Erk Russell
Encyclopedia
Erskine "Erk" Russell was an American football
, basketball
, and baseball
player and coach in the United States
. He was also the defensive coordinator for the University of Georgia
Bulldogs
for seventeen years (1964–1981) and head football coach (seasons 1981–1989) of the Georgia Southern Eagles
. He was also the head coach at Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1950s. He graduated from Auburn University
in Alabama where he earned ten varsity letters. He was the last four-sport letterman in the college's history.
As the first head coach of Georgia Southern Eagles football team after a 40-year dormancy, Russell established a standard of excellence during his tenure, bringing them to three NCAA Division I-AA championships. Under his guidance the Georgia Southern Eagles became the first 15–0 of the 20th century. His motto was "Just one more time."
Erk Russell was the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Coach of the Year for 1984–1986; was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
in 1987; inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
in 1991; became USA Today's Georgia Coach of the Year and Coach of the Decade for 1989; In 1989 he also became the Chevrolet-CBS Sports I-AA Coach of the Year; and in 1996 he was an Olympic torch bearer for the Atlanta Games
.
Russell died in Statesboro, Georgia
on September 8, 2006 following a stroke at age 80. His funeral took place two days later at Paulson Stadium
with over 2,000 fans, friends, family, and former players present. He was cremated.
okay, Russell called Roger Dancz, the director of Georgia's Redcoat Marching Band, and suggested that if the Bulldogs ever did something good on the field, how about cranking up a few bars of Jim Croce
's "Bad, bad Leroy Brown."
From the American Football Coaches Association's Defensive Football Strategies, the chapter penned by Erk defines the Junkyard Dawgs, "By our own definition, a Junkyard Dog is a dog completely dedicated to his task, that of defending his goal line. Further, he is very often a reject (from the offense) or the runt of the litter. Nobody wants him, and he is hungry. We had three walk-ons, four QBs, and three running backs in our original Junkyard Dog starting cast, which averaged 208 pounds across the front. In short, a Junkyard Dog is one who must stretch and strain all of his potential just to survive. Then he can think about being good."
Georgia went 9-3 in 1975 and brought home the third SEC title for Dooley in 1976.
During the 17 years that Erk served as Georgia Bulldogs
' defensive coordinator, the 'Dawgs played 192 games and held the opposition to 17 or fewer points in 135 of them. In 74 of those contests, the defense kept the other team's scoring in the single digits, including 27 shutouts. Coach Russell's Georgia
defenses allowed more than 28 points just 18 times in 17 seasons.
The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, even recorded "Dooley's Junkyard Dawgs", and belted out the tune during the half time of the Georgia Florida game in the Gator Bowl stadium.
He also came up with all sorts of folksy sayings that somehow seemed to work on the younger generation. Russell was the one who coined the phrase "Junkyard Dawgs" for Georgia's undersized defense. He came up with T-shirts that had "TEAM" printed in large letters and "me" in small letters. And he always told his players, "If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose." Erk Russell other insperational quotes consist of, "The best way to win a game is not to lose it." and "The brotherhood of football ... is the strongest brotherhood known to man as far as I'm concerned."
During a road game at Georgia Tech, Coach Russell saw a Yellow Jacket trainer in a sweatshirt reading "G.T.A.A."---"Georgia Tech Athletic Association"---and came up with the idea of rearranging the letters to produce a memorable slogan: "G.A.T.A."---"Get After Their Asses" (or the politically correct "Get After Them Aggressively").
Perhaps the most lasting impression was Russell ramming his bald dome into a helmeted player to celebrate a turnover or key play, leaving his forehead drenched in blood.
Coach Russell was a master motivator who did not forget that, as someone who molded young men in a university setting, he was a teacher first and foremost. He passed along life lessons, and not just defensive techniques, to his players and he knew how to get his message across to them.
