To the Editor:

It was a good decision not to name the Guilderland High School football field in honor of just one of the many coaches who have contributed to the program over the years.

Consider: Last week, The Enterprise reported that boosters consider 1965 to 1980 to have been the glory days of football at Guilderland High School, and so they would have had the school field named for Bud Kenyon. But for those of us who remember it, top-notch football at GHS began in 1961, with the hiring of new Head Coach Ed Farrell.

Up until ’61, GHS has finished pretty consistently in the cellar. At his first meeting with the boys trying out for the team, Coach Farrell told them there were two keys to winning football games: blocking and tackling.

His deep understanding of and love for the game were both obvious and infectious. The players learned to block and to tackle.

They learned to love the game, and the man who was teaching it to them. They started believing in themselves. I’m tempted to write that it was as if Vince Lombardi had come to GHS, but, in truth, I don’t think Lombardi could have done it any better.

Guilderland went 4-3 that year. It came down to a come-from-behind win in the final minutes of the final game, against heavily favored Shaker High. It was poetry. Guilderland had its first winning season.

Ed Farrell coached at GHS from 1961 to 1964. It was under his tutelage that Guilderland really started learning the game of football, and winning.

In ’65, he left to coach at the University of Bridgeport. He was head coach there during the ’70 to ’72 seasons when Bridgeport went 30-3, including a 21-game winning streak.

Ed Farrell is as fine as gentleman as I’ve ever known. He coached without bravado or histrionics. His players loved him. Although he was only there for four seasons, his contribution to GHS football remains huge.

It’s clear who my choice would be, but there’s no need to honor one coach above all others. They all gave what they had to give. They all did their best. And anyway, isn’t it really supposed to be about the team?

(Just for the record: I didn’t play football. My brother David quarterbacked the ’61 team. I was 12, and a major fan. I knew many of the fine athletes on the ’61-’64 teams. I think I’ve accurately represented how they felt about Coach Farrell. Me, I had the good fortune to play soccer for Don Snyder.)

Gavin Warner

Altamont