 Steve Haag | Manual's legendary football coaches - Neal Arntson, Ab Kirwan, Ray Baer, Tom Harper and Buddy Pfaadt - never achieved what Steve Haag did. When his time came, Steve led his charges to 13 wins in 1988, most in any one season and one which officially resurrected Manual football. Only a loss to Trinity in the 14th game kept the Crimsons from a perfect season and the State Championship. It wasn't easy. After coaching for 15 years at St. X, Manual and Seneca, Steve took the reins of a football program at the beginning of Manual's transition to a magnet school, and struggled to find quality players. The '85 squad finished a perfect season: No wins and 10 losses. The next year was a little better and in '87 the Crimsons won half their games. The 1988 squad became the first Manual squad since 1899 to beat Male High School twice in one season -- 28-0 in the last regular season game and 28-21 in overtime during the playoffs. In leading the Crimsons to the Runner-up position for the 4-A State championship, he was voted Jefferson County's Coach of the Year by his peers and also by The Courier-Journal. |
 Wilbur Hackett | In 1966 Wilbur Hackett was All-Southern and All-State and also a Parade Magazine All-American. He played on the Crimson football team that year, and it was considered to be one of the best ever. Undefeated and untied during the regular season, they scored games over St. X, Flaget, and Trinity. They also won over Butler for the AAA State Championship. Wilbur Hackett was the star running back and line backer on defense. He was described as the finest all around player in Louisville. Wilbur then became a three year starter at linebacker at the University of Kentucky under two different coaches. |
 Tom Harper | A native of Piqua, Ohio, Tom was an all-state performer in football and basketball at Madisonville High School and accepted a football scholarship to U of K in 1949, where he lettered at Tackle for Bear Bryant in 1951, '52 and '53. He served UK as a graduate assistant under Blanton Collier in 1954. Because of his Wildcat connections, he put together a great staff at Manual with Charlie Bentley, Jim Yarbrough, Billy Mitchell and Al Zampino. In six seasons he compiled a 44-20-3 record, behind only Neal Arntson and Ray Baer. In 1959, his first year, his team completed a perfect season by beating Durrett for the first AAA State Championship and crushing Male 62-0, for the largest Manual victory margin in the history of the rivalry. Harper left Manual to serve as an assistant at Eastern Kentucky University in 1965. He also served at Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Iowa State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech. In 1972 he was head coach at Wake Forest, and finished his career as administrative assistant for football operations at Clemson University. He died in May of 1989 in Savannah, GA. |
 Jim Hudson | Jim Hudson, '60, was considered the spiritual leader of the great 1959 Manual football team, considered by many experts the greatest high school team in state history. He was also a leader inside the building, being voted president of his senior class, "Mr. Manual" and among the very few to belong to both the Key and Mitre Clubs. Hudson earned his bachelor's degree in industrial management and an A.A.S. in industrial relations at U of L. He also attended Duke University's Fuqua School of Business Executive Development Program. He was a vice president with his last two employers. During his career he worked in grievance procedures, arbitration and labor negotiations with tremendous success with major unions. Jim's enthusiasm for working within his community has enabled him to serve on the board of directors for American Red Cross for six years and on the Homeowners Association for Suntide (Florida) for 11 years. He also once received the honor of "Distinguished Citizen of Jefferson County" by the County Judge and Mayor of Louisville. Through the years Jim has been a special friend of Manual and has spent many hours dedicated to fund-raising events, the 100th Male-Manual game celebration and to the Alumni Association's Board of Directors. |
 Harry Jones | Harry graduated from Manual in 1948 after participating in football, track, and baseball. In 1961 he and his brother returned to Louisville and started Jones Plastics and Engineering Corporation, now a $150 million sales company, which manufactures plastic parts for the business machine, appliance and auto industries. He and Larry are both operating directors of Golden Foods and Golden Brands, a $100 million vegetable oil refinery operation. He is presently chairman of the Board of Directors for Republic Bank and Trust Co. |
 Junie Jones | Junie earned 10 varsity letters from 1934 to 1936. 3 each in football, basketball, and track and one for baseball his senior year. In 1937 he was presented with the Yale Cup for athletics and academics, Manual’s most coveted award in those days. He earned a football scholarship to U of K and earned three varsity letters there. He coached in Kentucky Schools for 40 years, beginning in 1945 as head football coach at Pikeville High. In 1964 Junie was voted P.E. teacher of the year in a 13 state region and was presented the award in Washington on behalf of president Lyndon Johnson. |
