Why isn’t Erk Russell in the Hall of Fame, too?
Within minutes of posting the story yesterday about Jim Donnan’s election to the College Football Hall of Fame, I got e-mails from a couple of readers pointing out who’s not in the Hall:
Erk Russell!
How could that be, you ask, given Russell’s legendary career as defensive coordinator at Georgia and amazing accomplishments in resurrecting the football program at Georgia Southern?
Seems the Hall of Fame has a rule requiring that one be a head coach for at least 10 years to be eligible for election.
Russell, who died in 2006, was Georgia Southern’s head coach for eight seasons (1982-89).
In that time, he compiled an 83-22-1 record and won three Division I-AA national titles.
All of that at a school that hadn’t fielded a football team in 40 years.
All of that after 17 inspiring years of coaching Georgia’s “Junkyard Dawgs” defense.
And Erk Russell is not in the Hall of Fame because he wasn’t a head coach long enough?
As one of my e-mails said yesterday, that is a rule crying out for an exception to be made.
You gotta be happy for Donnan. He was a head coach for 11 seasons — six at Marshall and five at Georgia — after a superb stretch as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator under Barry Switzer. It’s nice that the final chapter of Donnan’s coaching career will be this summer’s Hall of Fame induction, rather than his 2000 firing by UGA.
Donnan considered getting back into coaching after that, but never did. Now 64 and still living in Athens, he does some radio (680 The Fan) and television (ESPN) work. But “I’m really just kind of Mr. Retired,” he said Tuesday.
He sounded happy and appreciative about the Hall of Fame election, calling it “one of the biggest thrills I’ve ever had in coaching.”
He will go into the Hall of Fame as a member of its 2009 “divisional” class, which includes players and coaches from NCAA divisions I-AA (now called the Football Championship Subdivision), II and III and the NAIA. Donnan was considered in that class because he was head coach at Marshall, I-AA at the time, longer than at I-A Georgia.
As the Hall of Fame pointed out in yesterday’s announcement, Donnan won more than 70 percent of his games as a head coach: He was 64-21 at Marshall, including 15-4 in playoff games, and 40-19 at Georgia. He took Marshall to four I-AA title games and one national championship.
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75 comments Add your comment
ralph starling
May 13th, 2009
6:50 am
how about eddie lee Ivery. Georgia tech’s greatest running back needs to be in the college football hall of fame.
Optimus Prime
May 13th, 2009
7:28 am
Ok, here’s my Erk story. I was attending UGA in the spring of 79 and I was on my way home for a weekend heading back to Roswell. I was heading down 78 when I run over this bit of road trash and I get a flat tire.
It’s pouring down rain and I don’t have a spare. It’s getting late and the bio-materials I had in my back seat were starting to melt. I needed to get back home or over to the hospital to get them cooled off or they couldn’t be used for transplates.
Well, I’m standing there figuring out what to do, when all of a sudden this old beat up truck pulls up behind me. I’m thinking it’s a serial killer. This bald man gets out and starts shouting at me. He’s not angry but he’s loud and he’s excited about something.
I tell him my story and he tells me that he’s here to fix this thing up. He takes his on spare (amazing that it fits my car) and he changes the tire out.
We talked for a bit at a near by coffee shop – as the bio-materials chilled again on borrowed ice. We discussed football and life and things. As I paid his bill I asked his name. He said Stan Gerald. I said thanks Stan. He said, sure.
He later told me that he knew Erk Russell. I was pretty impressed.
Spike
May 13th, 2009
8:17 am
I wish Erk was here again to coach the defense. Talk about a guy who could motivate players. I met him one time at the Athletic Offices when they were in the Coliseum. He had the firmest handshake of anyone I have ever met. RIP, Damn Good Dawg. He deserves to be in the HOF!
Mac
May 13th, 2009
9:00 am
There is a Facebook group that laments Erk is not in the HOF. Don’t know if any of its members will actually take action of any sort. I know there are accomplished media people and attorneys who are members.
Erk is definitely a hall of famer. No question. Too bad the hall doesn’t know it.
Oh, and Optimus Prime … hated your story.
buckheadbill
May 13th, 2009
9:29 am
And the floor in Stegeman Coliseum should be named for HUGH DURHAM, Georgia’s greatest basketball coach.
