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By Mark F. Gray
Staff Writer
[email protected]
There were few who really knew the story of coach Herman Boone before Academy Award winning actor Denzel Washington made Remember The Titans. Boone, the African American high school coach who integrated Alexandria, Virginia’s T.C. Williams High School’s football team in the early 1970s, died at 84 years old on Dec. 18.
Boone started coaching the T.C. Williams football program in 1971, the same year the city of Alexandria began integrating their public school system after three schools merged to form the largest campus in Fairfax County. He, along with T.C. Williams’ defensive coach Bill Yoast, who was White, led the team to a perfect championship season.
As the critically acclaimed movie chronicles, Boone’s acumen helped a young group of high school football players press through the social obstacles of coping with the challenges of desegregation. He proved to be instrumental in helping the city overcome issues of racial discrimination by excelling in the face of community challenges while blending a team of White and Black players into contenders.
“He was a motivator. He knew his x’s and o’s in football, he knew sports, he knew teaching, but he could also relate to kids. Kids respected him and he respected them,” said John
Porter, who was principal at T.C. Williams over 20 years. “I think his biggest skill was his ability to motivate kids, athletes and others to perform at their highest level.”
The T.C. Williams Titans would become a team for the ages by finishing the season with a 13-0 record and winning the Virginia state championship. Former President Richard M. Nixon was reportedly so enamored by the Titans that he sent one of his aides to see them play in person. After the aide returned, Nixon supposedly called the Titans “the team
[that] saved the city of Alexandria.”
“He touched many lives and hearts across the world,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings Jr. “He was inspirational for so many people, including me as one of his former students. Alexandria City Public Schools was fortunate to have him as an icon at such a critical time in our history. He will be dearly missed.”
Boone’s impact on the lives of his former players off the field was evident during the memorial services that were held in Alexandria. Many of them went on to become
successful professionals in the community. They shared stories of how Boone’s lessons of real life were taught through the game of football which helped them become productive law abiding citizens.
“I was fortunate enough to have Coach Boone as my driver’s education teacher. I didn’t get
a ticket until I was in my 20’s. So he did a good job,” Hutchings added, which brought
laughter from the gathering who was there to pay final respects.
Former Alexandria mayor Bill Euille shared the memory of the time when they were on the school board and a student-athlete was caught behind the bleachers breaking rules and was suspended for a game.
“I [asked] what about the game?” Euille said. Boone told him, “The game isn’t that important. What’s important is the lesson that this young man needs to learn.”
In 1979 Boone was fired from his job amidst allegations of verbal abuse. Until he passed, Boone was a successful public speaker and in 2016 he was given the Living Legends of Alexandria Award which is given to its most notable citizens.
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