, college or high school. He achieved this status in 1993 and his record has grown considerably since then.

This season is Coach McKissick's 58th as the Green Waves' coach. Last Friday against the Eagles, he won his 565th game. His teams have won 33 region titles and 10 state championships over the past 57 years, and an 11th state championship could be added to his resume this season. I wish him good luck.

Coach McKissick has received a great deal of recognition for being an exceptional coach. He was inducted to the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982 and joined the likes of legendary Clemson coach Frank Howard and coach John Heisman, whose name is on college football's most famous trophy. In 1987, Summerville named its home field John McKissick Field to thank him for his efforts with kids on and off the field. He was inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. The Southern California Interscholastic Football Coaches Association named him the national coach of the century in 1995. The American Football Association, a national organization that sponsors and supports football programs for youngsters, awarded the Power of Influence Award to him in 2004 for his exceptional ability to positively influence kids. I wish every high school coach in Beaufort County would earn this award. Coach McKissick also was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame as one of the most impressive citizens in the Palmetto State.

After recalling that Coach McKissick was in the S.C. Athletic Hall of Fame, I surveyed the list of honorees. I discovered there were names of coaches and players who had an influence on my career when I was a coaching puppy at Clemson. Coach Art Baker, later the head coach at The Citadel and Furman, and former Green Bay Packer Fred Cone were very influential people in my coaching career from the first day I became a Tiger coach. Bennie Cunningham (Pittsburgh Steelers), Jerry Butler (Cleveland Brown), Charlie Waters (Dallas Cowboys) and Dwight Clark (San Francisco 49ers), who made one of the NFL's super catches in 1982, were players I coached who made me a better coach and increased my passion for college football.

Also in the Hall of Fame is one of my favorite head coaches, Willie Jeffries, the longtime head coach at S.C. State and the first African-American head coach in NCAA Division I-A in 1978 at my alma mater, Wichita State. Coach J hired me as the QB coach and offensive coordinator, and what an impact he had on my life.

Coach McKissick graduated from Presbyterian College in 1951 with a degree in economics. If he applied the exceptional ability that made him the winningest coach in the country to the U.S. economy after he graduated, the nation never would have suffered this current recession.

I hope the Summerville Green Wave wins another state championship this season to reward their wonderful coach.