Bell Bottoms, Basketballs, and Blackboards: My Rookie Year 1974-1975

The GHS Class of ‘75 is celebrating their 50th reunion this weekend. Their last year of high school was my first year of teaching and coaching. 

1974 was an exciting year for me. I graduated from Knox College, and was ready to start teaching and coaching. It was a different era, there was a surplus of teachers. I could not find a teaching job. 

I applied at Dunlap High School for a social studies position they had, but never heard back. I interviewed at Aledo, but they were looking for an assistant football coach. I interviewed at Bartonville for a JH position, but didn't make the cut. 

Summer rolled around, and I got hired to work at Butler Manufacturing in Galesburg. It was good money. I started the day shift then moved to 2nd shift which was more money, then to third shift and was making even more. It was a great summer job.

Late in the summer one of the GHS social studies teachers decided to go to law school, so GHS had an opening. I got an interview first with George Miller, GHS Principal. Later I was notified that I had a second interview with Supt. Barney Parker and HR Director, Maury Beck. It was leaked to me thru Mr. Miller that I had the job, so relax at the second interview. 

The second interview was anything but relaxing. I was asked my greatest weakness. I replied that I was kind of shy. Parker and Beck then grilled me about how I could teach and by shy. It was not a pleasant experience as they tested me.

I had student-taught for Hal Devore in social studies at GHS. Hal was considered one of the best or THE best teachers at GHS. Because of Hal's recommendation, I got hired to teach social studies at GHS. 

My brother later told me that in the future if an administrator asked about weaknesses, just tell them, “My files need alphabetizing.”  

I was originally hired to teach social studies and be assistant sophomore basketball coach. Later I also accepted positions as head cross country coach, and ass't track coach. I was coaching three sports. As I remember, starting pay was $8900 plus $350 for cross country, $450 for track, and $550 for basketball. The AD at the time was George Lundeen, he would always say,"Massey needs a Brinks truck to take all his money home."

In the 1974-1975 school year, Galesburg High School was still a three year high school. When the IHSA calculated enrollment, they included 9th grade in the total. GHS for IHSA purposes was calculated at 2200 students. GHS had more of a suburban environment than a downstate environment. 

The Supt. was Barney Parker, the principal was George Miller, and the AD was George Lundeen. In the social studies dept., we had Fred Kuster, Hal Devore, Benita Moore, David Moore, Howard Purcell, John Glasnovich, Steve Hawes, Glenn Busse, and Roger Soper. 

I taught across the hall from Hal Devore and Joe Patterson. They had developed a team taught course called,”American Studies.” They were two of the absolute best teachers at GHS. I learned more my first year listening to them and observing them than I did in any college education class. 

In basketball, the head coach was Mike Owens with assistant Don Wright, and soph coach Barry Swanson. In track it was Jerry Albright and Kelly Kane. I was surrounded by so many great mentors. I quickly realized to keep my eyes and ears open, there was a lot to learn. 

Galesburg had 6 class periods, and each teacher taught 5 periods. I had 4 preps- Justice, Sociology, Psychology and U.S.History. My “prep period” was 6th period. I had no class scheduled for 2nd hour. Before school started, Mr. Miller called me into his office. He explained he had purposely left me without a 2nd period, I would have “hall duty.” I was told to go sit at a table they set up in the hallway by the cafeteria, and not leave there. The intent was for me to work on my lesson planning. So in effect, they gave me two “prep periods.” 

Galesburg HS in 1974-1975 was filled with some “legends” who had already taught 20 years and are on GHS’s Mt. Rushmore- Chauncey Kenney, Riley Bowen, Bill and Betty Creekmur, Jimmie Crown, Helen Dunn, Art Fish, Gretchen Gates, Bob Gruba, Clarice and Roland Hegg, Sally Rynott, Bev Rosine, and Bob Self. Plus 25 younger faculty who would stay for 30+. 

When I was introduced to the cross country team as the new coach, Mr. Lundeen went on about my basketball career at Knox College and finished with something like,”He’s never run cross country and doesn’t know anything about it but he will learn.” Sadly, Mr. Lundeen was right that I didn’t know anything about cross country. 

The best thing that happened to me was that I had a core of six runners who were patient with me and were hard working. John Hanlon, Mike Haptonstahl, Tim Lischwe, Bruce Billingsley, Larry Haynes, Rod Blue, and others went out of there way to help me as a first year coach. I could not have asked for better people. They were my first team and one of my all-time favorites. 