Norm Carlson
May 13th, 2009
10:10 am
Having the good fortune to have known Erk when we worked at Auburn together, then watching the great job he did at UGA and reluctantly seeing his “Junkyard Dawgs” eat the Gator offense up in Jacksonville, it is difficult to imagine a sports hall of fame in Georgia would not include him.
GeoffDawg
May 13th, 2009
10:13 am
Can we please delete the post of Optimus Prime? That guy’s a complete loser and it’s disrespectful to memory of Erk Russell.
Steve
May 13th, 2009
10:16 am
Here is my Erk story…
I’m a student at Georgia Southern and I am running late to one of my classes. I wearing a UNC baseball hat and in a near sprint to try to get to class on time. I round a corner and I literally ran right into Erk Russell. I ran into him hard enough that it almost knocked me down but he did not seem to budge at all. He just looked at me with for a moment and then said “Son, next time we run into each other like this, you better be wearing a Georgia Southern hat”. I immediately went to the campus store and purchased a Georgia Southern hat after class.
Besides being one of the best coaches in the game, Erk was one of the funniest storytellers around. He spoke at some convocations and had everybody in stitches the entire time. Great man.
Georgia News - 5/13/09 | MrSEC.com
May 13th, 2009
10:45 am
[...] highly successful years coaching at then Division I-AA Marshall.If Donnan is in, why isn’t former Georgia defensive coordinator Erk Russell? Russell won three Division I-AA national titles at Georgia Southern. Excellent question, Tim [...]
murfdawg
May 13th, 2009
10:51 am
I guess all thos wins over Western Carolina and Elon really do count for something. Unfortunately for UGA fans and eventually for Donnan, one win over fl wasn’t good enough. I hope his trophy is in the basement of the hof.
AGTFan
May 13th, 2009
11:04 am
Here’s a GT fan in complete agreement about Erk. He definitely belongs in the HOF. I don’t mean it offensively, but I don’t think UGA has had defensive coordinator worthy of carrying his clipboard since he left. Neither has Tech. I’m not dissing any of those DCs. I just think Erk was that good.
Jonathon Furnell
May 13th, 2009
11:05 am
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Coach in 1986 at an Atlanta Hawks game of all places.
Earlier in the year, Southern had beaten Ark State for the championship. Tracy Ham was at the basketball game with some friends. No one recognized him – which surprised me but this was before the internet and all that business. I approached Tracy and extended my hand to congratulate him. He said thanks and told me that Coach Russell was there as well as part of some charity function.
He pointed me over to an area where there was some event going on. I walked over there with my young son at the time and we looked for Coach.
We heard him before we saw him. And there he was. He wasn’t as tall as I expected and he was a little heavier. But he had a presence about him that was unmistakable. I shouted out to him – “Hey Coach! Congrats on the win. We love you.” He turned around and smiled. I later found out it was actually Queen Latifah. I was kind of embarrassed.
RxDawg
May 13th, 2009
11:14 am
He isn’t!!?? Good grief I just assumed he was already.
lovethemdawgs
May 13th, 2009
11:20 am
He shoud be and someone needs to see what needs to be done to get him there. He was the best of the best.
GeoffDawg
May 13th, 2009
11:34 am
Can we please delete Steve’s post as well? Another complete loser. It’s disrespectful to memory of Erk Russell. You people are too much.
Kevrock
May 13th, 2009
11:48 am
I was in the bookstore the other day looking for a motivational book for my new business venture and I happened to look down and saw a book named “Erk”. I hurried up to look through it and there he was and there I was standing next to him in a picture and looked at another page and there I was again right next to him in another picture. I broke down right in the bookstore. I played for him 84-88 at Ga, Southern. Growing up without a Father he became my father figure , my mentor, and my Hero. Ga. Southern had little money back then so we were a bunch of rag tag, Div. 1 rejects, academic casualties, and walk ons that he turned into All Americans, and National Champions. He is by far the best motivator I have ever seen. The 10 yr Tenure rule must give him an exception!
GSUDawgs
May 13th, 2009
11:49 am
Erk was simply the best. Won a national championship at UGA. Built Georgia Southern from nothing to a national power, with the first title in 85. He could win anywhere at anything. Also, he could communicate with anyone to get the task completed. The Fame is not complete without Erk.