 Larry Jones | Larry Jones graduated from Manual in 1948 after participating in football, baseball, and track. In 1961 he and his brother returned to Louisville and started Jones Plastics and Engineering Corporation, now a $150 million sales company, which manufactures plastic parts for the business machine, appliance and auto industries. He and Larry are both operating directors of Golden Foods and Golden Brands, a $100 million vegetable oil refinery operation. He is presently chairman of the Board of Directors for National City Bank. |
 Ab Kirwan | Ab Kirwan captained the Male High football team in 1921, a team that went undefeated and played a favored Manual team to a tie that Thanksgiving. He then went on to the University of Kentucky to star in botyh football and track. After serving one year as an assistant football coach at UK, he returned to Male as a history teacher and assistant coach in 1927. From 1927 through 1931 Male High gave up a total of 12 measly points to their rivals in five Thanksgiving Day games. Manual coach Neal Arntson resigned, and with the help of Courier-Journal sports Editor Earl Ruby, the Crimsons literally stole Kirwan from Male in 1932. During six seasons, 1932-1937, the Crimsons won half of their games with the Bulldogs. Ab was named head football coach at UK in 1938 and kept that position until 1944. He then left coaching to pursue a PhD at Duke University, which was awarded in 1947 along with his election to Phi Beta Kappa. Ab then returned to UK to begin a 34-year career, serving first as Professor of History and Dean of Men. He also served as Dean of Students and Dean of the Graduate School, and at the end of a splendid career, he served as President of the University from 1968 to 1969. At UK he received many awards, invluding a Fulbright Fellowship and a Guggenheim. Ab died of a heart attach in 1971. In addition to his wife Elizabeth Heil Kirwan and two sons Albert Dennis Kirwan, Jr. and William English Kirwan II, he was survived by four grandsons and one granddaughter. |
 Sherman Lewis | If not the greatest male athlete Manual ever produced, Sherman Lewis almost certainly stands as the fleetest. He led the 1960 track team to the KHSAA Championship. He was also the small halfback who led the Crimsons in an undefeated season and state championship. He went on to be named an All-American and finished third in balloting for the Heisman Trophy. He coached for Manual, the Spartans, San Francisco 49ers, and the Green Bay Packers. |
 Paul McPherson | Back in the late forties Army had a pair of running backs known as "Mr. Inside" and "Mr. Outside." Their real names were Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. In 1959 Manual also had a pair of backs, one an inside power runner and one an outside speedster. Sherman Lewis ran around people; Paul McPherson ran over people. If Lewis was the greyhound, McPherson was the raging bull. It’s been almost 40 years since these two backs led Manual to an undefeated, untied, 12-0 record, a state championship, and the record-breaking 62-0 licking of Male High November 26, 1959. But local sports observers still consider that team the greatest high school football team in state history. |
 Johnny Meihaus | John owned Thanksgiving Day, 1940. In a misty rain beforea capacity crowd of 17697, he gained a record 300 yards to lead the Crimsons to a 25-10, third-straight win over Male. He was allstate in football in 1940, having led the City in scoring his senior year, was voted The Courier-Journal Oustanding Athlete for 1940-1941 and was State Champion in both the 100 yard dash in 1940 and the 220 yard dash in 1941. He won three State Championships in football at St. X and three Track. He was named football coach of the year. |
 Clarence Sidebottom | As a halfback in 1938, Clarence led his team to the one victory that has been long celebrated as the greatest in Manual's history. In Baton Rouge, LA he scored three touchdowns to lead the Crimsons over a highly favored team from New Britain, CT in one of only two "official" National Championship High School games ever played. The score was 28-20. Clarence grew up across from Thurston Park where he played football in the sandlots. He was recruited heavily by St. Xavier, but chose Manual instead. He played a lot as a junior, and in his senior year became a triplle-threat, running, passing and kicking. In January of 1938 he married La Von Waits, dropped out of school and went to work for American Air Filter where he retired after 45 years of service. His work career was interrupted by service in the marines during WW II. After the war he got his high school diploma. Clarence and La Von’s two children, Gary and Dianne, both graduated from Manual. |
 Chris West | West was the starting quarterback for the Crimsons as a sophomore, and his gridiron exploits earned him All State and honorable mention All-American accolades. In basketball he was the first man off the bench as a freshman and earned a starting guard position for the next three years. As a senior he averaged 22 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8 assists per game. As a senior, Chris made the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Team as well as the All-State team and was voted "Mr. Manual" in 1982. Choosing basketball over football as his college sport, West signed with U of L and graduated in 1987 and spent the next three years playing basketball in Europe, Southeast Asia and South America. In 1990 he returned home to help coach at Manual. He coached one year at Fairdale, then worked two years at Boys Haven and the City of Lousiville before going to work in 1996 for Boy Scouts of America where he now holds the title of Senior District Executive. And this is not his first Hall of Fame induction. Last year in a similiar ceremony, he was recognized as one of the top five executives for the Southern Region, BSA, for 1999 |
