While the 1973 Baylor School state championship football team members were mostly enjoying laughs and happily catching up during a luncheon gathering at the school in early October as part of the Class of 1974’s 50-year reunion, Clay Gibson was admittedly a little emotional.
As he took time out from visiting with his old teammates and buddies to offer his remembrances of that time in his life, he recalled that it almost did not happen. And he was not talking about the fact that Memphis Hillcrest came close to scoring a touchdown late for a possible win in the nail-biting state championship game at the Liberty Bowl stadium that cold December night.
For him, the moment was a warmer one in an emotional sense when he decided in 1971 to attend Baylor as a boarder, or as he jokingly added during a lighter moment in the conversation, when he was strongly encouraged to go to Baylor.
“Humpy” Heywood was finishing his 41-year stint as the former head football coach, business manager, and admissions recruiter when he had one of his last important pieces of business to do. Baylor initially thought Mr. Gibson was going to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Reid, who was just graduating.
But Clay had enjoyed such a good time as a student at Bearden Junior High in his hometown of Knoxville as a ninth grader that he was seriously considering staying and going to Bearden High as a sophomore. After all, he could continue going to school with girls when Baylor was still all boys, among the other creature comforts of home.
Coach Heywood evidently had heard he was thinking about not coming to Baylor, so he went to visit him at his West Knoxville home. After mentioning that he had heard Clay was not planning to come to Baylor after all, he told him in no uncertain terms that he was not leaving Mr. Gibson’s home until he said he was going to Baylor.
Mr. Gibson jokingly recalled that he realized he did not really have a choice but is definitely happy he decided to come to Baylor. There, he became not only a standout football running back and track sprinter, but also a class and school leader, including serving as a class vice president and on the student and honor councils.
The experience gave him a change of direction more significant than his quick moves on the football field. As he said, it made all the difference in the rest of his life.
“The people I met, the friends I made, the coaches, the teachers, the experiences that Baylor had. It was all guys, and we were good friends. That has revealed itself 50 years later,” he said with emotion.
“It led me to where I went to school, whom I married. I married a cheerleader, Mary Graves. A few years later after I graduated from college, we started dating and got married,” continued Mr. Gibson, who went on to become a partner with the well-known King & Spalding law firm in Atlanta after graduating from the University of Virginia and the Emory University School of Law. “I would say it changed my life. I came to a fork in the road, and I took the right fork.”
Several others also fondly recalled the good old days in varying levels of emotion – but with the same constant sense of appreciation -- as a couple dozen gathered for lunch together in a part of the Guerry Hall dining facility that was not there when they were students. Everyone mingled for more than an hour, a special video put together by the Baylor communications office was also shown, and pictures were taken.
While Baylor football has had up-and-down stretches over the last 50 years and rival McCallie has countered with numerous good teams under father and son coaches Pete and Ralph Potter before Baylor’s recent resurgence under coach Erik Kimrey, the distant past was all that mattered on this day.
It quickly became obvious that the football achievement of 1973 and a 13-0 season that led to Baylor’s first TSSAA state championship and a national crown by a polling group had not been forgotten and was still appreciated.
In fact, fellow 1974 classmate and non-varsity football player Arthur Golden – who might be the most famous of the class members on a national level for his bestselling novel, “Memoirs of a Geisha” -- quietly ate at a nearby table with Jim and Patti Frierson while memories of past football greatness were enjoyed and became the focal point.
But classmate and former standout linebacker Andy Stockett said the whole class had a sense of camaraderie and cohesiveness that was also demonstrated on the football team. “There were not a lot of factions,” he said.
He recalled that part of the reason for the football team’s success, which included a 33-15 win over McCallie during Pete Potter’s first year as Blue Tornado coach, was that they did not make it about themselves. “It was about everybody getting out there and doing what they were supposed to do,” said Mr. Stockett, who worked in Chicago and St. Petersburg, Fla., before settling back in Chattanooga, where he now works with FourBridges Capital Advisors. “Coach (‘Red’) Etter was not one of these big rah-rah, kill-them coaches that gave big halftime speeches. It was ‘hey, we’re here, we’ve given you the game plan, so go out and execute it.’ It was almost like a corporate approach.”
Mr. Stockett also remembered that offensive backfield coach David Longley, whom Mr. Stockett called an offensive genius, sat in the press box and helped coach Red Etter call plays that opened up a talented offense. Among them were running backs Andy Rutledge and Mr. Gibson, wingback and current Chattanooga Convention Center head Mike Shuford, and quarterback Bobby Worthington, who went on to work in development in Atlanta.
Mr. Stockett joked that fellow linebacker Rob Davis was such a force that maybe opponents tried to run more to Mr. Stockett’s side, and he became involved in a lot of plays as a result. Other standouts on defense, he remembered, were Cal Jumper, who signed with Vanderbilt, and Scott Price, who signed with Alabama. He said other teams avoided passing much to Mr. Price’s side of the field, and fellow safety – and future Vanderbilt signee – Van Bunch, who was just a junior, ended up with nine interceptions as a result.
As Mr. Stockett alluded to, Rob Davis is remembered for not being afraid to tackle someone hard. He was even given the game ball after the 1973 state championship game for a couple of key tackles late. As he quipped while still fondly remembering what he called the “epic” game in the state finals, “I learned early on it was hit or be hit, so it was better to give it than receive it.”
Mr. Davis, who played at UTC, also was giving toward Baylor in the conversation. He more than 20 years ago sold a textile-related business and became an electrical contractor in Gastonia, N.C., specializing in traffic signal systems, but implied it was the green light he received at Baylor in terms of positive encouragement that has also rewarded him. “I have been very blessed in many, many ways, and Baylor School is one of them,” he said.
As also referenced, the star running back was Andy Rutledge, who helped lead the team until a leg injury late in the regular season hampered him, although the team was still able to step up and carry Baylor to the state championship. With an average body size and seemingly equally modest manner that showed no hint of his past greatness that led to a scholarship at Vanderbilt, he remembered that the team had a lot of fun amid the previously mentioned camaraderie. And the coaching was outstanding, he added.
“Things seemed relatively easy,” he said, adding that his main big play was a trap play. “You were never trying to figure out this play or that situation to win the game. We just went out and did our job. That was a great, great experience.”
Mr. Rutledge, who worked 40 years in the automotive industry and now lives in Lenoir City, admitted it was touching to see all the growth and changes on the Baylor campus and to visit with his old classmates due to his limited visits over the years.
“I haven’t seen these guys in a long time, and it’s so great to see them,” he said.
Among those 1973 team members also spotted in attendance was upbeat former quarterback Bobby Worthington, who received special embraces and welcomes from teammates after recently completing chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.
Others there were Scott Price, Allen and Pat Corey, Randy Wilson, Mike Shuford, Dr. John Wooley, David Shrader, Van Bunch, Dudley Owens, Cal Jumper, David Hannah, Harry and Larry Cash, Clay Crumbliss, and Paul Shoun, among several others.
Fred Hubbs, a former assistant on the 1973 team, also attended. Other assistants on the team not previously mentioned were defensive coach Gene Etter, the late Maj. Luke Worsham, and the late Sib Evans, Jr.
Bill Riheldaffer, a member of the Baylor class of 1978, stopped by the luncheon as well to express to the players how much they meant to the spirit of the school and the younger students at that time.
“I don’t think they ever realized the impact they were having on the entire campus not just as athletes, but the way they carried themselves,” he said. “They weren’t arrogant. They weren’t cocky. They were mentors.
“They made it about the campus. That was why I was so enthralled.”
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To hear a brief audioclip of Clay Gibson remembering his time at Baylor, click here.