[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 49 (Thursday, March 16, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4091-S4093]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         A TRIBUTE TO MAX HAWK

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize one of South 
Dakota's dedicated educators, Max Hawk of Yankton. For the past 38 
years, Hawk has been a teacher and a coach, serving in Scotland for 8 
years and Yankton for the remaining 30. While admired and respected as 
a committed teacher, he is best known in South Dakota for his exemplary 
skill as a football coach. Hawk earned 284 career gridiron victories, 
making him second on South Dakota's all-time list. His teams have 
earned eight State titles, including the Class 11AA title this past 
fall, and 20 conference titles. In all those years, his teams only had 
one losing season.
  Hawk is not only respected by his students and players, but also by 
his peers nationwide. He has been awarded many honors, including being 
inducted into the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Hall of 
Fame in 1979 and being named National High School Football Coach of the 
Year in 1986.
  When Max Hawk retires this spring, South Dakota will be losing a 
great asset. However, his legacy of excellence will live on for years 
to come. I join with the citizens and students of Yankton and South 
Dakota who honor Max Hawk for his devotion to his profession, his 
community, and his State.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to place an article about Mr. 
Hawk from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader in the Record at this point.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

[[Page S4092]]

                 [From the Argus Leader, Oct. 26, 1994]

                          Hawk's Final Flight

                           (By Brian Kollars)

       The final bell at Yankton High School has sounded. Class is 
     out, and Max Hawk is putting on his game face.
       It's time for football practice, and the Bucks' legendary 
     coach is suddenly rejuvenated. Hawk is 61, but he briskly 
     exits his office and leaves behind the walls covered with 
     portraits of past YHS stars.
       His first stop: the locker room.
       ``Come on Bucks,'' he snaps. ``You guys are getting slower 
     every day.''
       Hawk, with longtime assistant Jim Miner flanking him, 
     breezes past the sign that reads ``Your Mother Doesn't Work 
     Here, Clean Up After Yourself,'' and finds the stairway that 
     takes him out of the basement classroom into the soothing 
     sunlight.
       Time for some philosophy.
       ``You can always tell a freshman or sophomore--they'll have 
     their shirt out and they'll be walking to practice,'' Hawk 
     laments, ``Varsity guys run.''
       So do coaches, so Hawk and Miner are off. They dodge cars 
     in the student parking lot and quickly reach the place where 
     they are most at ease: the football field.
       Max Hawk is in his 38th and final season as a high school 
     football coach. His two-syllable name says a lot about him: 
     no nonsense and to the point. It's also synonymous with 
     football in Yankton, a town that has responded favorably to 
     its coach's stern style.
       ``The kids here all want to play football,'' Hawk said. 
     ``The town and school expect them to play, and they expect a 
     winner.''
       The Bucks, who host Lincoln Thursday in a Class IIAA 
     playoff opener, have won 228 games during Hawk's 30-year run. 
     Add five mythical state championships and two playoff titles 
     and you have a resume as powerful as Yankton's running game.
       Hawk's 271 career victories put him second on South 
     Dakota's all-time list. Only Howard Wood, whose career at 
     Washington High began in 1908 and ended in '47, has more wins 
     (286).
       The Bucks' boss says he hasn't lost his enthusiasm for the 
     game, but will make a clean break when the playoffs conclude.
       ``I'm tired of the long days and the routine of teaching 
     and coaching,'' he said. ``A lot of people get burned out and 
     bitter. I don't want to do that.''
       What Hawk does yearn for is a return trip to the DakotaDome 
     and a shot at his eighth state title. He'll try to get there 
     using the same old plays and formations.
       ``I'm still winning games with the same stuff I used 35 
     years ago,'' Hawk said. ``If that's old-fashioned, yeah, I'm 
     old-fashioned.''
       The same playbook?
       ``We try to convince people of that, so when we put in a 
     new play they're not ready for it,'' Miner says.
       Hawk quickly points to the continuity of his coaching staff 
     when talking about Yankton's success. There's Milner, his 
     defensive coordinator for 29 years. Sophomore/freshman coach 
     Ray Kooistra, who also is retiring, has been with Hawk 28 
     years.
       Longtime assistant Gary Satter died of cancer last winter. 
     It was one reason Hawk announced his retirement before this 
     season started.
       ``When Gary Satter died, we had to replace him,'' Hawk 
     said. ``If everyone knew I would stay for just one year, we'd 
     get good applicants.''
       The new man on the staff is Arlin Likness, who guided 
     Hamlin to three Class 11B titles before joining the Bucks.


