The Best Jr. High Coach Ever!

[Hack]

I saw Coach Ifantiedes while I was having lunch at Menches brothers today. It was great to see him again. I don't know how many of you had the chance to play for him but in my opinion he was the best ever and in more sports than just football. I had him for football, basketball, and baseball and he was my favorite coach in all the years that I played! To this day me and the guys that played together for him share stories of him. The man is a legend in this town. If you played for him lets hear some stories about your experiences.

[obie0130]

hack, i played on those teams with you and i also have some great memories of coach If.
I remember how dedicated he was to winning at Longfellow. not only against LA, but anyone we played - football, basketball or baseball (baseball at WHS). i know he spent a lot of time watching film and had some good coaches on his staff during our time at Longfellow.
i also remember some of his antics; the mini pregame tantrum before we played central in 9th grade where he eneded up kicking the goal post and using a few 4-letter words to get us fired up (we won). or when he bit off the head of a toy dragon during the rally the week of the LA game (which we also won). we had a great team that season, although we lost a couple of heart-breakers.

[DAWGH8R]

Had to love the passion of Coach Richter at LA in the late 70's !!:tig:

[bigwahoo13]

I played baseball with you hack, for Coach If. I remember I had a shut out going against Mckinley in 9th grade(JV). I gave up a homer in the top of the 6th at the "Old Ducky" on a 0-2 pitch. Man did he chew me out. He was one of the more colorful coaches I played for that's for sure! I haven't seen him in about 4 years now. I was home visiting and I saw him at a Tiger basketball game! How is he doing?:usflag:

[TigerCoach]

Harry I. compared to Butch Hose in Jr. High is like comparing Chuck Shuff to Tom Stacy. Give us a break!:puke:

[Hack]

Or, like comparing TigerCoach to anybody that has ever worn a whistle!!!

[TigerCoach]

Or, like comparing TigerCoach to anybody that has ever worn a whistle!!!

LOL!! Most people aren't used to NCAA officiating at the high school level. You start thinking that what you see all the time is the right way, until someone does it the right way.

Back to the point, how dare you say someone was better as a junior high coach than Laverne "Butch" Hose! He even said himself, that the best coaches in Massillon were at the junior high level, and he was the best. How can you argue with that?

[Al.]

Yes, Butch was a legend in his own mind. :rolleyes:

[xtiger]

Just for the HeII of it, I'll throw Fred Richter in for discussion.

[DAWGH8R]

Had to love the passion of Coach Richter at LA in the late 70's !!:tig:



Too late X !!

[xtiger]

Too late X !!

So much for speed reading. Sorry DawgH8r!

[Tiger2001]

I had Mr. If as a teacher during HS. I didnt know he was also a coach. As a previous poster said, he sure was "colorful" haha.

[Kamd50]

Hack, just to let you know, my husband has gotten quite the chuckle out of this thread so far:jestera:

[TigerCoach]

Hack, just to let you know, my husband has gotten quite the chuckle out of this thread so far:jestera:


Especially when you said Harry was the best Jr. High coach ever!! :hyper:

[Kamd50]

TC, you are just full of.....hmmm.....spitfire lately....:laughing: Let's just say that the topic has brought back some pretty funny memories.

[Hack]

Kam, He had some pretty good assistant coaches too. Roby wasn't shabby! TC, probably any coach that could properly fit you with a helmet could be considered a legend!:blah:

[OTC TIGER]

Pass the cookies...Jarvis that is...:laughing:

[monte81]

Coach If, Morningstar, Daniels, and Herring all developed the major talent that came from Longfellow in the 80's!

[Louisville Tiger]

The best Jr. High coach I ever had was Tom Jarvis at Longfellow. I saw him once slam a kid up against the wall just because the boy didn't spell his own last name right!:rockon:

[UnionTiger]

I not only got to play for him (Coach If) from 7th thru 9th at Poet Country but he also coached me in baseball at WHS. He called me the most coachable kid he ever had at my 9th basketball banquet in the cafe. at Longfellow. I had and still have all the respect in the world for this man. When he was my coach it was like having a 2nd father out there. It was years later that I came back to Massillon and got to coach with him at Longfellow and baseball at WHS. I loved to listen to his stories as a player at Perry. I was a catcher and so was he, and all the experiences we shared were awesome. I know his health has slowed him down some but he will always hold a place in this freinds heart. Coach Odie says thanks Coach for all the great times.

