Remembering coach Twid

Carl Twidwell coached the Heavener football team long before I played, but I remember him because he lived across the street from me. Even though he coached them 50 years ago, he will not soon be forgotten by his former players.

A dozen or so of his players will play in Twid’s Golf Tournament later this week and some of them remember coach Twid “like it was yesterday.”

Hal Dowden , the QB on Twidwell’s district champion team in 1958, said “We all absolutely worship him. He has been an inspiration to all of us. We spend a great two days (at the golf tournament) with a great man.”

Jim Monk , who played end on the ’57 team, said, “Coach developed a special bond with his players, students and town. It’s been 50 years since Twid was in Heavener and yet it seems like only yesterday. That bond and friendship still exists today.”

Bud Thompson noted, “Wow, John, where do I begin?” in response to my questions.. “To say he was special from the day we met him would be an understatement. He was not only our coach, but a big brother, a daddy to some of is, our history teacher, our class sponsor, but more importantly, he was our best buddy.”

Glen Lazalier , also a blogger, “Conditioning was Twid’s mantra. We started early in the season with a week in the mountains and three-a-day practices, went to quarterback Club-sponsored camps … although pads were forbidden, all that meant was that we didn’t wear our knee and thigh pads. Shoulder pads were used. As a result, we were usually two or three weeks ahead of our early opponents.”

Lazalier went on to say, “We used to run the sprint series as the end of each practice – out 10 and back 10, then out 20 and back 20, until we were out 100 and back 100. That’s a whole lot of running.”

Thompson added, “He has stayed in touch with all of us through the years. As far as the golf tourney goes, we started going up there a few years back just as a camaraderie thing. Twid invites us to play golf, then get together for drinks and to tell old war stories. Yes, the stories get worse as each year passes. I could go on and on and on talking about Twid, but you get the idea …”