Former longtime Black Diamonds coach inducted into OCA Hall of Fame
The full impact of being inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame didn’t hit Sallisaw’s Virgil Terry until he arrived for the banquet Saturday night at the Marriott Southern Hills Ballroom in Tulsa.
Terry felt its importance when he looked at his phone with 150 messages of congratulation.
“It is so grateful to hear from people like that,” Terry said. “It wasn’t that big a deal until I got here today (then I saw the messages).”
One text shook free any lingering nerves before the ceremony and even brought out a laugh.
“One said, ‘You kept me from getting into Big Mac (McAlester prison),’” the 31-year coaching veteran said.
Terry laughed as he recalled that message.
Overall, it was a night of laughter, smiles and remembrance for Terry and 12 other inductees.
Terry’s coaching career in Florida and Sallisaw has been well documented in print and spotlighted during the OCA presentation.
Highlights included being the Aflac National Assistant Coach of the Year plus the Space Coast Conference Coach of the Year during his stint in Florida.
However, it was Terry’s first job in 1970 that set a gold standard between player and coach that still stands today.
Here’s the back story:
• A 13-year-old, who had never played football, and was banned from Pop Warner due to his huge size, met Terry.
• That youngster was Mark Jackson, who had lost his father six years earlier.
• During the tryout, Terry saw potential in Jackson and let him know.
• “I did something that got his approval,” Jackson said. “I knew that someone cared and I could do anything.”
• That compliment would begin a decades-long friendship and communication.
• As for traveling from Jackson’s home in Tucson, Ariz., to Tulsa, “I wanted to be there (for his induction). He’s a wonderful man.”
As for the banquet itself, a record crowd of 475 filled the banquet hall.
The other inductees included Pawhuska’s Duke Atterberry, Muskogee’s Theodore “Ted” Clement, Midway City Carl Albert High School’s Mike Corley, Tulsa Cascia Hall’s Bob Craig, Wagoner’s Joe Gordon, Bartlesville’s Steve Hesser, Dale’s Harold Jones, Broken Arrow’s Randall King, Piedmont’s Steve Lykes, Morris High School’s Rick Patterson, Tuttle’s Matt Surber and Distinguished Service Winner Randy Gipson of Northeastern State University.
