by John Shearer
posted September 6, 2008
 Herbert J. “Andy” Anderson |
During my years as a student at Baylor from 1972-78, he was certainly one of my favorite teachers.
He stood out at Baylor because he was the only Chattanoogan I knew at that time who had a British accent. However, he was also noticeable for other reasons, primarily his gentlemanly manner.
At a school that had numerous instructors and coaches who knew how to motivate students vocally, particularly in the old military and all-male days, he used a soft-spoken approach.
His low-key manner did not keep him from being successful, however. As one of the area’s pioneer high school soccer coaches, he won a number of championships, just as he did in golf. In fact, he was one of only a handful of coaches inducted into the school’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Coach Anderson had come to Baylor in 1948 – the same year a polio outbreak struck the school and claimed the life of one student – and retired in 1980.
He also had a distinguished military career as a flight instructor.
I became acquainted with him in the spring of 1975, when I was in the ninth grade and was trying to play on the school’s golf team. Since I was the only freshman on the team and did not drive, he gave me a ride back to Baylor on a number of occasions from Moccasin Bend Golf Course after a round.
As we rumbled down Pineville Road in his older vehicle, he always tried to make pleasant conversation. Although I was a little too young to be able to make the starting lineup my freshman year, I remember he told me on one occasion that I looked like a good possibility to make the team the next year.
That flattered and inspired me.
I remember another time, possibly while on the course, when he told me that Ed Brantly was the best golfer he ever coached at Baylor.
Coach Anderson would often play with us during a practice round, and I remember that we ended up with some kind of traveling salesman on one occasion. The man talked enthusiastically and continuously during almost the entire round, and afterward I remember Coach Anderson remarking to me, “He was a typical salesman, wasn’t he?”
For the next three years on the golf team, I was only a part-time starter. For some reason, I never really played to my potential until golf season was about over. The reason may have been that a few weeks were required to get in practice after the winter, or that I never felt completely comfortable with the additional pressure of representing a team.
The reason may have also been that I was a member of the track team my junior and senior years and had only limited time to devote to either sport.
One time shortly after my junior year, I was playing a round of summer golf with Baylor teammate Oscar Scruggs at Valleybrook Golf and Country Club.
Coach Anderson was a member there and played regularly, and he happened to see us come down No. 9 (what is now No. 18) as he was getting out of his vehicle or walking into the clubhouse.
We both hit good approach shots, if I remember correctly, and he complimented us. I jokingly told him that I always started playing well once golf season was over.
He replied wittingly, “That is because you don’t have track to worry about anymore.”
Coach Anderson was witty in his soft-spoken manner, and I could tell he was well liked by the other faculty members and enjoyed sharing good conversation with them.
On the golf team, I did end up lettering for three years playing with such outstanding golfers as Pat Corey.
At the end of each year, we always had a meeting in his classroom, where he would hand out letters and present the Lew Oehmig top golfer award. I remember at one of the meetings, he encouraged us to play a lot during our off time and went on to say that the summer was when junior golfers improved their skills. Looking back later, I realized that was an astute remark.
I also had Coach Anderson for three years in Latin, which met in the bottom floor of Lupton Annex. I had taken first-year Latin under the smart football coach E.B. “Red” Etter in a class of students with diverse abilities.
However, during my three years in Coach Anderson’s class, I found myself with some of the top students in the school.
While I enjoyed the fun Literati club meetings in Felder Forbes Lounge in Barks Hall and the delicious desserts made by his wife, Patty, I was more interested in sports at that time.
As a result, I never sat in the first seats when he would seat us by academic accomplishment.
However, I would certainly seat Coach Anderson near the proverbial front for favorite teachers, as his gentlemanly but respected manner won him many admirers among the students.
In 1978, my senior year, the Baylor yearbook, the Klif Klan, was dedicated to him,
The dedication page stated, “A man who teaches a dead language can make words and syllables come alive, can be quiet and yet, with his individual wit and perfect accent, evoke boisterous laughter from his students. He can subtly gain a following which spans two generations of Baylor students.”
Back in the spring, Rob Robinson from the Baylor alumni office sent out an e-mail that Coach Anderson had suffered a fall recently and was living with his daughter, Pam, out in Colorado. He went on to say that interested alumni were welcome to write him letters.
I saved that e-mail and kept meaning to write Coach Anderson, but I never did.
As a result, this article will have to suffice.
Jcshearer2@comcast.net
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