'Remember the Titans' Coach Speaks at Northwest
By: Justin Sampson
Updated: September 25, 2012
(MARYVILLE) A special guest made a stop in Maryville to speak at Northwest Missouri State on Tuesday night.
Former TC Williams Head Football Coach, Herman Boone, spoke to a standing-room-only crowd in the ballroom at the J.W. Jones Student Union.
Boone was portrayed by Denzel Washington in the Disney film, Remember the Titans, released in 2000.
The former coach gave accounts of his historic season where he brought an interracial team to the 1971 Virgiana AAA State Championship and the number two ranking in the nation.
He drew on his past experiences to pass on some words of advice for students in attendance.
"You have to kick adversity in the hind parts," he said. "Know that you can, and believe me, there ain't nothing that will every get in your way."
Boone was introduced after a film from the scene, portraying Washington leading his team on a run through a Virginia swamp to the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. The coach also shed some light on the real events.
"I had the bus driver drive us to the Gettysburg national cemetary. You just saw a scene where I ran them through a swamp. I may look crazy, stupid, but I'm not crazy enough to run some parent's child through no swamp at 3 o'clock in the morning. I took them on a bus."
Northwest is just one stop the coach is making on his speaking tour in schools throughout the country.