While Coach Dooley
was still contemplating the dismissal of several Bulldogs after the infamous hog incident of 1980, Coach Russell was the one who saw how it could be used to bring the team together. When Len Bias died of an overdose in 1986; as head coach of Georgia Southern, Coach Russell conveyed the dangers of drug use by throwing a rattlesnake on the floor in a team meeting to make sure his analogy would be remembered.
In 1981, Erk was hired to restart the football program at Georgia Southern College (as the college was called at the time), a program that had not competed in forty years. Three years after beginning the team, Coach Russell had won his first of three National Titles (1985, 1986, and 1989). Paul Johnson, future head coach of Georgia Southern, Navy, and Georgia Tech handled the offensive coordinator duties for Russell on the first two championship teams. Len Gravelson would handle the defense, although Russell was arguably the man in charge. Both men would leave following the 1986 championship. Russell's bald head, coupled with the fact that he coached the Eagles, gave him the nickname "The Bald Eagle".
After the Eagles moved to Division I-AA in 1984, he fashioned a 70–14 (.825) mark. Russell averaged 10.4 wins per season. He entered the 1989 season as America's winningest coach, orchestrator of two national championships, 68 wins and 14 All-America selections—all during a seven-year period. In the ensuing 105 days, Georgia Southern ascended to the top spot in the NCAA I-AA football poll and Russell smoked 15 victory cigars. The Eagles extended Division I's longest home win streak from 26 to 37 games, en route to gaining distinction as the only 15–0 college team of this century. Russell's final record at Georgia Southern, after his retirement in 1989, was 83–22–1 (.788).
During the Mike Sewak Era, Russell unfortunately cut ties with GSU after his son Rusty was fired from the coaching staff. In 2006, with the hire of new Head Coach Brian VanGorder
, he was reunited with the program. He addressed the team the night before his shocking and sudden death on September 8, 2006.
and thousands of friends, family, and fans gathered at Paulson Stadium to mourn the passing of Erk Russell, one of America's most exciting and successful college football coaches. The cause of death was a stroke while pulling out of a gas station on the west side of Statesboro. He was 80.
s were a staple of Erk Russell's image. Russell claimed that his favorite brand of cigars were "OPs", which he joked stood for "other people's". He made a point to smoke a cigar after every Eagle victory that he was involved in. Eagle fans around the U.S. are known to celebrate in the same manner as a tribute to Russell.
The Georgia General Assembly also passed a resolution honoring coach Russell and naming U.S. 80 from its intersection with U.S. 25 in the community of Hopeulikit
to the eastern city limits of Statesboro as the "Erk Russell Memorial Highway."
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player and coach in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He was also the defensive coordinator for the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
Bulldogs
Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference...
for seventeen years (1964–1981) and head football coach (seasons 1981–1989) of the Georgia Southern Eagles
Georgia Southern Eagles football
The Georgia Southern Eagles represent Georgia Southern University in football as part of the Southern Conference under head coach Jeff Monken. The Eagles have won an unprecedented six FCS national championships and eight Southern Conference championships and have produced two Walter Payton Award...
. He was also the head coach at Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1950s. He graduated from Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
in Alabama where he earned ten varsity letters. He was the last four-sport letterman in the college's history.
As the first head coach of Georgia Southern Eagles football team after a 40-year dormancy, Russell established a standard of excellence during his tenure, bringing them to three NCAA Division I-AA championships. Under his guidance the Georgia Southern Eagles became the first 15–0 of the 20th century. His motto was "Just one more time."
Erk Russell was the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Coach of the Year for 1984–1986; was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in America at .-Exhibitions:The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Inductees, High School, collegiate sports, Olympic, Paralympic,...
in 1987; inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated to communicating the state’s athletic history...
in 1991; became USA Today's Georgia Coach of the Year and Coach of the Decade for 1989; In 1989 he also became the Chevrolet-CBS Sports I-AA Coach of the Year; and in 1996 he was an Olympic torch bearer for the Atlanta Games
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
.