 Steve Wright | Steve Wright began playing football when he was in the seventh grade at Barrett Junior High. Gene Fagan and Bob Milton, who coached kids at Cherokee Park on Saturday mornings, told him he had a future in football and convinced him to attend Manual. Steve lived in Atherton's district, but was allowed to enroll in Manual's pre-engineering curriculum. He became a Courier-Journal All-Stater, at 6-5 and 275 pounds, playing offensive tackle and defensive end for the Crimsons from 1957 to 1959. He finished his prep career as a member of that undefeated State Championship squad that beat Male 62-0 on Thanksgiving Day. He also lettered in track and field, winning both shot put and discus championships in city competition and the KHSAA state shot put championship for 1959. After being highly recruited, he signed with the University of Alabama and played for the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant. The Crimson Tide won a national championship in 1961, and before his college career was over, he found himself as a member of an Orange Bowl and two Sugar Bowl championship teams. Steve was drafted fifth by the Green Bay Packers, and played offensive tackle for Vince Lombardi from 1964 to 1968 and participated in the last NFL Title Game against the Browns and in the first two Super Bowls. Those historic Packer teams remain the only ones in the NFL to win three championships in a row. Steve was traded to the Giants in 1969 where he was chosen as the model for what was then the American Express Gladiator Award. This bronze sculpture is still given today as the Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award. He was traded again, this time to the Redskins, and was reunited with Lombardi, who died shortly thereafter. He also played with the Bears and Cardinals, and spent his last two years with the World Football league. In his final year in pro ball, he wrote a book of his experiences titled I'd Rather Be Wright, and also appeared on several radio and television talk shows relating his experiences in football. After his football career, he entered the veterinary pharmaceutical industry where, 25 years later, he's still actively involved as a regional manager for an animal health company. He remains an active supporter of the NFL Alumni Association and the NFL Retired Players Association. |
 Joe Nichols | Manual has a pantheon of football coaches who won lots of games and State Championships,Neal Arntson, Ab Kirwan, Ray Baer, Mike Basrak, Tom Harper and Charlie Bentley,but none of those legends won as many games as Joe Nichols. From 2001 through 2009 Joe teams won 66 games and lost only 38 qualifying for the KHSAA playoffs every year but 2003. His first team, led by fellow Hall of Fame inductee Keenan Burton, beat Male High 20-13 ending a 13-year losing streak against the ancient rival. The 1988 Crimson squad, winner of 13 games and runners-up for the State Title, had last beat the Bulldogs that year. The victories came so far apart that no one around Manual was familiar with the old tradition of the losing team presenting the barrel at the winners victory assembly. With a surprise 9-2 record in 2001, Joe was named Coach of the Year in 4-A football. The following year, sporting an 8-4 record, Joe was named Paulie Miller High School Coach of the Year.He was named District Coach of the Year by the Kentucky High School Football Coaches Association in both 2004 (7-4) and 2007 (10-2). Under his tutelage played five future NCAA Division I players Keenan Burton, Byron Tinker, Andrew Robinson, Andre Henderson and Dave Ulinski. Burton also played briefly in the NFL. Joe grew up in Sellersburg, IN, graduating from Providence High School. about 20 minutes away. He starred at Providence, playing both linebacker on defense and fullback on offense. I broke my ankle my senior year and missed 3 games,said Joe, which hurt his chances of playing big time in college. I had offers from the University of Evansville and a couple of other schools. Joe enrolled at Indiana University Southeast, then transferred to Hanover where he played in J.V. games, but due to a technicality with his transfer was not allowed to play for Hanover varsity. Joe re-enrolled at I.U.S., but football was still in his blood. He made a return visit to Providence High only to connect with Head Coach Gene Sartini who gave him the chance to coach the freshman team for three years while he finished his degree. In the summer of 1995 he was hired as freshman head coach at Manual under first year coach Jerry Mayes, now Manual principal. Joe became a defensive line coach and was promoted to defensive coordinator before Mayes highly recommended him for the head job in 2001 when Jerry left to go to Pleasure Ridge Park High as assistant principal. The rest is history. Nichols left Manual following the 2009 season and was hired as head coach at Fern Creek High where he served the last four years recently retiring to spend more time with his children. |