[Benchboss1]

Best Jr. High Coach ever was Roger Price of Lorin Andrews back in the 1950's.

Many in Massillon thought that he had the potential to actually be the Tiger's Head Coach but he never applied.

Most posters on this site probably never heard of him because of the time frame involved, but ask any old timer or check the record books and you will find that he was outstanding!

[Kick]

OTC Tiger and Louisville Tiger, my son told me Coach Jarvis slammed a kid up against a wall for calling him Cookie. :stars:

[slob55]

I once saw Coach Jar drop kick a kid square in the chest with both feet from about 6 yards away. The fluidness of the whole ordeal was breath taking. To make things more intriguing, the kid was his 20 year old son.

[blackswarm3]

I once saw Coach Jar drop kick a kid square in the chest with both feet from about 6 yards away. The fluidness of the whole ordeal was breath taking. To make things more intriguing, the kid was his 20 year old son.



That is out of this world funny. I remember Coach Jar smashing his face into The o-linemans facemasks before the team took a trip to Indy to play North Central. I remember the blood on the facemasks. That was something to see.

[Louisville Tiger]

WOW! That coach Jar was truly a MAN among men!:wow:

[Kamd50]

I realize there are a few of his relatives posting on this thread, but I don't think some of that behavior is anything to be proud of, sorry.

[OTC TIGER]

Just on a side note...I work with a St. Thomas Aquinas grad who had Jack Rose as a teacher and told me a story where Jack took a smarta$$ out in the hall and slammed the dude into the lockers...Needless to say there were very
few :smartass: in Jack's class after taking care of business :ohno:

[massillon catholic]

I realize there are a few of his relatives posting on this thread, but I don't think some of that behavior is anything to be proud of, sorry.

You wouldn't have like Coach Commings then and he was one of the best Head Coaches ever.

[Kamd50]

Entirely different, and that's all I am going to say about it. On the otherhand, I believe that Mr. Jarvis is in a much better place in his life at the present and commend him for that.

If you are a fan of Coach Stacy's, however, then you know that he isn't a fan to this kind of approach.

[CarlE]

If you are a fan of Coach Stacy's, however, then you know that he isn't a fan to this kind of approach.


Well, then perhaps that is why his team lacks leadership and discipline.

[Kamd50]

Perhaps not. And I sure as heck am not going to engage or encourage any banter involving putting down our head coach. You didn't hear any of that kind of talk after his first year. Only time will tell.

As proven by the record of other respectable coaches on MP and otherwise, a new coach needs a little time before all the fruits of his labor can be realized in the program he is trying to establish.
:gotigers:

[Al.]

As proven by the record of other respectable coaches on MP and otherwise, a new coach needs a little time before all the fruits of his labor can be realized in the program he is trying to establish.
:gotigers:

Earle Bruce :scratchchin:

[massillon catholic]

Excellent point Carl!

[CarlE]

Perhaps not. And I sure as heck am not going to engage or encourage any banter involving putting down our head coach. You didn't hear any of that kind of talk after his first year. Only time will tell.

As proven by the record of other respectable coaches on MP and otherwise, a new coach needs a little time before all the fruits of his labor can be realized in the program he is trying to establish.
:gotigers:

I wasn't putting down the coach. If you bothered to read any of my posts you would know that I am a HUGE Stacy supporter. Have been since day one. BUT, that does NOT make him perfect and the word I hear is that we had ZERO leadership last year and we know about discipline with the antics before the McKinley game last year don't we?

[DragonTigerNemesis]

the word I hear is that we had ZERO leadership last year and we know about discipline with the antics before the McKinley game last year don't we?

And don't forget that we were annihilated by Moeller last year for the same reasons.

:wtf:

[Kamd50]

I wasn't putting down the coach. If you bothered to read any of my posts you would know that I am a HUGE Stacy supporter. Have been since day one. BUT, that does NOT make him perfect and the word I hear is that we had ZERO leadership last year and we know about discipline with the antics before the McKinley game last year don't we?

First off, I am glad to hear that. You probably know that I do read your posts, but I don't remember everybody's stances on everything that they posted. However, I wouldn't say that it would be quite fair to our previous teams to make a broad statement saying that we had zero leadership; during either this past season or the one before. That is just too general of a statement to make, not knowing the individuals personally involved in making up those teams. We had leaders, but I'm not gonna get into naming kids. However, there were some who simply chose to either ignore or not follow them. You can only do so much.