Russell died in Statesboro, Georgia
Statesboro, Georgia
Statesboro is a city in southeast Georgia, United States, and is the county seat and most populous city of Bulloch County. Statesboro has a population of 28,422 and the Statesboro, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 70,217...
on September 8, 2006 following a stroke at age 80. His funeral took place two days later at Paulson Stadium
Paulson Stadium
Allen E. Paulson Stadium is an 18,000 seat on campus football stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. It is home to the Georgia Southern Eagles football team and the focal point of Erk Russell Athletic Park....
with over 2,000 fans, friends, family, and former players present. He was cremated.
The Junkyard Dawgs
After talking with a fan, Jimmy Matthews, Erk decided to use the phrase “Junkyard Dawgs” as motivation for his defense after an uncharacteristically poor season in 1974. After Erk received Vince Dooley'sVince Dooley
Vincent Joseph Dooley was the head football coach and athletic director at the University of Georgia. During his 25 year coaching career at UGA, Dooley compiled a 201–77–10 record. His teams won six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship...
okay, Russell called Roger Dancz, the director of Georgia's Redcoat Marching Band, and suggested that if the Bulldogs ever did something good on the field, how about cranking up a few bars of Jim Croce
Jim Croce
James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...
's "Bad, bad Leroy Brown."
From the American Football Coaches Association's Defensive Football Strategies, the chapter penned by Erk defines the Junkyard Dawgs, "By our own definition, a Junkyard Dog is a dog completely dedicated to his task, that of defending his goal line. Further, he is very often a reject (from the offense) or the runt of the litter. Nobody wants him, and he is hungry. We had three walk-ons, four QBs, and three running backs in our original Junkyard Dog starting cast, which averaged 208 pounds across the front. In short, a Junkyard Dog is one who must stretch and strain all of his potential just to survive. Then he can think about being good."
Georgia went 9-3 in 1975 and brought home the third SEC title for Dooley in 1976.
During the 17 years that Erk served as Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference...
' defensive coordinator, the 'Dawgs played 192 games and held the opposition to 17 or fewer points in 135 of them. In 74 of those contests, the defense kept the other team's scoring in the single digits, including 27 shutouts. Coach Russell's Georgia
Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference...
defenses allowed more than 28 points just 18 times in 17 seasons.
The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, even recorded "Dooley's Junkyard Dawgs", and belted out the tune during the half time of the Georgia Florida game in the Gator Bowl stadium.
Player communication
Russell was notorious for his communication and motivational nature among his players. He was known for sending out calendars to his players over the summer, reminding them to be in shape for the start of practice and suggesting a humorous workout regimen that would include entries such as: "Run three miles, hate Georgia Tech four times."He also came up with all sorts of folksy sayings that somehow seemed to work on the younger generation. Russell was the one who coined the phrase "Junkyard Dawgs" for Georgia's undersized defense. He came up with T-shirts that had "TEAM" printed in large letters and "me" in small letters. And he always told his players, "If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose." Erk Russell other insperational quotes consist of, "The best way to win a game is not to lose it." and "The brotherhood of football ... is the strongest brotherhood known to man as far as I'm concerned."
During a road game at Georgia Tech, Coach Russell saw a Yellow Jacket trainer in a sweatshirt reading "G.T.A.A."---"Georgia Tech Athletic Association"---and came up with the idea of rearranging the letters to produce a memorable slogan: "G.A.T.A."---"Get After Their Asses" (or the politically correct "Get After Them Aggressively").
Perhaps the most lasting impression was Russell ramming his bald dome into a helmeted player to celebrate a turnover or key play, leaving his forehead drenched in blood.
Coach Russell was a master motivator who did not forget that, as someone who molded young men in a university setting, he was a teacher first and foremost. He passed along life lessons, and not just defensive techniques, to his players and he knew how to get his message across to them.
While Coach Dooley
Vince Dooley
Vincent Joseph Dooley was the head football coach and athletic director at the University of Georgia. During his 25 year coaching career at UGA, Dooley compiled a 201–77–10 record. His teams won six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship...
was still contemplating the dismissal of several Bulldogs after the infamous hog incident of 1980, Coach Russell was the one who saw how it could be used to bring the team together. When Len Bias died of an overdose in 1986; as head coach of Georgia Southern, Coach Russell conveyed the dangers of drug use by throwing a rattlesnake on the floor in a team meeting to make sure his analogy would be remembered.
