Jefferson graduate Clark "Corky" Nelson, whose long career as a high school and college football coach was highlighted by the seasons he coached Earl Campbell and Mike Singletary, died Monday in Temple after a long illness. He was 75.
Nelson coached at Alamo Heights and Harlandale before leading Tyler John Tyler High School to the Class 4A state championship in 1973. The big star for the Lions was Campbell, who was moved from linebacker to running back by Nelson before his senior season.
A year later, Nelson was defensive coordinator at Baylor when the Bears won their first Southwest Conference title in 50 years. Nelson's best player at Baylor was linebacker Mike Singletary, who helped the Bears win another SWC title as a senior in 1980.
Campbell and Singletary are both in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Hired by Grant Teaff at Baylor in 1974, Nelson played an integral role in the Bears' transformation from perennial doormats to SWC title contenders after that breakthrough season 40 years ago.
"Corky was 100 percent different from Grant Teaff," former Baylor All-America cornerback Gary Green said, chuckling. "Corky was a kind of radical, fun-loving coach, but yet he had our utmost respect. He was the consummate professional. He had us playing way above our heads at Baylor University for the three years I had the pleasure of playing under him.
"He had a great relationship with all the players. He was a coach you could relate to. You felt like you could talk to him about anything because Corky talked to you about anything. He was just a joy to play for. He was more like a big brother, a father. He was a very likable guy."
Now head football coach at Sam Houston High School, Green was a sophomore at Baylor when Nelson joined Teaff's staff. Green earned All-America honors as a senior cornerback in 1976.
San Antonio ISD superintendent Sylvester Perez was a starting wide receiver and backup linebacker at Harlandale in the mid-1960s, when Nelson was the Indians' defensive coordinator.
"What I remember about Corky Nelson is his intensity and the tough love he had for his players on and off the field," Perez said Tuesday. "He had not only a passion for the game, but a real love for physical football. He was my linebacker coach. He was a hard-nosed coach, without a doubt, but I don't know of one player who didn't love and respect him."
A 1957 Jefferson graduate, Nelson played football at Southwest Texas for three seasons (1961-63) before starting his coaching career at Alamo Heights High School. He was defensive coordinator at Harlandale in 1966 when the Indians went 10-1 under head coach Clint Humphreys.
Nelson succeeded Humphreys as head coach in 1967, and coached the Indians for two seasons.
Jesus V. Garcia, a 1969 Harlandale graduate who was a sophomore fullback and linebacker on the Indians' district-championship team in 1966, choked back tears as he recalled the influence Nelson had on his life.
"I can tell you Corky Nelson was not just a coach, he was a father figure," Garcia said. "He was a counselor, a brother, a friend. Above all, he had a passion for coaching. He was awesome. He never forgot about us. He never forgot Harlandale."
Garcia never forgot Nelson, either.
"I called him last week, but didn't get to talk with him," Garcia said. "I had a feeling something was wrong. I left a message on his wife's phone. He was my coach. We would talk from time to time.
"Corky Nelson was able to get the best out of a person. From the way he walked down the hall at school to the clothes he wore and his mannerisms, he just had a persona, a charisma. He was always positive."
Nelson was the same at Baylor.
"Corky was fire and brimstone," Green said. "He had you believing in yourself because he believed so well in himself. He was big in the mental aspects of the game and the physical aspects. He was the other half of all the success Grant Teaff had during that time."
Nelson went to North Texas as an assistant coach in 1970, but left the next year when he became head coach at John Tyler. The Lions won the Class 4A state title two years later, capping a 15-0 season with a 21-14 win over Austin Reagan in the championship game.
"I remember driving back to New Mexico and listening to that game on the radio," said Perez, who started his career as a coach in New Mexico. "I was really excited about that. I kept up with Coach Nelson's career and was proud of him. He was a beautiful person."
Nelson joined Grant Teaff's staff at Baylor in 1974, and played a key role during a season that came to be known as the "Miracle on the Brazos" in the school's lore. The signature win for the Bears that year was a 34-24 shocker over Texas, which led 24-7 at halftime.
Baylor had finished last in the SWC in four of the previous seven seasons before 1974, but the win over UT marked the start of a new era for Bears football.
Garcia said Nelson sent him and Jesse Mitchell, a former Harlandale running back who graduated with Garcia, four tickets to the UT-Baylor game in Waco in 1974.
"We were there that day and spent a lot of time with Coach Nelson after the game," Garcia said. "We took our wives to the game and went to his house after the game. We got to meet the other coaches and even met Earl Campbell's mother."
Nelson stayed at Baylor for eight seasons before getting hired as head coach at North Texas, where he led the Mean Green to the Division I-AA playoffs three times during his nine-year stint.
Nelson left North Texas after the 1990 season and returned to the high school ranks, coaching at Seguin and Klein Forest. Nelson ended his career at Division III Mary Hardin-Baylor, where he was an assistant for five seasons (1999-2003).
Madison head football coach Mark Smith was Nelson's defensive coordinator at Seguin for five seasons before succeeding him in 1996.
"He had a significant impact on my career and my life," Smith said. "He not only taught me about the game, he taught me how to treat people. Corky expected you to work hard and go all out when you did your job. But at the end of the day, he would give you the shirt off his back. He was a great mentor to me."
Nelson's influenced young lives wherever he coached during his 40-year career.
"Corky Nelson should not be forgotten," Perez said. "He was a good man and an outstanding coach. I know he really loved the Harlandale Indians."
Garcia said Nelson was like a member of his family when he coached at Harlandale.
"I remember he used to come over to our house and eat supper," Garcia said. "He loved Mexican food. My mom used to cook enchiladas for him, and make rice and beans. He loved it."
Nelson is survived by his wife, Judy, and two daughters.
Funeral services for Nelson are scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday at Temple Bible Church, 3205 Oakview Drive, in Temple.