But w/e. I hear that we will have the makings of a fantastic team as well as our share of leaders this coming season.:thumbsup:

[Seeker]

I think we should get this thread back on track about Junior High coaches.

:vconst:

[blackswarm3]

I once saw Coach Jar drop kick a kid square in the chest with both feet from about 6 yards away. The fluidness of the whole ordeal was breath taking. To make things more intriguing, the kid was his 20 year old son.

I believe this person was turning the stories it into a Bill Bratzke skit from SNL. Dont get all fired up about nothing K50. Just having a little fun thats all.

[Kamd50]

Understood. Consider the fire doused:rockin:

[xtiger]

Earle Bruce :scratchchin:

Got the job done in his first year(State Title). And did it again the second
year(State Title).

[OTC TIGER]

[QUOTE=DragonTigerNemesis;47602]And don't forget that we were annihilated by Moeller last year for the same reasons.


We got beat by Moeller because we couldn't protect our QB or cover a punt

[mmauthor]

For what it's worth in this discussion...Chuck Mather won the state championship in all six of his seasons at Massillon! Also, he never lost more than one game in a season. Only lost once at home. And two of his three losses were to former Massillon players (Knowlton, Alliance; Morningstar, Mansfield). Other loss was to Warren.

Like Stacy, the program was struggling when Mather took over. Sure can't knock what Earle did! He did inherit a good program, it should be noted. Massillon probably would have been state champs in 1963, if not for a 13-6loss to Akron Garfield in the Rubber Bowl in the second week of the season.

For the sake of getting the thread back on track...I'll cast my vote for Roger Price as the best junior high school coach. Here are a few more for consideration: Elwood Kammer, Lorin Andrews (won state title at Massillon in 1943), Mel Knowlton, Jones (won state title at Alliance).

[slob55]

I once saw coach Jar jump into a lion's den at the Columbus zoo and wrestle a pride of 5 or 6 lions! When he emerged from the carnage an onlooking boy asked the mighty coach why he had jumped into the pen.
"Cause that's the sort of thing Tiger's do kid." Was Jar's only response.

[TigerCoach]

For what it's worth in this discussion...Chuck Mather won the state championship in all six of his seasons at Massillon! Also, he never lost more than one game in a season. Only lost once at home. And two of his three losses were to former Massillon players (Knowlton, Alliance; Morningstar, Mansfield). Other loss was to Warren.

Like Stacy, the program was struggling when Mather took over. Sure can't knock what Earle did! He did inherit a good program, it should be noted. Massillon probably would have been state champs in 1963, if not for a 13-6loss to Akron Garfield in the Rubber Bowl in the second week of the season.

For the sake of getting the thread back on track...I'll cast my vote for Roger Price as the best junior high school coach. Here are a few more for consideration: Elwood Kammer, Lorin Andrews (won state title at Massillon in 1943), Mel Knowlton, Jones (won state title at Alliance).


I think we're talking JUNIOR HIGH coaches here. The Lorin Andrews staff of 1977-79 with LaVerne Hose, Fred Richter and Tom Jarvis has no competition.

[TigerCoach]

I once saw coach Jar jump into a lion's den at the Columbus zoo and wrestle a pride of 5 or 6 lions! When he emerged from the carnage an onlooking boy asked the mighty coach why he had jumped into the pen.
"Cause that's the sort of thing Tiger's do kid." Was Jar's only response.

That's nothing! I saw Crackerman dress up in a fox costume and run into a banquet hall where a wedding reception was going on. They were serving chicken on the buffet line and he took 2 entire pans of legs, thighs and breasts before running through the dance floor and out the door. When he arrived at the stadium for a game, Coach Wells noticed the grease all over his face and asked what was up? He replied, "Nothing coach, just some face paint to psyche out the opponent." That's how he got started doing that.:tonguewave:

[mmauthor]

Kammer was 38-15-4 as a junior high coach and was city champs '35-'38, co-champ in '39 and runner up in '40.

[TigerCoach]

Any stats that you can dig up on Butch Hose at Lorin Andrews (and I think he started at Longfellow in the early 70's)?

