By: Larry Vaught
DANVILLE, Ky. - Dr. Homer Rice will be inducted into the National Football Foundation Leadership Hall of Fame June 20 in Atlanta based on the "tremendous contributions" he made to college athletics over his career as a player, coach and administrator.
Rice played football and basketball at Centre College and was named a Collier's All-American in 1948 for his football performance. The Colonels present the Homer Rice Award to the most valuable special teams player each season. He was named to the Centre Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992.
"He is so humble about this honor. His reaction was, 'They don't need to do that.' He was the same with the statue they put up of him (at Georgia Tech). He said they could have spent the money on scholarships."
Steven Hatchett, president & chief executive officer of the National Football Foundation, made sure Rice knew how special he was when he broke the news about his induction.
"Your demonstrated outstanding management with the highest moral and ethical standards and your ability to reflect the American ideals the NFF celebrates in the young people of our nation makes you an exceptional candidate," Hatchett said.
Rice had an exemplary overall college athletics career. He had a 101-9-7 high school coaching record in Kentucky and Tennessee. He won 50 straight games at Fort Thomas Highlands, his alma mater, that included Class AA state championships in 1960 and 61.
Charlie Bradshaw hired him to be his offensive coordinator at Kentucky in 1962. He spent four years at UK before going to Oklahoma in 1966 as offensive coordinator. He was head coach at Cincinnati for the 1967 and 1968 seasons and turned down a chance to go back to Oklahoma as head coach.
Rice, who is considered the pioneer of the air option offense, moved into administration as athletics director at North Carolina from 1969-75 before working as both athletic director and head football coach at Rice for two years. He became the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals for two years.
Rice opted to leave the Bengals to become athletic director at Georgia Tech from 1980-97. Tech won a football national title in 1990, made the men's Final Four in 1990 as part of nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the College Baseball World Series in 1994. Tech was also national runner-up in golf in 1994 and produced three track Olympians.
"Homer always downplays any honor or compliment. He is probably the most humble coach I have ever met," his wife said.
That didn't change when he recently got a chance to participate in an Honor Flight that transports military veterans to see memorials in Washington, D.C., at no cost to the veterans.
Rice's brother, Cecil, was seven years older than him and was serving in the Coast Guard when Rice was a high school junior. He volunteered to join the Navy but his wife said he assumed it would be at the end of his high school senior season after he finished football, basketball and track seasons.
"They called him to serve in February but he was only 17 years old when he joined the Navy in November of 1944," Karen Rice said. "We've never been able to find any paperwork where his mother signed for him to serve in World War II. He says he never had any fear when he went to war and was glad to serve."
A friend encouraged Homer Rice to apply for the Honor Flight since he's a World War II survivor.
"We didn't realize he had to apply. I talked to Homer but he said he would go only if I went with him even though spouses were not allowed to go. But that was his condition, so I had to fill out an application as a guardian," Karen Rice said. "There were 25 veterans from the Korean and Vietnam wars but Homer was the only World War II veteran on the flight.
"It was a long day but worth it. I have never been to any place that brought out so many emotions in him. He loved the World War II memorial and had his picture taken under the Kentucky emblem. It really was a special day for him."
Karen Rice said her husband often thinks and talks about Centre College.
"Age has caught up with him in some ways. He does not have one artificial joint. He has his walker, but that's it," Karen Rice said. "He loves Centre College but at 97, it's just too hard to get back. But he appreciates his time there and what impact Centre College had on his career."