Lastly, (4) year letterman at Auburn in 4 different sports
Pecan cluster
May 13th, 2009
11:52 am
So the other day, I was walking past Ga. Tech and tripped over a smelly, really ugly guy lying on the sidewalk, babbling incoherently and fumbling with a laptop, while also smearing feces in his mustache. It was Jonathon Furnell.
GeoffDawg
May 13th, 2009
11:56 am
I don’t understand Pecan cluster’s post. But it does not belong here. Can we respect Coach Russell and refrain from discussions of filth mustaches? Am I the only one offended by this garbage? Please remove her post.
C tha 1
May 13th, 2009
12:02 pm
Top 5 GA coaches of all time High School and College
1. Vince Dooley
2. Bobby Dodd
3. Erk Russel
4. The coach at Valdosta High School that won all those state titles (sorry but I don’t know his name)
5. The coach at Lincoln County High School that won all those titles (don’t know his name either)
6. Coach Nix (Northside High School Warner Robins) Honorable Mention
7. Mark Richt (I’ll catch it for that one) but he deserves honorable mention
Mac
May 13th, 2009
12:08 pm
Wright Bazemore was the Valdosta coach. Nick Hyder also did very well there after Coach Bazemore.
Mac
May 13th, 2009
12:10 pm
Hey, GeoffDawg, Steve’s post was not disrespectful to Erk. Jonathon Furnell’s was. Thanks. I enjoyed Steve’s post.
GeoffDawg
May 13th, 2009
12:11 pm
Remove C tha 1’s post please. I don’t need to explain it.
GeoffDawg
May 13th, 2009
12:12 pm
Remove Mac’s post at 12:10pm. Her post at 12:08pm is acceptable.
RxDawg
May 13th, 2009
12:16 pm
I sort of agree Mac. I thought Steve’s post was kind of funny and over respectful in a way. Jonathon’s wasn’t, but this is the interweb.
Geoff, I actually need you to explain why they should remove Ctha1’s post?
Mac
May 13th, 2009
12:20 pm
Tossing subtlety aside, GeoffDawg is revealed as a troll.
C tha 1
May 13th, 2009
12:21 pm
I’d like to know why my post should be removed as well. I intended to illustrate how Erk Russel is amongst the upper echelon of football coaches in the state of GA. With all respect to Coach Donnan he maybe top 20….maybe, he simply hasn’t coached in the state long enough. But the College HOF is based off of national votes I think.
Pi$$onaDAWG
May 13th, 2009
12:33 pm
I hate ERK! We could not get around D much for many years. He was a great DC and GSU coach, but the criteria was set for admission to the HALL and that is the rule. Pete Rose isn’t in the HOF as a player because of rules. I don’t wish Coach Russel to be left out of the HOF. I am just saying the rules are the rules. Remember when Freshmen couldn’t play and we had the JV game for Scottish Rite on Thanksgiving Day? So, times and rules can change and I am sure this will be fixed in the future.
GeoffDawg
May 13th, 2009
12:37 pm
Apparently my name’s been hijacked by the old transformer in disguise (aka tech dork) himself. That is not me requesting all the post deletion’s other than Optimus Prime’s.
DirtyDawg
May 13th, 2009
12:40 pm
What I’d like to hear from a knowledgeable source – surely somebody here qualifies – is what was the real story behind why Erk Russell wasn’t UGA’s coach following Dooley? What I’ve heard is that there were differing factions within the ’search committee’ – some that dearly wanted Erk and some (the PCers) that felt like Erk’s ‘Good Ol Boy’ image wasn’t what we needed. Those that wanted him led him to believe the job was his, those that didn’t were off negotiating with somebody or other (Danny Sheridan, I think) and when the Sheridan thing hit the news Erk basically said, if you guys are gonna play that game, I’m outta here. Then when the ‘politically correct’ entrant backed out, Georgia was left with the compromise candidate, Ray Goff, and the rest is history. My question is, ‘is that the way it came down…and what role, if any, did Dooley play in talking up, or down, his long-time friend and colleague? Anybody? Anybody?
GeoffDawg
May 13th, 2009
12:44 pm
Good eye Mac. You know a dawg when you see it. And a troll when you smell it.