[slob55]

That's nothing! I saw Crackerman dress up in a fox costume and run into a banquet hall where a wedding reception was going on. They were serving chicken on the buffet line and he took 2 entire pans of legs, thighs and breasts before running through the dance floor and out the door. When he arrived at the stadium for a game, Coach Wells noticed the grease all over his face and asked what was up? He replied, "Nothing coach, just some face paint to psyche out the opponent." That's how he got started doing that.:tonguewave:

Great story, I heard someone talking about that last weekend over at Koonies. I think it was BJ Payne, but I'm not sure.
I also heard that Coach Jar owned a pet cobra in the late 80's that he would keep and feed in his Health room. Apparently the cobra grew to the size of a small dump truck and began eating the students. This of course, is why they built the new high school. Unfortunatley the snake was still growing and soon threatened to take over the entire downtown area, so Jar hired coach Stu to take care of the problem. What ensued was a glorified fight to the death in which most of the old high school was torn to the ground! It is rumored that Stu fought the overgrown snake with nothing but a pair of 55 pound dumbells and a squat belt! Needless to say, Coach Stu won the battle and used the snake's hide to make hang clean straps for future Tigers.
True story.

[monte81]

Some stats on Coach Ifantedies from 1984-1988 spanning 5 freshman football seasons Longfellow was 34-1!! Winning the city championship all 5 years and his bball coaching was not bad either. My whole career at Longfellow I saw the school lose 1 football game and that was to Loren Andrews when I was in 8th grade and our 2 top running backs were out-- Jason Stafford had a broken arm and George River's parents made him sit for disciplinary reasons!!!

Look how many of our DI players came from Lonfellow in that era---- Hosttler, Lectivits, McGuire's, Pierce, Stafford's, Buckland, Hackenbrack's, Sparkman, Dunnwiddie, Liggett, Myricks, Mike Norris, Eric White, Craig York, Menches, Martin's, etc,..... Coach If had some players to work with back then!!

ALL 4 DI schollies my senior year went to former Longfellow Poets!!

[mmauthor]

Excuse my ignorance on this one, but...where do most of the students who would have gone to Jones attend Jr High, Longfellow or Lorin Andrews?

[Al.]

Excuse my ignorance on this one, but...where do most of the students who would have gone to Jones attend Jr High, Longfellow or Lorin Andrews?

Neither.......it would now be Massillon Middle School

[monte81]

Great story, I heard someone talking about that last weekend over at Koonies. I think it was BJ Payne, but I'm not sure.
I also heard that Coach Jar owned a pet cobra in the late 80's that he would keep and feed in his Health room. Apparently the cobra grew to the size of a small dump truck and began eating the students. This of course, is why they built the new high school. Unfortunatley the snake was still growing and soon threatened to take over the entire downtown area, so Jar hired coach Stu to take care of the problem. What ensued was a glorified fight to the death in which most of the old high school was torn to the ground! It is rumored that Stu fought the overgrown snake with nothing but a pair of 55 pound dumbells and a squat belt! Needless to say, Coach Stu won the battle and used the snake's hide to make hang clean straps for future Tigers.
True story.


Good stuff!!

[monte81]

Excuse my ignorance on this one, but...where do most of the students who would have gone to Jones attend Jr High, Longfellow or Lorin Andrews?


Before the massillon middle school was opened the district was split down on the SE side of massillon to even the student population.

[mmauthor]

Thanks Monte. Did the students have any choice in the matter?

[Seeker]

Thanks Monte. Did the students have any choice in the matter?

Don't pile on me for saying this, but I was under the impression that Massillon did this to avoid bussing the middle school kids around to achieve racial balance.

Jones was mostly black, and the Longfellow parents were freaked out that their kids would be bussed there.

[Tigers53]

What about Bobby Baker, Tom Rosa and Ed Radel who coached for Lorin Andrews in the early 70's? If you remember, Coach Baker had lost most of his fingers on both hands in an accident. When he got mad at you during practice he would rap you upside the helmet with his knuckles which really made your head ring. Of course, I never experienced it, but was told how it felt!

All three were pretty high strung!

I remember seeing Coach Baker really get in Willie Spencers face during summer practices, Willie's sophmore year. They almost came to blows because Willie didn't want to carry some big fat tackle during piggybacks. Willie finally figured out it would be better to do the piggyback than go at it with Baker.

By the way, what ever happened to Coach Baker?

