If you know me, you know that I am a football junkie. For those of you who do not know me, you must understand that I grew up in north Alabama and the football icon that I cherished as a child was Bear, yes Bear Bryant. My grandfather and great uncle both graduated from the University of Alabama and along with my mother, all three, taught me the cheer, “Roll Tide.”
Other names made an impression on me as a youngster like Shug, Dooley, Lombardi, Woody, Bo, McKay, Ara, Royal, Broyles, Holtz, Robinson, Bowden, Paterno, Ford, Warner, and many others.
In 1970, my family moved to Kentucky, and I was introduced to Coach Roy Kidd and learned the cheer “Go Colonels.” I read about his playing days in Corbin as a Redhound and his glory days as a left-handed quarterback at Eastern Kentucky University and his success as Madison High Royal Purples coach. For the record, I always wanted to be a star quarterback like a lot of other young boys. My seventh-grade football coach told me not to come back for my eighth-grade year because he was concerned about my health since I was so small. He offered me the position of manager, but I told him that I wanted to sit up in the stands and scream at the other team and the referees.
At Eastern Kentucky University, this became a dream come true. Yes, many fans on the visitor’s side at The Kidd got tired of my cheers of “Go Colonels.” “We Want,” “Run It Up Roy,” and yes “Roll Tide” at Eastern football games. In my mind, I was a cheerleader in the stands, and Roy played a huge part in this love affair with EKU football.
My family moved to Deacon Hills, and Roy’s family lived in Deacon Hills as well. His beautiful wife, Sue, worked for my father as an advertising sales person. Sue, like my mother, knew everybody and loved Roy and her family. Their son, Marc, and I worked together and became fraternity brothers. Their daughter, Cathy, was a doll. Keith was a young star athlete, cut from the same mode as his father. These were just the beginning of the glory days as I recall.
For the record, I graduated from Model Lab School in 1973 and EKU in 1977. Eastern was becoming the powerhouse in the Ohio Valley Conference. In 1979, Roy and EKU won their first Division 1-AA football championship in Orlando beating Lehigh 30-7. It was a wonderful year watching the Colonels under the leadership of quarterback Bill Hughes and Coach Kidd. Next, Roy and quarterback Chris Isaacs took Eastern to Sacramento and finished runner-up losing to Boise State 31-29. In 1980, Roy and Chris Isaacs finished runner-up to Idaho State, losing 34-23 in Wichita Falls. In 1981, the Colonels led by old friends, Tuck Woolum at quarterback and Corbin’s Steve Byrd at wide receiver, won their second national championship in four years beating Delaware 17-14 in Wichita Falls.
Coach Kidd won 16 Ohio Valley Conferences titles, 314 football games at Eastern Kentucky University, two national championships, and coached from 1964 to 2002.
Many, many thanks for the memories!
Tell Bear and all your football friends hello in heaven.