Seroously though, Pecan’s post is offensive. It’s offensive even if it is in retaliation for some other post. Please remove it and all the other nonsense posts, including those by my hijacker.
Chuck Oliver
May 13th, 2009
12:50 pm
I actually thought the Jonathon Furrell post was kind of funny.
patrick
May 13th, 2009
12:56 pm
I played for Erk at GSU and was very fond of him so I am biased but I know that he was one of the best coaches that ever coached the game. He is in the Alabama Hall of Fame. He should be in Georgias and I didnt know he wasnt. Donnan aint even close to Erk in my opinion.
Erk Russell
May 13th, 2009
1:08 pm
I’d like to say a few words to each and every one of you. First, will someone let me out of this coffin?
GeoffDawg
May 13th, 2009
1:13 pm
Fake GeoffDawg – do you dress up in your mom’s underwear also? Why don’t you act like a man and stop hiding behind your hijacked screen name? I stand by my original loser declaration for you optimus.
egeagle
May 13th, 2009
1:18 pm
Erk is in the Ga Hall of Fame. This is a national hall. Does coach deserve it? Of course he does. No one took a dormant program and made it into a TRUE national champion within three years. I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me, but his winning percentage was phenomenal, and his playoff record was an awesome 16-2! Back to back titles,four title game appearances within 5 years, three titles, and the first perfect 15-0 season in the 20th century as his swan song? And there’s a question? Those numbers are only a part of his legacy. Many successful HS coaches learned under him, and PJ hasn’t done too bad at Tech. I guess that’s payback for GATA.
Erk was the best.
Erk Russell
May 13th, 2009
1:29 pm
Seriously guys. Let me out of here. I. Must. Eat. Brains.
Sorry about that. I’m not a zombie. Seriously. I’m not. Must. Eat. Brains.
Whoa, kidding. Really. Someone let me out.
RxDawg
May 13th, 2009
1:33 pm
Ah, appologies then Geoffdawg. I should of known better. I actually always found you to be an excellent poster.
MountainDawg
May 13th, 2009
1:38 pm
Erk Russell was UGA’s greatest DC & a legend at GaSouthern. No doubt he deserves enshrinement in the National HoF. The closest DC we’ve had to Erk’s caliber was Van Gorder, and “Mr.RareBlitz” Martinez isn’t in the same stratosphere as Erk!
tenn.DAWG
May 13th, 2009
1:40 pm
Coach Donnan certainly deserves to be in the HOF.His record speaks for itself and he has handled all the other stuff (Michael Adams) with a lot of class.
GeoffDawg
May 13th, 2009
1:40 pm
Thanks RxDawg. A lack of screen name security and no moderator are the only real drawbacks to posting here.
Erk'sthebest
May 13th, 2009
1:42 pm
In a conversation about football coaches, Jim Donnan’s name would not even be mentioned with Erk Russell’s. Erk was the best coach to ever coach in Alabama or Georgia, Bear Bryant and Vince Dooley not withstanding. Whatever it takes, if you include any football coach for achievement, you have to include Erk.
steve
May 13th, 2009
1:58 pm
Here are some quotes about Erk:
“If I was picking a list of top 10 coaches that I have ever met and wanted to play for, Erk Russell would be on that list. He is unsurpassed as a motivator.” – Bobby Bowden
“Not a young man who played for Erk Russell…won’t tell his children and grandchildren something he learned from this great man. It was like that with Knute Rockne and Bear Bryant” – Keith Jackson
“I would follow him into a blazing fire. Never have I known anyone who could lead young men like Erk Russell” – Billy Payne
“Erk Russell is absolutely the master of motivators. He could inspire a group of ragtag players into performing like All-Americans.” – Bill Stanfill
I can’t find the quote, but somewhere along the line Pat Dye said that he thought what Erk Russell did at Georgia Southern is one of the most truly remarkable accomplishments in the history of college football.
So, simply stated…Erk should be a Hall of Famer.
Erk Russell
May 13th, 2009
2:34 pm
Ummm… guys?
Zombie Erk Russell
May 13th, 2009
2:45 pm
Ok, I’ll fess up. I turned undead back in the virus of early 2003. Like a lot my fellow 2003 zombies, I’m still scratching at the inside of my coffin. It’s really really difficult, even with unresting undead dedication, to claw one’s way out of a coffin buried six feet underground. People underestimate that challenge. They think that zombies simply pop up out of the ground, cause that’s what you see in movies. It’s not that simple.