The first cross country meet I ever attended was a meet at Lake Storey AND I was in charge of running the meet. The course I set up turned out to be a mess. It was obvious that I had no idea of how to run a meet. Mr. Lundeen got me subscription to 2 or 3 cross country coaching magazines, and former cross country coach, Gene Denisar became my advisor. 

That year I quickly learned the value of picking the brains of the opposing coaches. Most were very open to helping and sharing. This served me well my entire career in both cross country and basketball. I always had 4-5 opposing coaches and multiple GHS coaches that I regularly sought out to get ideas. They probably got tired of all the questions. 

I had been hired as cross country coach because the previous coach was dismissed. I quickly noticed our cross country uniforms were blue and gold. Galesburg colors are silver, gold, and black. I had been told if I had questions about cross country to ask Gene Denisar who as an assistant principal but had years before coached cross country. I asked him what the deal was with the uniforms. His reply,"One of the old coaches thought blue would look better than black. That is why you are coaching now. Galesburg doesn't want anything that looks like Quincy." 

It didn’t take long to realize Galesburg and Quincy were big time rivals.

Despite the claim that I needed a Brinks truck for my pay check, when my first teaching/coaching pay check arrived, it was less than I was getting working at Butler in the summer. It didn’t bother me because I was doing what I had always wanted to do, but the lesson was that if you were in teaching for the money, you were in the wrong profession.  

Before basketball started, Coach Mike Owens had the coaching staff to his house for a staff meeting. We went down to his office in the basement. He went thru some basics of the program’s expectations. As Coach Owens was talking about the varsity team, he said,"We are good enough to get to State if..."  And he then explained what would be needed for us to get to State. I had never been someplace where you set out at the beginning of the season that the goal was going to State. It was a great lesson in not being afraid to challenge yourself as a coach and challenge your players. 

I can still remember the first practice of the basketball season. It was a varsity practice and all of the staff was there. The first drill was in the half-court at the west main court. When Coach Owens started it, I was standing next to Coach Wright at half-court. I remember how exciting that was. I had always dreamed of coaching basketball, and here I was doing it. For the next fifty years, many times I would just go to that spot when practice started. And I always felt the same as I did the first practice- I was so lucky to get to coach. 

Watching both Coach Owens run practices was so valuable for a young coach. Coach Owens invested so much time working on offensive and defensive fundamentals. His emphasis on individual skill development was a valuable lesson for me. 

Coach Swanson emphasized fastbreak offense and pressure defense, those styles stuck with me for my entire career. And the biggest lesson in that first season was the value of making man to man defense be at the center of a basketball culture. 

Early in the season, we had a pep rally in the auditorium. The auditorium was filled on both the main floor and on the balcony. As everyone was just settling in, the band broke out with William Tell overture. The entire auditorium jumped to their feet and started clapping together to the music. Chills went down my spine. The enthusiasm and energy was unbelievable. And nothing ever beats “Hi Yo Silver.”

For games, the ENTIRE north main floor was the student section and it was full. The main floor on the south side was packed with season ticket holders. And the balconies were generally 90% filled. If you were into basketball, there was no better place in Illinois to coach than GHS.

I was soph assistant coach to Barry Swanson on the sophomore level. We coached the “Ponies.” Our team had very little height but we had a group of players who were extremely athletic and who were willing to work very hard. The group went a perfect 22-0 on the season. Only six times did an opponent come within 10 points, and twelve times we won by over 20 points. Their athleticism, competitiveness, and work ethic made them a perfect fit for Coach Swanson’s aggressive man to man half-court defense, full court 1-2–1-1 and 2-2-1 pressure, and an unrelenting fastbreak. 

What was so impressive about the sophomore group was that most weeks players would rotate up and play with the varsity. Most games one or two of the squad didn’t play with us- and each week it was different players going up to the varsity. 

The 1974-1975 “Ponies” certainly exhibited a “next man up” attitude. I certainly learned a lot and loved our style of play. I was spoiled because this group made it seem so easy, but they sure showed how much fun it was to win. 

In the spring I coached track with Jerry Albright and Kelly Kane. Jerry was the head coach, and no one was more dedicated to coaching than Jerry. He invested hours and hours helping each kid become better. It was not unusual to see Jerry still working an hour after practice with a hurdler or a pole vaulter. 

I developed a friendship with Coach Kane. We spent a lot of time together, and thru the years, I asked him a million questions. Although Kelly was about the same age as me, his coaching wisdom was unbelievable. 

I was so blessed to have been hired to teach and coach at Galesburg High School. That first year was so exciting in the classroom, as well as in the sports I coached. I was surrounded by great teachers and great coaches, and working with an outstanding student body.