The Miracle Worker
Russell appeared in line to take over as Georgia's head coach when Dooley got a lucrative offer from Auburn, their alma mater. But Dooley decided to stay at Georgia, and Russell was lured to Georgia Southern to restart a program dormant for 40 years.In 1981, Erk was hired to restart the football program at Georgia Southern College (as the college was called at the time), a program that had not competed in forty years. Three years after beginning the team, Coach Russell had won his first of three National Titles (1985, 1986, and 1989). Paul Johnson, future head coach of Georgia Southern, Navy, and Georgia Tech handled the offensive coordinator duties for Russell on the first two championship teams. Len Gravelson would handle the defense, although Russell was arguably the man in charge. Both men would leave following the 1986 championship. Russell's bald head, coupled with the fact that he coached the Eagles, gave him the nickname "The Bald Eagle".
After the Eagles moved to Division I-AA in 1984, he fashioned a 70–14 (.825) mark. Russell averaged 10.4 wins per season. He entered the 1989 season as America's winningest coach, orchestrator of two national championships, 68 wins and 14 All-America selections—all during a seven-year period. In the ensuing 105 days, Georgia Southern ascended to the top spot in the NCAA I-AA football poll and Russell smoked 15 victory cigars. The Eagles extended Division I's longest home win streak from 26 to 37 games, en route to gaining distinction as the only 15–0 college team of this century. Russell's final record at Georgia Southern, after his retirement in 1989, was 83–22–1 (.788).
During the Mike Sewak Era, Russell unfortunately cut ties with GSU after his son Rusty was fired from the coaching staff. In 2006, with the hire of new Head Coach Brian VanGorder
Brian VanGorder
Brian VanGorder is the current Defensive Coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. He previously was the head coach of Wayne State University, Georgia Southern University and has been as assistant coach under many other universities, most notably the University of Georgia.-Early coaching...
, he was reunited with the program. He addressed the team the night before his shocking and sudden death on September 8, 2006.
Posthumously
Georgia Southern UniversityGeorgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University is a national public university located on a campus in Statesboro, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1906, it is part of the University System of Georgia and is the largest center of higher education in the southern half of Georgia offering 117 academic majors in a comprehensive...
and thousands of friends, family, and fans gathered at Paulson Stadium to mourn the passing of Erk Russell, one of America's most exciting and successful college football coaches. The cause of death was a stroke while pulling out of a gas station on the west side of Statesboro. He was 80.
Victory cigars
CigarCigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
s were a staple of Erk Russell's image. Russell claimed that his favorite brand of cigars were "OPs", which he joked stood for "other people's". He made a point to smoke a cigar after every Eagle victory that he was involved in. Eagle fans around the U.S. are known to celebrate in the same manner as a tribute to Russell.
Memorials
In honor of Russell, Georgia Southern University renamed the area encompassing Allen E. Paulson Stadium, the Gene Bishop Field House, Cowart Building and the soccer and track stadium "Erk Russell Athletic Park." Furthermore, a bronze bust of Russell is now displayed at the stadium.The Georgia General Assembly also passed a resolution honoring coach Russell and naming U.S. 80 from its intersection with U.S. 25 in the community of Hopeulikit
Hopeulikit, Georgia
Hopeulikit is a small unincorporated community in Bulloch County, Georgia, United States.-History:The community’s unusual name stems from a 1920s-era dance hall located at the junction of U.S. Route 80 and U.S. Route 25, where the current-day community is located...
to the eastern city limits of Statesboro as the "Erk Russell Memorial Highway."
Books
Russell co-authored two books:- Erk: Football, Fans & Friends (1991) ISBN 1-5635-2019-2
- Defensive Football Strategies (2000) ISBN 0-7360-0142-5