In 1970, Bill Yoast was head football coach at Hammond High. He had coached in Alexandria for many years. He had seniority in Alexandria schools, and was told he was first in line for the head coaching job at the newly combined school, T.C. Williams. A week before school started, Yoast was told that another man would be the head coach. A black man named Herman Boone,who was passed up for a coaching job in North Carolina by a less qualified white coach, had been offered the T.C. Williams job.
Initially, Boone turned the job down because he believed that the position belonged to Yoast. Boone believed that the job was rightfully Yoast's and he was definitely qualified. Boone later changed his mind when black leaders in Alexandria begged him to accept the job for the good of the black community. Only later did Boone learn that the school board never intended him to succeed. The plan was to fire him and give the job to Yoast on the first loss of a game.[1]
Coach Yoast didn't want to take the assistant coaching job under Boone and planned to take the year off and find another head coaching job. "My players were very upset," Yoast said. "They did bring petitions to me, as in the film. I tore up the petition, and told them they didn't want to give up football their senior year. So they did have something to do with me finally agreeing to go with Herman ... I've never been sorry."[2]
Yoast agreed to coach under Boone. Yoast, at first, was very skeptical about Boone because,his coaching style was very different from Yoast's. Yoast was laid back and quiet, while Boone was "in-your-face" and demanded a full effort from all of his players. This coaching style gave the players something to bond together on, and built on their love of football. He pushed everyone very hard. His motto was, "Miss a block, and you run a mile." He tried always to be fair and applied the same very tough standards to everyone. He believed that life was tough and to help his players make it in the outside world he needed to be firm, even harsh at times. Yoast's doubts about Boone dropped as he realized that Boone treated every player, black or white, in the same manner.[3]
The leadership of both of the coaches played a big part in the teams success. Boone was more interested in turning his players into quality young men to get them ready for the real world. Before school started, Coach Boone took his players to Gettysburg College where they were to learn to play as a team. Before they even got to the college, Boone made a very important decision. When the players got onto the buses, they separated themselves by race. Boone took every player off the buses and put offensive players on one bus, and defensive players on another bus. He also made white boys sit with black boys, and their seatmate became their roommate at camp. Boone says he did not initially plan this strategy, but it came to him as he saw the boys segregating themselves. "I forced them on each other. I forced them to learn each other's culture. I forced them to be a part of each other's lives."[4]
[1] http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/remember-the-titans-files/remember-the-titans-supplemental-materials.html
[2] http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020808.html
[3] http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/remember-the-titans-files/remember-the-titans-supplemental-materials.html
[4] http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020808.html
Initially, Boone turned the job down because he believed that the position belonged to Yoast. Boone believed that the job was rightfully Yoast's and he was definitely qualified. Boone later changed his mind when black leaders in Alexandria begged him to accept the job for the good of the black community. Only later did Boone learn that the school board never intended him to succeed. The plan was to fire him and give the job to Yoast on the first loss of a game.[1]
Coach Yoast didn't want to take the assistant coaching job under Boone and planned to take the year off and find another head coaching job. "My players were very upset," Yoast said. "They did bring petitions to me, as in the film. I tore up the petition, and told them they didn't want to give up football their senior year. So they did have something to do with me finally agreeing to go with Herman ... I've never been sorry."[2]
Yoast agreed to coach under Boone. Yoast, at first, was very skeptical about Boone because,his coaching style was very different from Yoast's. Yoast was laid back and quiet, while Boone was "in-your-face" and demanded a full effort from all of his players. This coaching style gave the players something to bond together on, and built on their love of football. He pushed everyone very hard. His motto was, "Miss a block, and you run a mile." He tried always to be fair and applied the same very tough standards to everyone. He believed that life was tough and to help his players make it in the outside world he needed to be firm, even harsh at times. Yoast's doubts about Boone dropped as he realized that Boone treated every player, black or white, in the same manner.[3]
The leadership of both of the coaches played a big part in the teams success. Boone was more interested in turning his players into quality young men to get them ready for the real world. Before school started, Coach Boone took his players to Gettysburg College where they were to learn to play as a team. Before they even got to the college, Boone made a very important decision. When the players got onto the buses, they separated themselves by race. Boone took every player off the buses and put offensive players on one bus, and defensive players on another bus. He also made white boys sit with black boys, and their seatmate became their roommate at camp. Boone says he did not initially plan this strategy, but it came to him as he saw the boys segregating themselves. "I forced them on each other. I forced them to learn each other's culture. I forced them to be a part of each other's lives."[4]
[1] http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/remember-the-titans-files/remember-the-titans-supplemental-materials.html
[2] http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020808.html
[3] http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/remember-the-titans-files/remember-the-titans-supplemental-materials.html
[4] http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020808.html