Terry Hoeppner Inducted into Hall of Honor

Terry Hoeppner will be inducted today, June 19, 2008, into the Independence Bowl Hall of Honor, one year to the day after he died from brain cancer. The story about Coach Hep in today's Shreveport Times by Teddy Allen is very well done. Hoeppner was a great coach and a better person, and I am amazed that Miami (and the Big Ten and the college football community in general) lost two such young and amazing men as Hoeppner and Randy Walker in such a short space of time. The amazing reaction the entire Indiana University community had to Hoeppner is an indication of his impact. I'm glad Hoeppner was able to coach for the Hoosiers. The image of Terry Hoeppner is from Jeff Swinger of The Enquirer.

Here is the poem Don't Quit:

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow --
You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out --
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit --
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Terry Hoeppner: Great Man, Great Coach

Terry Hoeppner died Tuesday of complications from a brain tumor.

Months after Randy Walker, former Miami player and head football coach, died unexpectedly at a very young age, his assistant, Hoeppner, died at the age of 59.

Hoeppner was what you want a coach and a man to be. He was optimistic without being unrealistic and confident without being cocky. He knew how to handle the good times and more importantly the bad times. He was one of my favorite coaches of all time (as was Walker).

Like the time that Miami lost a very tough, very close game against Marshall at Marshall in the last seconds. Things got out of hand after the game. One Miami assistant coach was led off the field in handcuffs, while another basically trashed the visiting coaches booth. Hoeppner handled the situation with grace and humility. He apologized for the actions of the staff. And he said that Miami had had a streak of 70 straight years of acting with class that was broken, and that the'll just have to start another streak starting today.

As the coach of the mid-major Miami (my alma mater), he had a saying that he would meet anybody, any place, any time. The RedHawks were not afraid to play any team.

It of course helped to have Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback during the 13-1 season of 2003. But those teams were stacked with good players who played the game tough and right. It was Hoeppner who got those players and had them playing well.

Hep had the Hoosiers on the right track. They were going to be pretty good pretty soon. It may be a tough road to win consistently at Indiana. But they are on the right track.

OldCleat