Ozen High School coach Arthur Louis remembers going to Hebert football practices when he was a little boy and Clifton Ozen was coach. He played high school football for Alex Durley. He's heard stories about Ernest Mayfield and James Jackson. It's a legacy he's proud of and hopes to perpetuate as Beaumont moves toward a neighborhood school system with the opening of Ozen. Those people are part of the reason I got into coaching.
Football is just an avenue for doing that.
Much of the successes of Southeast Texas coaches came from making the best of a bad situation. And the special togetherness it caused in black neighborhoods like Pear Orchard. We knew everybody. That's not still the case. The teachers can't have control.