                             close to home

       Hawk, who grew up in Wessington Springs and was a standout 
     center and linebacker at Northern State, began his career at 
     Scotland in 1957.
       He wasn't your normal raw recruit. In addition to a 
     football background, Hawk had military experience, logging 
     two years with a helicopter crew during the Korean War.
       ``My claim to fame was we took part in the atomic and 
     nuclear tests,'' Hawk said. ``I got to witness three atomic 
     bombs go off.''
       Scotland got to witness Hawk in his formative coaching 
     years.
       Joe Foss was residing in the governor's mansion, Dwight D. 
     Eisenhower was dealing with integration problems in Little 
     Rock and Hawk was winning 13 of his first 15 games.
       Hawk turned down more money from Faith to coach in Scotland 
     because he wanted to mold an 11-man program. He also had an 
     offer to coach in Lovell, Wyo., but opted to stay in South 
     Dakota.
       ``You know, one time me and my wife drove out there to see 
     what we missed and it was beautiful, right by Yellowstone 
     Park,'' Hawk said of Lovell, located in northwest Wyoming.
       The view wasn't as spectacular in the South Eastern South 
     Dakota Conference, but Hawk was too busy to notice. When it 
     wasn't football season, Hawk was helping his mentor, Pete 
     Baker, coach basketball. The two split track and field duties 
     down the middle.
       Hawk and his wife, Jane, also began a family, and had all 
     three of their children by the time Yankton came calling in 
     1965.


                               buck power

       Hawk lost seven games in his first two seasons at Yankton, 
     but in 1970 the Bucks went 9-0 and were mythical state 
     champions. Hawk's reputation had solidified. He was tough, 
     but fair. His teams were fundamentally sound, and big.
       That combination has worked wonders in Yankton, which has 
     come to expect victories at Crane-Youngworth Field like water 
     running down the Missouri River. Hawk dishes out the 
     discipline--freshmen are ``dumb freshmen,'' no matter how 
     brilliant they were in middle school--and his teams grind out 
     the wins.
       Yankton enjoyed back-to-back 9-0 seasons in 1975-76. In 
     seven autumns from '79 to '85, the Bucks went 67-8. Yankton 
     won state playoff titles in '82 and '84.
       Hawk, the national coach of the year in 1986, can be a very 
     intimidating hurdle for a wide-eyed 14-year-old who has heard 
     all the stories about the high school drill sergeant, but he 
     stands by his successful philosophy.
       ``I know this,'' he said, ``I expect more out of kids than 
     they expect out of themselves.''
       Hawk is at his best when motivating. He said he got 
     physical with a student in anger just once, at Scotland.
       ``I had a kid one time and I tore his shirt off,'' Hawk 
     said. ``I didn't mean to, and he and I had some fierce words. 
     I thought I might've made an enemy for life.''
       That football player went on to serve in Vietnam and was 
     wounded, Hawk said. When he got home, his first order of 
     business was to seek out his ex-coach. He came in peace.
       ``He said things he learned in football might have saved 
     his life,'' Hawk said.


