Former Baylor Assistant Football Coach Goodner To Be Honored
2/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
Feb. 9, 2007
Five of the most distinguished athletes in Southwestern Oklahoma State University's history, including Frederick High School graduate and Waco, Texas native the late John Goodner, will be honored with induction into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday, Feb. 10. The festivities will include a luncheon beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the newly remodeled Student Union Ballroom. The ceremony will be held in conjunction with SWOSU's basketball game against Southeastern Oklahoma State University later that day.
The 2007 inductees are as follows: Debbie Bruner, pioneer basketball player for the Bulldogs in the late 1970's; Gary Abercrombie, four-year letterman in football, basketball and track during the early 1960's; Yohance Brown, three-time football All-American and MVP of the 1996 NAIA Championship Game; Larry Geurkink, who won more than 600 games in his 20-plus years as baseball coach at SWOSU; and Goodner, SWOSU football star who went on to a lengthy college coaching career at Baylor and Texas Tech.
Goodner, a 1962 graduate of Frederick, came to SWOSU in 1963 after originally enrolling at the University of Oklahoma. Goodner went on to earn all-conference honors as an offensive back for the Bulldogs before graduating in 1967.
Goodner would make his greatest impact as a coach and a teacher. He got his start in 1967 at Noble High School in Oklahoma and later moved to Texas to coach and teach at Denison and Waxahachie High Schools. He moved to the college ranks in 1982 when he joined the staff of legendary coach Grant Teaff at Baylor.
He spent 11 years at Baylor where the Bears had eight winning seasons and played in five bowl games. He then moved Texas Tech following Teaff's retirement where he served as the defensive coordinator for five years. He made one other stop at Kentucky before returning to Baylor in 2003 to close out his career under then coach Guy Morris.
Goodner died on Dec. 5, 2005 after succumbing to a lengthy illness as a result of a brain tumor. He is survived by his wife, Karen. The couple has one daughter, Kathi, and two grandchildren Kaila and Klemson.
The SWOSU Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1962 and honors those individuals who, by outstanding achievement in athletics or service to the college's sports teams, have made lasting contributions to the cause of sports.