So please, let me attend my HoF induction and I’ll try to keep the feedings to a minimum. Much appreciated, zom-erk.
steve
May 13th, 2009
2:53 pm
Zombie guy – How old are you? Does your mother know you are playing on the internet without supervision?
Lane
May 13th, 2009
3:23 pm
What Erk did @ GSU, was unprecented – felt he should have been offered head coaching job after Dooley!!!
Donnan, got Georgia back on track after Goff – allowed MR to take program to the next level – the guy could recruit!!!
Zombie Erk Russell
May 13th, 2009
3:26 pm
steve, I’m eating your brains first. A little tasty treat, like tappas.
Pi$$onaDAWG
May 13th, 2009
3:59 pm
What is all the Bullsh*t about Zombies? This about a great coach and football.
mexdawg
May 13th, 2009
4:04 pm
ERK RUSSELL should have been the coach at Georgia after Dooley.He deserved a shot.Our lame duck search comittee didn’t agree so we were all denied what could have been some of the best football Georgia has ever played.I would have loved to see it happen.Georgia Southern our lost was your gain.No one motivated players like ERK.I still have a picture in my game room of Bloody ERK on the sidelines after head butting several players.ERK you are the BIG DAWG.
Rock
May 13th, 2009
4:10 pm
I know the real story of Erk not getting the job I was on the team at Southern and in the room as soon as he arrived back from Athens. He was offered the position privately by the AD but then Coach Russell wanted the contract length different than what UGA offered. When they couldnt agree to there was no contract but what hurt him was the AD then publicly said there was no offer.
Jeff
May 13th, 2009
4:23 pm
Erk was the one and only “one of a kind”!! You don’t have to be a brain child to understand this……you talk about PASSION. He was the BEST!!!
GSU26+yrFan
May 13th, 2009
4:59 pm
The first collage football game I watched in person was Erk’s first GSU game. What a man and coach. Donnan & Vince couldn’t hold his jock.
Coach Erk Russell sits down for an interview with Joe Kovac Jr.
I was taught better at home than to be disrespectful to anybody.
I was a pretty good kid, I really didn’t get into too much trouble. On one occasion, just after school, a group of boys met in the boys bathroom and somebody was rolling dice. … I remember I stepped in and said, “My turn,” and I put a dime down there and my point was 10. … I was saying, “Come on 10, come on 10,” and I looked around all of a sudden and there was nobody there. And I turned all the way around and our shop teacher, Mr. Sparks, said, “Come on, Russell.” … I learned a good lesson: Don’t try to make 10.
My dad always had a job that he really didn’t relish getting up and going to every day. He said, “Boy” – that’s all he ever called me – he said, “Boy, you do something that you enjoy doing.”
I had an opportunity (to play) at Alabama. I told them that that was what I always wanted to do and that I was coming, and when I got back home an Auburn coach was sitting on my front porch, and he said, “Come on, we’re going to Auburn.” And I said, “I just got back from Alabama, I told them I was gonna go to school there and that’s what I want to do.” And he said, “Well you’ve got to take a look at Auburn.” So I said, “OK.” We drove to Auburn, he put on a change of clothes, picked up his bag and we went to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and fished for two days. When we got back, I said, “I’ve always wanted to go to Auburn.”
I started out in the school of business. The first or second quarter that I was there I took accounting and I said, “I don’t believe this is for me.”
Attitude might be worth 80 percent of any athlete’s makeup.
We had a group of about eight boys in the Navy, all from the South – South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi. In the barracks we took the corner, drew a line, said, “No Yankees” across this. We didn’t really mean it, but they thought we did.
I believe political correctness is one of the most dangerous movements facing America.
You know what a consultant is, don’t you? A consultant is a guy that knows 100 different sex positions but doesn’t know a woman.
The South, to me, is fried chicken and catfish caviar – that’s grits – and good-looking women.
Communication is the most important technique in teaching and in coaching, eyeball to eyeball, one on one: “This is what we want to accomplish, and this is the way we’re going to accomplish it.” Not memos, not bulletin boards or announcements, one on one.
