Roy Kidd: What Next?

Roy Kidd set some lofty g oals for himself when he was nam e d East ern's head football coach in 1964 . Th ey weren't promises, mind you, but personal goals for himself and his players.

They went something like this:

- An Ohio Valley Conference championship.

-Recognition in th e national college division polls.

-A berth in one of the NCAA's regional colle ge division bowl s.

Now, consider these facts:

-In 1969 , Kidd's sixth season as head coach, the Colonels have their s ig hts set on an unprecedented third straight OVC title . They haven't lost to an OVC school in 14 games.

-Eastern has n ever been out of the top twenty in both national wire serv ic e polls since October, 1966.

- Three Eastern players have been named to the Associated Pr ess All-American second team. Five other honorable mention All-Americans have been awarded Eastern players. And more than 20 All-OVC certificates have been distributed to the Colonels.

-The Colonels won the 1967 NCAA Mideast Regional championship (coverin g more than 100 teams in 10 states) by defeating Ball State 27-13 in the Grantland Rice Bowl.

This is Roy Kidd . A realistic, matter-of-fact man who wins football ga mes . H e sets his goals hi gh - not beyond reach - and then g oes one step further.

Unlike many in his field , Roy Kidd , the man, blends perf ect l y with Roy Kidd, the coach. It seems trite, but he fits perf ect ly into this so-called a ge of telling it like it is. He is not effe rvescent or controversial. He 's a straight talker whose greatest attribute as a coach is organization.

H e has a brilliant football mind and he's not afraid to ga mble when necessar y.

Puttin g it in simpler terms, Roy Kidd has built one of the ten finest college division football pro g rams in America.

The fact is , Kidd has always been a winner. In high school at Corbin , as a player and g raduate assistant coach at Eastern , and as a high school coach at Madison High School. It was at Madison that Kidd made his presence known as a molder of football talent . He had a 54-10-1 over-all record , a 27-game winning streak and 14 consecutive unscored-upon games . He was Kentucky Coach of the Year in 1961 when the Purples were ranked No. 1 in the state all season .

His won-lost record at Eastern now stands at 30-15-4. For the past three seasons , the Colonels own a 23-6 - 2 record. His 1968 championship team broke 16 team records and 11 OVC marks . The offense, a wide-open , pro-set attack, has been the most productive in the school 's hi st ory , and the defense last season was the second best in Eastern's record book in terms of yardage yielded.

This is Roy Kidd. He set three goals for himself when he came to Eastern . They 're history now, so he 's pointing for even bigger things. It shouldn't take lon g.

Kidd is married to t he former Susan Purcell of Richmond. They have three children, Marc ( 11 ) , Kathy (8), and Keith ( 6 ) .

Bob Harville

Offensive Line Coach

Bill Shannon

Defensive Line Coach

Bobby Harville is faced with perhaps the most demanding task of his football career . In many respects, he will shoulder the greatest burden in Eastern 's rebuilding program . He is left with a completely new offensive line and must mold the new faces into a solid unit if the Colonels' offense is to produce .

But Harville enjoys the challenge .

He has always be e n one of the versatile members of the staff . Harville's first year was spent with the offensive backfield and the following season he coached the defensive secondary. That year the defense set a conference record with 20 interceptions.

And those are the reasons Kidd persuaded Harville to join his staff in 1965 - he knew from experience the Harlan native was a dedicated worker with a keen knowledge of all aspects of the game .

Harville and Kidd's professional association began in 1957 at Richmond Madison .

The next five years Harville spent as an assistant at Elizabethtown (Ky.) and Lancaster (Ohio) where the teams with which he was associated compiled a 41-9 record.

Then in 1965, Harville returned to Madison High School as its head football coach. He was inheriting a team that was 4-6 and had graduated 13 seniors , three of whom were to play college football.

But Harville brought the Royal Purples' winning football tradition back to life. Instilling basic fundamentals and a strong desire to win, he built a winner. That year Madison had a 10-4 record , won the Central Kentucky Conference and lost to Ft . Thomas Highlands for the state Class AA championship .

Harville is married to the former Sandra Sharp of South Fort Mitchell. They have three children, Robert Michael <1O),, Virginia Louise ( 8) , and Leigh Ann ( 3) .

Bill Shannon has been downright stingy in recent years . Ta ke, for example, two years ago , when the Colonels held opponents to only 70 points in 10 games. Only one other college or university in the nation could boast more. Last season, Eastern gave up mor e points, but yielded only 989 yardsless than 100 per game - for the second best showing in the Eastern record books.

But Shannon also faces a rebuilding job this season . He does return All-American candidate Teddy Taylor at middle guard, tackle Sid Yeldell, and defensive ends Mike Nicholson and Brian Seimon, but there are several holes to be filled . And depth is another question mark .

Shannon , noted for his humor off the field and dead-pan seriousness on the field, came to Eastern with the kind of credentials mosts coaches dream of.

