Russ Sloan, former columnist and coach, honored by class of '69-'71
When a former college football coach (and past columnist for this paper)
couldn't make another reunion, his players came to him. They brought
some good news to share too.
Leesburg Daily Commercial
They were the heroes of their rural Midwest town, winning games and
remaining friends for a lifetime, inspired by a coach whose leadership
resonated beyond the university stadium.
Russ Sloan, a former Daily Commercial columnist
and Northeast Missouri State University Bulldogs football coach in the
1960s and early 70s, has participated in reunions with his players from
the classes of '69, ‘70 and '71. The school is now known as Truman
State University.
Earlier this month, the former coach and his college ball players had
their reunion at the HarborChase
of Villages Crossing assisted living and memory care facility
in Lady Lake.
The Villages facility is not the usual venue. Sloan is there because
he's contending with an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease.
The guys made themselves at home in the elegantly decorated Villages
Crossing dining room. "It was a great time," said Mike Dahlberg, a
friend and former player of Sloan's. Dahlberg flew from Illinois to
attend the reunion.
"We've had a real close bond, and we've been gathering as a team in the
fall for many years," he added. "I was the only player visiting him over
the last few years and I saw the digression. So, I pushed teammates to
bring reunion to coach and, quickly, instead of usual St. Louis
location."
Their reunions started in the late 1990s and have continued through the
years. Many of the guys live in the St. Louis area, and they get
together on a regular basis. Some would come from as far away as Europe.
A bit of good news arrived just in time for reunion that brought a smile
to Sloan and added to the specialness of the occasion.
"We found out our team from that three-year period is being
inducted into our university's hall of fame," Dahlberg
shared.
Sloan himself was inducted in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
"He is one of the winningest football coaches in the history of
Missouri," his bio reads. "Sloan captured three straight conference
championships in 1969, ’70 and ’71, leaving with an incredible
.804-winning percentage, second only to the legendary Missouri Coach Don
Faurot. Sloan also achieved success as Athletic Director at Fresno State
University and Southeast Missouri State University."
In Sloan's later years, he got married and had three children,
grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He lived in Leesburg and provided
educational leadership as a director of business assistance at
Lake-Sumter College, and he wrote a conservative weekly column for our
newspaper until 2022.
In what he described as his "final Facebook post," Sloan wrote:
"In the past 14 years I have probably written over 700 Sunday Columns
for our local paper [THE DAILY COMMERCIAL] and now my weekly Posts on my
Face Book page. Approaching age 85 and battling a couple major health
issues it is time for me to end my writings. Suffice it to say that I
have an intense love of country and an admiration for our Founding
Fathers who wrote our Constitution, the greatest governmental document
in human history. I am deeply appreciative of the readership that I have
and am humbled by many of their comments."
The Columbia, Missouri, native, was a standout player on both sides of
the ball, lettering in 1958 and 1959 for Coach Dan Devine.
He was a first-team all-Big Eight Conference pick at end as a senior in
1959, when the University of Missouri Tigers went to the 1960 Orange
Bowl and garnered a final national ranking of 18th. He was the only
player on the coaches’ all-conference team to be a unanimous selection.
He also claimed honorable mention all-America honors from several
outlets as a senior and was selected by legendary Oklahoma Coach Bud
Wilkinson to play in the Hula Bowl, leading the Tigers in receptions and
receiving TDs in both 1958 and 1959, catching 16 passes for 211 yards
and three TDs the first year, and following with 13 catches for 128
yards and three TDs in 1959.
He closed his Tigers career in the 1960 Orange Bowl against Georgia by
catching six passes for 73 yards, which was an MU record at the time.
Sloan had professional opportunities with the Washington Redskins, San
Diego Chargers and New York Jets, but injuries prevented him from
pursuing his football career.
His winning percentage there was second in school history only to Don
Faurot. He later served as director of athletics at Southeast Missouri
State and Fresno State before entering the private sector.
"He was also an accomplished baseball player who was offered a
professional contract with the St. Louis Cardinals his senior year at
Missouri," added Dahlberg.
Sloan always had one saying, Dahlberg said, that that stuck with him and his fellow players:
"What you give you have, and what you don't give is gone forever."
from, www.dailycommercial.com