Coach Bill Linhart was the coach who came to me my junior year, when I was not going to go out for basketball and said he wanted me to go out just so he could teach me to be a defensive back for the football team. He had talked to our head football coach and they decided to switch me from a linebacker to defensive back.

He would take me to the varsity end of practice to play defense all the time. One night my senior year before practice, he told me he was going to make me play defense that night against Tommy our post player on the inside, even though I was a guard. He said, “Tim, I want you to be rough with Tommy. We are playing Colby this Friday night and they have all those big guys, so I want you to shove him with your hips on rebounds, stand on one of his feet, if he is getting ready to jump, foul him hard across the arms if he is shooting and etc.” He also said, “Now you know Tommy, he will get pissed off and probably try to throw an elbow or a fist at you so be ready for that also.”

After practice Tommy said to me, “McGonagle, I almost punched you once out there tonight, what was the deal with you.” I told him, “Coach Linhart told me to be terrible to you tonight.” Tommy said, “Why?” I told him what the coach had said, “Because we are playing Colby Friday night and they are all bigger than you and he said it would be a rough game so he wanted practice tonight to be rougher on you than the game could ever potentially be.”

Colby was the number one ranked team in state in class 3A and undefeated at 17-0 and we beat them that night because of Tommy and Coach Linhart’s coaching, well before the game ever started.

Coach Linhart past away this past week in Emporia, we will miss him.