In five seasons at Dixie Heights High School in South Fort Mitchell <1955-58, 63 ) , he developed his teams into the football power of Northern Kentucky with a 47-5-2 record.

Under Shannon's leadership, Dixie Heights won three No r thern Kentucky Conference championships and the Recreation Bowl, and was tied in its only Burley Bowl appearance.

The distinguished war veteran was Kentucky's "Coach of the Year " in 1955 and made three Kentucky East-West AllStar coaching appearances.

The one-time Danville High School star is married to the former Mary Peters , a fellow Danvillian. She serves as a registered nurse in the University infirmary.

Fred Francis Offensive Backfield Coach

Jack Ison

Defensive Backfield Coach

For the past two seasons, Fred Francis has been saddled with one major responsibility: Come up with a ground attack to complement the Colonels ' solid passing game. And for the past two seasons, Francis has produced a stable of sound runners.

This season, the search isn't concentrated in the offensive backfield. In fact, Francis has developed perhaps the finest 1-2 running punch in the conference and he 's looking forward to using it this season. The first part of the punch is tailback Jimmy Brooks, the leading freshman ground-gainer in the country last season with 1,013 yards. Then there's fullback Butch Evans, a 210-pounder who blocks as well as he runs .

Francis' personable manner also has been a big asset to Eastern's recruiting program.

His reputation on the high school coaching level is well established throughout Kentucky. With Francis at the helm , St . Joseph Prep in Bardstown was recognized as one of the state's perennial Class A powers with a three-year 20-6-4 record.

Francis ' 1966 team was ranked ninth in the state, went through the school's first undefeated season with an 8-0-3 record and defeated Class AA runner-up Lexington Henry Clay in the Recreation Bowl.

He married Freda Catron of Lexington . They have two sons , Anthony ( 4 ), and Timothy ( 2)

For the first time in three seasons defensive backfield coach, Jack Ison returns a veteran unit. For two seasons he was called upon to replace personnel at key positions. This year, only one player was lost through graduation.

Ison is a football cliche, because he's known as a dedicated student of the game. And that's exactly what he is. The dependability showed up well in his first year, when the Colonels led the OVC in pass defense . Last year, the secondary gave up more yardage, but came through when it counted most; deep in its own territory.

Kidd is well aware of the 1961 Eastern gritduate's coaching abilities - he gave Ison his first job at Richmond 's Madison High School.

After assisting Kidd to a 13-1 record and a Class AA runner-up trophy in 1961, Ison was named head coach in 1962 when Kidd entered the college coaching field. The Royal Purples were 6-2-2 under his guidance .

He received the M .A. degree from Eastern in 1963 and entered the University of Indiana graduate school that fall , earning 32 hours toward a doctorate .

The Russell native is married to the former Patricia Lykins, whom he met as a classmate at Eastern . They have two daughters, Elizabeth ( 7) and Melinda (3).

George Adams Graduate Assistant

George Adams is no stranger to Roy Kidd. In fact, he has served under Kidd at three different schools.

A Richmond native, Adams played high school football at Madison when Kidd 's 1961 team posted a 13-1 record and finished second in the state.

Then , when Kidd became assistant coach at Morehead, Adams joined him as a player. Three years later , the student came back to haunt the coach. In 1966, Adams' interception of a key Eastern pass paved the way for a Morehead victory.

Adams was a three-year letterman at defensive end for Morehead and was drafted by the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. In 1967, he served as an undergraduate assistant coach at Morehead .

Last season , Adams was assistant football coach at Berea. He is married to the former Sherry Taylor. They have a daughter, Alesa, who is 19 months old .

Dick Cruciotti Graduate Assistant

Dick Cruciotti 's athletic career has covered three states and several sports .

A native of Bellaire , Ohio, Cruciotti lettered four years in football at St. John Hi g h School , where he was an allconference and All-Eastern Ohio selection.

Then it was on to West Liberty State Co lle ge, West Liberty, West Virginia, where he lettered in baseball and golf.

Cruciotti served as an assistant coach for three years after his graduation and in 1968 was named head football coach at nearby Berea Hi gh School in Kentucky.

" Dick has a real interest in athletics," said Kidd . " His knowledge of football will make him a real asset to our progr am ."

Skip Daugherty

Graduate Assistant

Hayward (Skip) Daugherty has run the gamut in his service to Eastern football. H e has served as a player, student manager , and now as a grad uate assistant coach.

Daugherty came to Eastern in the fall of 1964 after an impressive high school career at North Hardin High School.

A knee injury his sophomore year forced Dau gherty from competition , but he remained with the football pro gr am as equipment manager.

Hi s enthusiasm and energy as manager served as a constant inspiration to the players

" Skip is dedicated to Eastern and to the game of football ," said Kidd. "He has helped our program t remendously with his winning attitude."

Skip is m arried to the · former Vicki Reedy .