The brotherhood of football … is the strongest brotherhood known to man as far as I’m concerned.
I had a handmade card hanging in my locker at Georgia that said, “If I do, they will. If I don’t, they won’t.”
We lost a 3-year-old at one time, a child, and that is real pain. But time, blessed time, is the greatest healer. … It ain’t gonna quit hurting until enough time passes.
I was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame – 500 people in a big room – and a man with a roving microphone stuck it in front of my wife and said, “How did a nice-looking lady like you live with this old bald-headed so and so for so many years?” And without blinking she said, “He was never at home.”
I have very little use for cell phones … but they seem to be free on the weekends.
Our recruiting budget at Georgia Southern was $200 our first year. I had just left Georgia, whose recruiting budget was a quarter of a million dollars. And as I drove down the Woodpecker Trail, trying to touch base with people in Claxton and Alma and Jesup and Ludowici, sometimes I wondered, “What have you done?”
In the interest of economy, we had plain white pants, we had plain navy-blue shirts, a number on the front and a number on the back. We couldn’t even put a stripe down the middle of our helmets. We used a strip of tape. … Those kind of things screamed, “Team.”
I wouldn’t allow them to put names on the back of our jerseys. We had to sell programs.
Probably the most historical figure in Alabama history is Bear Bryant. I wish I had his coaching ability and his record and his financial statement.
The 1980 season at Georgia, I came out of the dormitory where we ate our pregame meal. I looked down and there was a dime on the ground. I picked it up, put it in my left shoe. I was wearing saddle Oxfords, which I did all the time anyway, and we beat Clemson that day, maybe it was the second or third game of the season. I taped the dime in my shoe so I wouldn’t lose it, and made sure that I wore it throughout the season. We were 12-0 and won the national championship, and I’m sure the dime did it.
A good story just makes you feel better.
If you don’t have the best of everything, make the best of everything you have.
We had a president that came to Georgia Southern and during one of our booster luncheons to kick off the football season – he’s the new president, his name was Nick Henry. … He got up before the group and said, “It’s so nice to be at a college that’s not on probation.” He said, “I taught at Georgia, they were on probation. I went to Arizona State, they were on probation.” … I followed him with my remarks and I said, “Dr. Henry, you don’t have to worry about Georgia Southern cheating. Because it takes money to cheat, and we don’t have any money.”
The best way to win a game is not to lose it.
I haven’t been very smart, but what I have been is lucky. Somebody asked me about the last year that I coached at Southern, “What would I like for people to say about me after I’m gone?” And I told them, “I would like for them to say, ‘He was the luckiest S.O.B. that I’ve ever seen.’ ” And I have been that. Smart? No. No way.
As a young coach, I ran with the players. As a 55-year-old coach, I jogged with the players. As an old coach of 60, 64, 65, I had to start woggin’. A wog is a little bit faster than a walk, but slower than a jog.
I’ve had both hips replaced. I’ve had surgery on every joint except one knee and one elbow. I’ve had my left knee replaced. Compared to a knee, a hip replacement is a piece of cake.
patrick
May 13th, 2009
5:02 pm
Lane,
Erk was offered the job at Georgia and turned it down thank God because we went 15-0 the next year which was his last. He was offered the job and then they said they didnt offer it to him. That was shameful.
Zombie Erk Russell
May 13th, 2009
5:04 pm
Thank you everyone for the compliments. I appreciate them. ‘Prec, as the kids say.
AGTFan
May 13th, 2009
5:58 pm
C tha 1 – Your list isn’t bad. I’d move your number 1 to number 3. Without Erk, Dooley would have been fairly mediocre.
I’ve always thought that the reason Erk wasn’t offered the job when Dooley stepped is that Dooley was jealous.
athensdawg.
May 13th, 2009
6:11 pm
Jim Donnan in the hall of fame? For what? who votes for this? sportswriters? probably….and Quincy Carter.
I used to like JD until QC and his mysterious thumb injury, 5 interception game vs. USC and running on the field in street clothes and getting a penalty vs. kentucky. The only time I have seen a player who didn’t play get a penalty called on him. He bet the farm on that boy….and lost….and left behind a program with a bunch of undiciplined drug addicts. And you in the media painted him a victim.
Give me a break.
He shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same story as Erk.
AltamahaDawg
May 13th, 2009
7:22 pm
athensdawg, it’s from his days in D-1AA, as would it be for Erk. Read
FloridaDawg
May 13th, 2009
8:46 pm
If you don’t have Erk Russell in the College Football Hall of Fame, the Fame isn’t very credible.
In Jax, we have the Ga-Fla Footabll Hall of Fame. It took the local Sports and Entertainment department (they are called something like that) what ever you call them about 15 years to place Erk Russell in that Hall of Fame here in Jacksonville…some people just don’t have a clue as to WHO made WHAT happen. (of course, they could have gotten direction from the UGA Admin)
If it weren’t for Erk Russell, we would have lost a lot of Ga-Fla games in the 60’s and especially the 70’s.
macrotech
May 14th, 2009
4:00 am
It’s a shame that Coach isn’t in the hall of fame! He was an amazing character that I’ll ALWAYS be thankful for having met on a number of occassions! His record stands on it’s own merit! As an undersized athelete with speed and quickness, Coach Russell told me that he could do ANYTHING with small players with big hearts…he proved this time and again! He had the Midas touch when it came to recognizing potential, shaping the athelete and then executing MANY victories with his brains and their heart! COACH RUSSELL DESERVES to be in the Ga. Hall of Fame! I regret that I turned down the opportunity to play for him… he could’ve been a greater impact on my life AND I would’ve had a couple of NC rings to show for it! God rest his soul…PUT HIM IN THE HALL!
GSU26+yrFan
May 14th, 2009
7:27 am
Sent to Michael Wilbon of The Washington Post and ESPN’s Pardon the Interuption.
Michael,
We met a few years ago at Super Bowl media day. I was there from Savannah, Georgia to cover one Chicago Bear, Adrian Peterson, who played for our local Georgia Southern Eagles. I took your suggestion of shaving my head and viewers and bosses have been completely positive.
The reason I’m emailing is related to Georgia Southern and the original Bald Eagle, Coach Erk Russell.
So far he’s been left out of the College HOF. The rules say coaches must have at least 10 years as a HC. Erk had 17 years as Def. Coordinator at Georgia, with a National Championship. Then he performed college football’s biggest miracle. He restarted a football program that hadn’t played in 40 years – not since WWII. He played club ball with surplus equipment from UGA, Ga Tech, Goodwill and who knows where. He took guys that wouldn’t have made anyone else’s team and won a Division I-AA within 4 years and won 3 titles in his 8 years as a head coach. He retired in 1989 after a 15-0 season.
Only a few of his players from GS went to the pros. Fred Stokes to the Skins, Rams, et al. and QB Tracy Ham took over for Warren Moon in Edmonton. The fact so few went to the next level illustrates Erk’s ability to instruct and motivate beyond their talent.
The Erk stories are endless. Following the death of Len Bias at Maryland, he started a team meeting talking about the dangers of drugs. When he got the eye-rolling “yeah, yeah coach” looks from players, he had two local hunters pull the sheet off a cage of rattlesnakes on top of a table. When the players peeled themselves off the walls, he told them drugs were more dangerous than those snakes and he expected them to run the same way if they were offered.
Search the web and you’ll find a host of quotes about him from many of the coaching greats, even the ones in the HOF.
It would take an exception or rule change to admit Coach Russell to the Hall of Fame. But can you think of a more qualified candidate?
Any momentum you can throw to the cause would be appreciated.
Dal Cannady
WTOC-TV
Savannah, Ga
Georgia Southern graduate 1990.
molly malone
May 14th, 2009
7:52 am
The Lincoln County coach to whom you refer is Coach Larry Campbell.
Georgia Southern Grad
May 14th, 2009
8:45 am
Coach deserves to be in any HOF..The Bald Eagle, Father of Georgia Southern Football, The first 15-0 perfect season in the 20th Centruy, 3 True National Championship Titles. Hail Southern and Hail Erk!!!
spencer moore
May 14th, 2009
8:48 am
Erk and I were members together at Forest Heights CC in Statesboro,Ga. and we have a picture if him holding my two then two year old daughter outside the pro shop. he is someone special to all who met him and is already in our hall of fame.
