Lakeland, Fla., high school football coach Bill Castle believes the
only difference between putting kids on a bus and putting them on an
airplane to travel to a road game is the look on their faces.
“Yeah, it’s kinda funny to see some of their eyes get really big once
they get on an airplane,” said Castle, who has taken his programs to
extraordinary heights in his first 32 seasons as head coach. The
Dreadnaughts were mythical national high school football champions in
2005 and 2006.
Wheeling Intelligencer & News Register
By JIM ELLIOTT
POSTED: June 13, 2008
WHEELING — Lakeland, Fla., high school football coach Bill Castle believes the only difference between putting kids on a bus and putting them on an airplane to travel to a road game is the look on their faces.
“Yeah, it’s kinda funny to see some of their eyes get really big once they get on an airplane,” said Castle, who has taken his programs to extraordinary heights in his first 32 seasons as head coach. The Dreadnaughts were mythical national high school football champions in 2005 and 2006.
Still, even for Lakeland, 30,000 feet is high.
Prior to playing at Lakeland, many of Castle’s players had never been on an airplane. “So it’s kind of fun to see them. They’re a little scared,” he said.
Castle has experience in traveling to distant cities to coach football, as he took his program to Cincinnati for the McDonald’s Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge in 2006. And with Thursday’s announcement of the Sept. 1 inaugural Friends of Coal Prep Classic, a star-studded, six-team event that will be played at Wheeling Island Stadium, Castle said he can’t wait to hand out some more boarding passes.
Destination: Wheeling.
The Classic is the brainchild of Ken Halloy, president of Halloy Boy Sports Marketing Inc. of Columbus, Ohio. Halloy is a Bridgeport native and a Bellaire St. John Central graduate who previously has done some exemplary work along these lines, including that very same Herbstreit Challenge, where he forged a relationship with Castle.
Halloy said the Friends of Coal Classic, which is presented by Wheeling Hospital, The Health Plan of the Upper Ohio Valley and Stoney Hollow Tire, along with media sponsors The Intelligencer, Wheeling News-Register, The Times Leader, Herald-Star, Weirton Daily Times, WTOV-TV and WKKX, was something he wanted to bring to the Ohio Valley because he remembered the passion of high school football fans in the area.
Still, the first one figures to surpass even Halloy’s lofty expectations.
“It’s mindboggling to me the support we’ve had,” Halloy said.
Through all of this, Castle is more of a beneficiary — assuming you count a matchup against Pittsburgh Central Catholic a benefit — but he thinks events like this are great for high school football.
“Most kids are not going to play college football,” Castle said. “There’s such a small percentage when it gets down to a group of seniors actually going on and playing. For many of them, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some other things and to get out of state.
“A lot of my kids — I’ve had their parents — and their parents have never been out of state. So it gives them an opportunity to travel. And travel is related to education.”
Still, you don’t get invited to events like this — even if they’re just down the street — by continually churning out four-victory seasons.
Halloy didn’t want to put on an average event; he wanted to put on one of the best, which is why one of his first calls was to Lakeland, Fla.
“It’s good for your program,” Castle said. “Whether it’s in sports or the corporate world, everybody wants to be successful. To get invited to these type of events, your program has to be successful.”
No kidding.
Included in the six participating teams are three defending state champions that were unbeaten last season — Wheeling Central, Thomas Jefferson, Pa., and Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Lakeland’s resume speaks for itself. Also invited were the Cleveland Glenville Tarblooders, coached by Ted Ginn Sr. and owners of 10 consecutive Senate League championships, and the Steubenville Catholic Central Crusaders, who are two seasons removed from playing in the Ohio Division VI state title game
Last year, these teams combined to win 74 games and lose eight.
It’s been reported that as many as 16 players from Lakeland who will be playing in the Friends of Coal Classic will someday be offered Division I college scholarships.
It takes a special person to get that much talent on the same field at the same time.
Meet Ken Halloy.
“If it had been anybody other than Ken, I would have had to look at it a little more closely,” Castle said. “But Ken was associated with the Kirk Herbstreit Classic. ... It left such a good taste in our fans, our players and coaches that when he called, I just felt like we couldn’t pass it up.
“I said when we left that one, if we ever had a chance to do it again, we’d do it again for the kids. This is a different group. None of these kids went on that (Cleveland St. Xavier) trip. Every time we get an opportunity to do that for the kids, we’re going to take it.”
Those are just the games. This two-day event actually begins Aug. 31, with “An Evening With Don Nehlen & Friends,” a tribute to the former West Virginia University football coach. Scheduled to be held at WesBanco Arena, the event will be emceed by former ESPN personality Roy Firestone.
This roast-style gathering has a list of heavy hitters of the college football coaching fraternity scheduled to attend, including John Cooper (Arizona State, Ohio State), Terry Donahue (UCLA), Vince Dooley (Georgia), Pat Dye (Auburn), LaVell Edwards (Brigham Young), Hayden Fry (Iowa), Don James (Washington), Frank Kush (Arizona State), Dick MacPherson (Syracuse), Bill Mallory (Colorado, Indiana), Tom Osborne (Nebraska), John Ralston (Stanford), John Robinson (USC), R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M), Gene Stallings (Alabama) and George Welsh (Virginia).
Former Ohio State football recruiting coordinator Bill Conley, now the feature recruiting writer for ESPN.com, along with former basketball coaching greats Rollie Massimino (Villanova, 1985 National Champion) and Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons, 1989 and 1990 NBA Champions) will also be in attendance. The cost to attend the event is $3,500 for a table of eight.
At 9 a.m. on Labor Day, Story Time With The Coaching Legends will be held at the arena, featuring many of the above coaches as guest speakers. This event is open to the public.
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