MORE THAN JUST WINNING FOOTBALL GAMES

by Steve McClain

While it is true that a coach is measured by wins and losses, players also appraise a coach in other ways –– namely, how they prepare them for life after sport.

And for many former Colonel football players, Coach Roy Kidd succeeded by all measuring sticks.

Alvin Miller and Doug Hampton both experienced success on the field under Kidd, but they also had success after leaving EKU and said the legendary EKU coach had a hand in their growth.

“He was like a father, and I didn’t have a father in the house, and I didn’t have the boundaries others had,” said Miller, who played 1977-80 and was MVP in the 1979 National Championship game. “I was kind of wild when I came to Eastern, and Coach Kidd said, ‘You will have to change your direction.’ He was very structured and wanted things done his way, and if you didn’t, you better have a good reason. At the same time, he was very reasonable and compassionate.”

When Miller came to Richmond from Florida, the running back weighed 180 pounds before beefing up to 215.

“Nobody wanted to give me a chance. And I realized that if I had stayed in Florida, I would have been in some kind of trouble,” he said, adding that a couple of friends ended up on death row. “I was looking to get out. I had to get out (of Florida).”

Hampton came to EKU from Evarts High School in eastern Kentucky and played on the 1967 Grantland Rice Bowl championship team.

“I was in class one day and got a call that a coach from Eastern was there to see me. It was Coach Kidd,” said Hampton.

“He said, ‘We think you could play for us.’ I asked when they would know if they had a scholarship for me, and he said they had one in the car. My dad was a coal miner, and I said, ‘Let me call my dad.’ I told him what was going on and said he was home, and we sat in the living room, and that’s how I chose Eastern.”

In his sophomore season, though, Hampton ruptured a disk in his neck and never played again, but Kidd said they would honor his scholarship and made him a student assistant coach for wide receivers and then tight ends.

“I sat in on a lot of coaches’ meetings. He was like a judge. He would let assistant coaches argue their strategy or who should start and make their case, and then he he would make his decision. When he made his decision, everybody went to the practice field 100 percent behind that decision. No waffling,” Hampton said.

“When I hear Coach (Nick) Saban talk about responsibility and accountability, Coach Kidd was ahead of them. Whatever your role was, he held you accountable. I remember him saying, ‘I don’t want to coach coaches. I want people to know what they are doing.’ He wanted to win, and that went through the team.”

Hampton has had a long history with EKU. He met his wife of 54 years, Patsy, in the EKU grill. His daughter, Sherri Beth, went there; his son, Brent, played for Kidd; and his grandson, Clay, was an assistant coach at EKU in 2021.

“My dad told Coach Kidd, sitting in my living room, to treat me like I was his boy. When Brent went to Eastern to play, I told Coach Kidd, ‘Treat him like he was your boy,’” Hampton said.

Kidd left an indelible impression on countless other players, along with many fond memories. Miller, who went into the military as a chaplain for more than 32 years and is now a bishop with his church, could not praise his former mentor enough.

“He means the world to me,” Miller said. “He’s a hero to me. I love the man for what he did for me. He saved my life.” n