Herschworld
May 14th, 2009
8:51 am
Loved waking up way to early for a college student just to get a seat next to Erk’s table at Snooky’s….The man never ordered as soon as he sat down his food was brought to him…Erk was a lot of fun
The Mole
May 14th, 2009
9:07 am
Erk The greatest coach ever,Quick story-I was rolling on the practice field after pulling my ham string and he comes over and asks if I’m alrighgt. I said I pulled my ham string coach. He gives me that stare and says first of all fat lineman don’t ham strings, second you’re not fast enough to pull a ham string, third Jewish Football players definately do not have (HAM) Strings. You know what. I got up and kept playing. Erk Russell a definate Hall of Famer.
JaxDawg
May 14th, 2009
9:18 am
I got a chance to meet Coach Russell when he spoke at the Jacksonville Bulldog Club’s Ga/Fl meeting a few years back in what turned out to be one of his last speaking engagements. Meeting him and getting to speak with him is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I was able to get a pic with him and my sons who were 3 and 5 at the time. He was so gentle and kind when speaking to my sons that it was hard to believe he was the same hard-nosed, no-nonsense coach I grew up watching screaming at his defense to GATA! It was quite a treat to get to see that side of him personally, and a memory I will always cherish. Coach Russell was a great man who touched a lot of lives on and off the field.
Hall of Fame or not he will always be a Damn Good Dawg!
Go Dawgs!
Cuz
May 14th, 2009
11:55 am
My favorite Erk line and I have to paraphrase it. When asked by a reporter if banging his head against his players heads caused pain he replied, No they got helments. Is there any picture more inspiring than seeing Erk with blood coming from a gash on his head. I am one who believes that he is the most beloved coach of all times at UGA. One of Corey Smith’s tribute video on Youtube ends with a smiling Erk for the last picture, and it should.
DawgsOnline » Donnan deserves better
May 14th, 2009
1:44 pm
[...] note, I think Kyle, myself, and most of you reading this would agree that it’s a travesty that Erk Russell isn’t eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame due to the requirement “that one be a head coach for at [...]
rd4440
May 14th, 2009
3:06 pm
Give Erk Dooley’s place. Without Erk, we would not have won nearly as many games or our National championship. How many games did we get ahead by a field goal or one touchdown and sit on the lead. Thanks for all you did Erk and for your friendship. What a great guy with a great personality. He also did not have to peddle books out of the trunk of his car. But, if he had I would own several.
Why Not Erk? « Football on the Brain
May 15th, 2009
11:00 am
[...] WHY NOT ERK? The AJC’s Tim Tucker asks this very question in this morning’s [...]
Roosevelt Flood
May 16th, 2009
9:25 pm
I was an all-SEC linebacker at Georgia and played for coach Russell from 1974-1976. My senior year we won the SEC and lost to a very good Pitt team (Tony Dorsett) in the Sugar Bowl. Coach Russell was absolutely the greatest coach and father figure I ever had and if it weren’t for him, I would not have a degree. But it is second to all of the life lessons I learned from coach Russell. And though playing for coach Russell, making all-SEC and winning the SEC were definite highlights, the real highlight of my like was fixing coach Russell and his wife breakfast at the Waffle House where I am the head cook today. He is sorely missed around these parts and need to be in the Hall of Fame.
Roosevelt Flood (1976)
GSU Fan
May 19th, 2009
11:01 am
We miss you coach.
“And I’m gonna say it one more time. We’re Georgia Southern. Our colors are blue and white. We call ourselves the bald Eagles. We call our offense the Georgia Power Company and that is a terrific name for an offense, and our snapcount is “rate-hike”. We practice on the banks of Beautiful Eagle Creek and that’s in Statesboro, Georgia, the gnat capital of America. Our weekends begin on Thursday, the co-eds outnumber the men 3-2. They’re all good-lookin’, and they’re all rich. And folks, you just can’t beat that. And you just can’t beat Georgia Southern, and you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Thank you.” — Coach Erk Russell
How We’re Going to Get Erk Russell in the College Football Hall of Fame | MrSEC.com
May 22nd, 2009
1:21 pm
[...] So why isn’t he there already? Take it away, Tim Tucker: [...]
SwimtrunkDawg
September 10th, 2009
7:17 pm
Erk wouldn’t come to the pool parties. That’s why he left.