[CarlE]

What about Bobby Baker, Tom Rosa and Ed Radel who coached for Lorin Andrews in the early 70's? If you remember, Coach Baker had lost most of his fingers on both hands in an accident. When he got mad at you during practice he would rap you upside the helmet with his knuckles which really made your head ring. Of course, I never experienced it, but was told how it felt!

All three were pretty high strung!

I remember seeing Coach Baker really get in Willie Spencers face during summer practices, Willie's sophmore year. They almost came to blows because Willie didn't want to carry some big fat tackle during piggybacks. Willie finally figured out it would be better to do the piggyback than go at it with Baker.

By the way, what ever happened to Coach Baker?

Coach Baker kicked Dan Nagle and my asses for running down the hall in 9th grade to lunch. Grabbed each of our shoulders with his knubs and dug those damn things so far in they hurt for days. When Coach Baker went to high school, Dallas Lehman came in and took over 9th grade at L.A. Coach Radel was 8th grade and Tom Rosa WAS 7th grade. Good memory there Tiger53. Coach Baker.....OUCH.

[TigerCoach]

Coach Baker is my uncle and I talk to him regularly. After coaching for several years, he took a job with General Motors and the AC Delco Division, where he retired last year with 30 years at GM. He has lived in Louisville, Ky., Medina, Ohio and Pittsburgh during his career. (Where he unfortunately became a Steelers fan.) He currently lives in Jackson Township and helps raise his grandkids, plays golf, etc.

He had a heck of an athletic career himself, was the starting QB on the 1961 National Champion Massillon Tigers. He originally went to Kentucky to play for Homer Rice and one of Paul "Bear" Bryant's coordinators, who moved to Kentucky to install the "Bear Bryant method" of playing football. The summer after his freshman year, he had the accident while working at MCA Sign in Massillon, and his football career was over. he later enrolled at Ohio Univ. and began his teaching coaching profession before working for GM.

[Kamd50]

It is always interesting to hear a little of former coaches and players stories.Thanks for the brief synopsis, TC. No wonder you are such a "tough guy", it's in your blood:weightlift:

[TigerCoach]

It is always interesting to hear a little of former coaches and players stories.Thanks for the brief synopsis, TC. No wonder you are such a "tough guy", it's in your blood:weightlift:

Tough on the outside, a kitten on the inside!:laugh:

[Kamd50]

Hahaha, just wait until that little girl learns how to pull on daddy's heart strings:wink:

[CarlE]

Hahaha, just wait until that little girl learns how to pull on daddy's heart strings:wink:

Experience tells me that starts at age two. Then around age six they are smart enough to recognize that the heart strings are DIRECTLY attached to the purse strings. Watch out then, TC. It is ALL over.

[Tigers53]

TigerCoach. Please send my regards and most heartfelt warm wishes to Coach Baker. He had such a profound impact on my life, as did many of the coaches I had during my athletic career.

He grew up on the southwest side of Massillon, as did I. My Dad, knew his family and always placed alot of respect in him as a coach. Of course, back then, coaches could basically do no wrong and as long no real harm came to any of us, and it never did, if we got punished it was because we deserved it. He was my football coach at Lorin Andrews and after winning the city championship in the 9th grade, we all matriculated to WHS. He had his daughter that same year I believe, initials L.A. Baker!!!!!

Several of my friends and I even "serenaded" he and his new young wife after they moved into their first apartment, within a stones throw of L.A. I lived an equally close distance to the school so he always knew what I was up to .

Please tell him fat Timmy Graber says hello and hopes to hear, and see him in the not too distant future!

[bthart22]

Don't know where he is or what he ended up doing, but I played for a little guy named Ronnie Greene. He was was an assistant at Longfellow to some horse's backside named Davey Somethingorother who couldn't have coached a starving dog to a full dish of food. Ronnie was enthusiastic and, at the same time, one tough little dude. At 15, I'd run through fire for that little guy.

[CarlE]

Don't know where he is or what he ended up doing, but I played for a little guy named Ronnie Greene. He was was an assistant at Longfellow to some horse's backside named Davey Somethingorother who couldn't have coached a starving dog to a full dish of food. Ronnie was enthusiastic and, at the same time, one tough little dude. At 15, I'd run through fire for that little guy.

His brother Donnie took over the high school baseball reigns from the biggest idiot baseball coach of all time, Gus Pachis. Anyway, Donnie was OK, but a far, FAR improvement from who we had. I remember Ronnie, he was at Longfellow when I went to L.A.