After a stellar career playing football for the University of Missouri, Russ Sloan went on to become one of the winningest football coaches in the history of Missouri. He served as the head football coach at Northeast Missouri State University (Truman State). There, Sloan captured three straight conference championships in 1969, ’70 and ’71, leaving… Read more »
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Category: Coaches
Chuck Smith
Chuck Smith was the first-ever men’s basketball coach at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, starting the program in 1966. He led the Rivermen for 13 years, compiling a 171-143 record. He retired following the 1978-79 season to become UMSL’s first full-time Athletics Director. During the 1968-69 season, Smith directed UMSL to a 19-7 record and… Read more »
Franklin Smith
Franklin “Brownie” Delano Smith was born and raised in Black Rock, Arkansas. On January 19, 1953, Smith married Mary Ellen Holobaugh, in Swifton, Arkansas. Smith joined the Army in February of 1954 and served two years. After his discharge, he went to college on the G.I. Bill and obtained his teaching degree. Smith spent most… Read more »
Tom Smith
A true legend of the coaching profession, the 2012-13 season was the last for Missouri Western State University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tom Smith as he announced his retirement in December of 2012 after 38 years of being a head coach and more than 45 years in the coaching profession. Born in Gary, Indiana, in… Read more »
Brian Smith
Years ago, back as a pre-teen, you could say Brian Smith had sort of an allergy. To the sport of wrestling, that is. He had wrestled at an early age, but it didn’t interest him much. Not until relocating to Florida to improve his lung health – on doctor’s orders – and not until his… Read more »
Doug Smith
You look at the mile long list of successes – the state title teams he coached in St. Louis, the others on the frontier plains and, before all that, his collegiate days – and assume the sport of tennis has been in his life since, well, birth. However, that wasn’t the case for Doug Smith.… Read more »
Bill Snyder
A native of St. Joseph, Snyder was a standout football player at William Jewell College for Coach Norris Patterson. Coach Snyder revived a losing Kansas State University football program and guided them to 11 consecutive bowl game appearances and 136 wins during his 17 year career. During his tenure, Snyder was named Coach of the… Read more »
Charlie Spoonhour
“Spoon” was one of a kind. There are those who believe Charlie Spoonhour remembered every person he ever met, every conversation he ever had and every basketball game he ever saw. He loved basketball, he loved people, he loved life and was passionate about the St. Louis Cardinals. Spoon had a world class sense of… Read more »
Wendy Spratt
Coaching college softball was not in Wendy Spratt’s 20-year plan. Or in any plan for that matter. No, Spratt had much bigger ideas about her career. But as John Lennon once sang, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” Originally Spratt, the longtime Columbia College softball head coach, wanted to… Read more »
“Pop” Springer
Paul”Pop” Springer spent 34 coaching at St. Joseph Benton High School. Springer’s expertise extended beyond the basketball court, serving as head football and track coach as well. His basketball teams claimed seven city championships and won the Missouri Interscholastic State Tournament in 1931 and 1941. A legend on the south side of St. Joseph for… Read more »
Rod Staggs
When Rod Staggs coached high school track and field athletes, he tried to avoid calling them “kids” or even boys and girls. “If they did my workload and put up with me, they were men and women,” Staggs said, and later added this: “If you could handle my workouts, you could be in the Marines.”… Read more »
Wilbur “Sparky” Stalcup
Sparky Stalcup coached basketball at the University of Missouri from 1946 to 1962, compiling a 195-179 record in 16 seasons. His 195 victories stood as the Mizzou record until broken by one of his protégés, Norm Stewart. Before his term at Mizzou, Stalcup coached at Maryville State Teachers College (now Northwest Missouri State University), where he… Read more »
Gary Stanfield
He didn’t play organized sports during his childhood and attended eight different schools through the eighth grade. At times, he lived with his father, grandmother, aunt as well as in foster homes and in the Colorado State Children’s Home. However, challenging times led to a championship coach, one who gave back what was once given… Read more »
Tom Stanton
In his 44-year coaching career, Stanton compiled a remarkable 793-191 record. He coached all sports at St. Louis University High School beginning in 1926, but he is best known for his basketball career at St. Louis’ Beaumont High School. Between 1939 and 1970 at Beaumont, his teams claimed 11 Public League titles, five Missouri Class… Read more »
Jack Steck
Drury University’s head swimming coach from 1968-1983, Jack Steck set the stage for what is today one of the most respected programs in the nation. His 1968 team was little more than a club team, but within 10 years the Panther swimming team was finishing regularly in the MAIA’s Top 10. The 1981 and 1982 teams… Read more »
Gene Steighorst
Gene Steighorst was the longtime beloved basketball coach for Hillsboro High School. The school’s gymnasium is named in his honor. There is also a basketball tournament that bears his name, which is now in its 67th year. Steighorst was named a Missouri Basketball Coaches Association 600 Victories Coach for his 646 wins with Hillsboro.