                             halftime talks

       When any of Hawk's players get together and talk about the 
     glory days, it doesn't take long for them to focus on that 
     brief break between the second and third quarters.
       If Yankton is behind at halftime, get ready for the volcano 
     to erupt.
       ``I always measure his halftime talks on a 1-to-10 basis,'' 
     said Duane Reaney, who signed on as Yankton's team doctor in 
     1980. ``When he has a 10, the roof almost comes off.
       ``I've seen sophomores and juniors wide-eyed at halftime, 
     while the seniors may be twiddling their thumbs because 
     they've heard it before.''
       Miner, one of Hawk's possible successors, says the Bucks 
     don't mind the turned-up volume.
       ``Our kids like to have Max give his halftime talks when he 
     gets fired up,'' Miner said.
       Mike Kujak, an All-State fullback in '82, always seemed to 
     be in Hawk's line of fire and heard more than a few ``that's 
     terrible'' lines.
       ``He coached everybody different,'' Kujak said. ``Some 
     people he'd yell at, like me. Other guys he'd pat on the 
     back. He made you want to work harder.
       ``Everybody took a piece of Max Hawk with them.''
       Says Hawk: ``They say I'm tough on kids. I bite 'em in the 
     butt, but 30 seconds later I'm on to something else.
       ``Kids know if they screw up they might as well come and 
     talk to me, because I'll find them on the sidelines.''
       Hawk has been known to haul off and kick anything in sight 
     during his speeches. Twenty-five years ago in Watertown, he 
     met his match when he picked out a bench that was bolted to 
     the floor. Hawk kicked, and broke a toe.
       ``He kicked it and it never moved,'' said Doug Nelson, a 
     1970 All-State halfback and father of current Bucks star 
     Jason Nelson. ``He never said anything and walked out. We 
     made a big comeback and won, and on the way home nobody said 
     anything.''
       The road trip is still vivid in Hawk's memory.
       ``The damn bench was attached,'' he said. ``I remember how 
     much it hurt, but I didn't flinch.''
       Hawk can do more than talk a good game. He's been known to 
     give his players first-hand demonstrations on the practice 
     field.
       ``If there's a certain play I want done, I'll run the 
     quarterback on the scout team,'' he said. ``I've got a 
     terrible arm, but I can run the option play.''
       He can also punt. Well, sort of.
       Pat Lynch, an All-State defensive end, recalled one rainy 
     day in '72 when Hawk took matters into his own hands.
       ``He was trying to find someone who could punt the football 
     35 yards,'' Lynch said. ``He said `Hell, hike me the ball.' 
     He kicked it and it went sailing. His feet went out from 
     under him and he landed on his butt in the mud.
       ``Everybody wanted to laugh, but you could've heard a pin 
     drop. He got up and kicked it again, about 45 yards, and said 
     `That's how you do it.'''
       There weren't a whole lot of laughs that year. Yankton went 
     4-5, Hawk's only losing season. Lynch, who lives in Sioux 
     Falls, got an earful.
       ``I got hell at halftime several times,'' he said. ``He 
     pointed right at me, looking for a little leadership.''
       The Lynch family provided plenty of help for Hawk. Pat was 
     one of four Lynch brothers who were All-State performers. 
     Dan, who played at Nebraska, was a high school All-American.


                              grandpa max

       By all accounts, Hawk has mellowed somewhat. But he can 
     still get his point across with that trademark glare, 
     complemented by the craggy nose and gray hair.
       Yes, gray hair. Hawk, you see, is a grandpa. His daughter, 
     Jenny Heirigs, has two sons: Colter, 3, and Stetson, 1 
     month. 
     [[Page S4093]] Two years ago at a game in Brookings, Hawk 
     stunned those close to him with a tender act.
       ``In the middle of the fourth quarter, in the middle of the 
     game, he turned around and found his grandson and waved,'' 
     recalls Hawk's daughter, Lynne Tramp. ``Everybody's mouth 
     dropped.''
       Hawk adores his grandsons, who have been regulars at Buck 
     games.
       ``In his first three weeks, (Stetson) has been to two Bucks 
     football games, which, as a grandmother I thought was a 
     little insane,'' Jane said last week.
       Lynne, who teaches at Whittier Middle School, knows all 
     about her father's tough reputation.
       ``I dated different guys, but I'm sure a lot of guys were 
     scared to death to talk to me,'' she said. ``And God forbid 
     they call the house.''
       ``She seemed to have enough dates,'' Hawk said.
       Hawk's days as Yankton's coach are numbered, and everyone 
     is asking what retirement holds for a guy who's so 
     emotionally tied to teaching football.
       The old coach isn't too concerned.
       ``Everybody's worried about what I'm going to do except 
     me,'' Hawk chuckles. ``I can become a full-time sports fan 
     and get along just fine.''
       But first, there's one last playoff run. And the weather 
     makes no difference to Hawk.
       ``One thing that amazes me is (Hawk's) enthusiasm under 
     adversity, those nights it's snowing and sleeting out,'' 
     Miner said. ``Max goes up to another level and has a good 
     time, and the kids have a good time.
       ``He keeps hoping for ugly weather in the playoffs. He 
     thinks the Bucks get tougher then.''


                               milestones

       Some out-of-season highlights in Max Hawk's professional 
     career:
       1968: Named executive secretary of the South Dakota High 
     School Coaches Association. Currently serves as executive 
     director.
       1979: Inducted into SDHSCA Hall of Fame.
       1980: President, National High School Athletic coaches 
     Association.
       1984: SDHSCA presents first Max Hawk Award. Hawk's wife, 
     Jane, won the award in '88.
       1988: National High School Football Coach of the Year.
       1987: Coached South to 19-12 win in first state high school 
     All-Star Game in Aberdeen.
       1983: Presented with Gatorade Coaches Care award.
       One of eight South Dakota coaches in SDHSCA Hall of 
     Excellence.
       Lifetime member, board of directors, NHSACA.
       

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