Tank Williams with student
November 23, 2000
Coach Herman "Ike" Boone, the man portrayed by Denzel Washington in the movie "Remember the Titans," had another CIAA graduate as an opponent, Coach Elwood L. "Tank" Williams.
Tank Williams with student |
"Oh yeah I know him, I coached against him in North Carolina for the 1966 playoffs for the High School State Championship," Williams stated matter-of-factly.
Boone, a North Carolina Central University graduate, first fought on the North Carolina red clay at E. J. Haynes in Williamson, North Carolina before he tackled the battle at T. C. Williams in Alexandria, Virginia.
Coach "Tank" Williams, an Elizabeth City State University graduate, was at the helm of W. S. Creesy High School in Rich Square, North Carolina. "Well, Boone drove his team up there in six school buses. I’ve never seen a high school team with so many buses."
Williams believes that if any man was right for the job, it was Boone, "He had the head for issues, the right personality and the people know how. As a rural coach, you had to know how to talk to the parents; you had to convince the parents to let the kid play ball instead of working the fields in those days. Boone definitely knew how to deal with a person. He was tough but fair."
Boone’s team at E. J. Haynes won the game 60 — 14, but Creesy could hold their heads up because they scored two touchdowns, while Boone’s team only allowed his opponents no more than three points during the regular season.
"Tank" Williams has a story of his own. He was known as "Tank" during his destroying days as defensive lineman on the ECSU Viking’s football team. However, you see no resemblance of a tank or destruction. You see loving, short, child’s arms holding onto the waist of Williams.
Williams, known only as "Coach" in the halls of the Southside Boys and Girls Club, in Norfolk VA, has been the Director of the Club since 1973. The Club was founded in 1967 by a group of concerned citizens of the Norfolk Berkley Community. Under Williams’ leadership the new doors at its current location of 701 East Berkley Avenue opened in 1981.
What prepared him for this calling? "I spent 22 years on the campus of Elizabeth City State University." As a young boy, Williams could look out of the front door of his home and see the nurturing of young men.
"The CIAA institutions produced men who became coaches who went out to build men not professional athletes." Williams stayed committed to this philosophy in a surrogate father’s role at Creesy and now at The Southside Boys and Girls Club for over 25 years.
Williams wants to give back to the community. He wants to showcase to the world what the CIAA has produced. Working with his mentor of 40 years, Coach Bobby Vaughan, former football and basketball coach and Athletic Director at ECSU, they have developed the CIAA Legends Classic game, slated for Sunday, January 7 at the Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, VA.
The First CIAA Legends Basketball Game will feature a men’s basketball double-header with Saint Paul’s College versus Virginia Union University and Elizabeth City State University versus Virginia State University.
Williams said proudly, "The historic CIAA will be the first conference to my knowledge to partnership with the Boys and Girls Club. The CIAA is investing in our future."