Editor’s Note: This Article was published by the Dallas Morning News in November of 1985. It was written by Sam Blair and is not the work of The Lion Wire or any of the staff or the writers. It is here for reading enjoyment purposes only and every attempt has been taken to ensure the integrity of the original article as written. Images and captions were added by the Wire Staff to enhance the article, but the text itself was written by the Dallas Morning News and Blair.

Commerce, Texas-As He approaches his final game after 22 years as East Texas State Football Coach, Ernest Hawkins can look back on the type of career that makes his profession proud.

His teams won, but they also had fun.

His players looked up to him as a father as much as a coach.

He taught his players to believe in themselves.

Particularly the Quarterbacks.

Eddie Vowell, the Lions’ defensive coordinator and the man who will succeed Hawkins, recalls one tense game in 1983 when quarterback Kyle Mackey came to the sidelines during a timeout.

“Coach, what do you want?” Mackey asked

Hawkins never changed expressions. His eyes were gleaming and he said softly, “Kyle, they’ll give you something. You check it at the line and take what they’re giving you.”

Vowell chuckled at the memory. “Mackey went back out there and looked the defense over and found what they were giving him. He brought us back in the last couple of minutes three or four times that year.”

Hawkins, 58, also is retiring with the distinction of being one of the the few college coaches who let his quarterbacks call their own plays. And they usually do it at the line, reading the defense and calling audibles.

Vowell said; “I’ve teased him, “Why waste time with a huddle?” Everything is called at the line.”

Hawkins, whose ETSU record is 132-91-6 before his last game Saturday at 2 PM against Abilene Christian, is proud his quarterbacks could read a defense, react to what happened after the snap and deliver. Through the years, that has helped players such as Will Cureton, Wade Wilson, and Mackey find jobs in the NFL.

I’ve always thrived on my quarterbacks being able to attack the defense.” said Hawkins, himself a quarterback at Texas Tech in the late 1940’s. “I work with them all week, and by Saturday, I want them ready to take charge on the field. I tell them to remember one main thing; stay one play ahead of the defense.”

“I love him.” Mackey said. “Not only as a coach, but as a man. He was a father figure to me and to so many other other players. He guided me from a skinny kid who threw sidearm to a quarterback who knew how to drop back, recognize what was happening in the secondary, and throw the football from my ear. That really helped me when I went to St. Louis.”

Hawkins has that rare quality of being a coach and a friend, making him respected by his peers as well as the hundreds of players he has known at ETSU.

“Everyone likes him.” said Dr. Vince Gonino, the school’s athletic director. “In the coaching profession, that just doesn’t happen. You’re dealing with so many people you’re going to turn some people off. But that’s not so with Ernest.”

While the Lions are losing a coach who has won more games than any in the school’s 72 year football history, they’re keeping a friend and a keen football mind. Hawkins will remain in the athletic department on modified service, assisting Gonino with administrative matters and offering counsel to Vowell.

“In one sense, I’m sad that his coaching career is ending.” Gonino said. “In another, I’m happy because he’ll still be around. The guy’s a legend, and we value his presence.”

“He’s wise to step out at this time. He’s 58, and he’s leaving feeling good. He’s not tired and bitter.”

“Early in the season, before the Sam Houston State game, he told the players that this might be his last year. I talked to them later, and their concern was for the man. “What happened to him?” they asked me. I said he would be here. They like that. Ernest earned that by treating kids the way they wanted to be treated. He gives them personal attention, He’s there when they need him.”

East Texas State joined the computer age under Hawkins, and he has thrived on it. The key word to get into the ETSU staff’s computer is “Hawk.” Vowell appreciates the reason.

“He studies football.” Vowell said. “He has a very keen mind when he’s watching film, and his studious nature carries over during a game. On the sideline, I’m emotional and high-fiving, but he has that same stoic look all the time. Like Tom Landry, you can’t tell if he’s 40 points ahead or behind, inside he wants to win as much as anybody, but he has a lot of football going through his head. I guarantee you, if had anything near equal material, he’ll give you all you can handle.”

Hawkins 1972 team won teh NAIA national championship, and he has turned out plenty of Lone Star Conference powers and pro football prospects in his 22 years. Although renown for schooling quarterbacks, Hawkins also turned out two of the NFL’s most successful defensive ends in Harvey Martin of the Cowboys and Dwight White of the Steelers. Between them, they started for seven Super Bowl teams, five of them champions.

“Harvey had the the tools to be a great pass rusher from the beginning, but he was somewhat handicapped in college because we had to freeze him at the line to play the run.” Hawkins said. White apparently was supposed to make it and make it big from the beginning. He had the disposition of a natural athlete and leader.”

Soon, Hawkins will have more time for hunting and fishing, golf, and tennis, and five grandsons, but first comes a dinner in his honor Friday night, where such former stars as Martin, White, Cureton, Bobby Fox, and Autry Beamon have been invited to return and express their feelings for the man who has managed to be that rare combination of coach, father, and friend.