Mt. Pleasant coaching legend Bob Evans passes away

Longtime Mt. Pleasant football coach Bob Evans passed away on Friday, but the impact he made on his players and the Mt. Pleasant community lives on.

?As far as I?m concerned, and as far as pretty much everyone?s concerned, Bob Evans is the head coach of Mt. Pleasant High School football,? said Bob Jensen.

Jensen, the current head coach of the Panthers, was an assistant coach under Evans for 15 years and took over the team in 1989 when Evans retired.

?Besides having a great career, he did great things for our school, our district and our community,? Jensen said.

He also had a great effect on his players through the years, many of whom have become coaches themselves ? such as Warrren Woepking, who spent 29 years at the helm of the Columbus Community High School football team.

?I have all good memories [of Coach Evans],? Woepking said. ?He was an outstanding example and mentor for years and years. He was always a leader, in his family, community and profession. I got into teaching and coaching myself ... because of him.?

Bill Calloway shares his sentiment.

?He was such an important person in my life,? Calloway said.

Calloway went on from Mt. Pleasant to play at the University of Northern Iowa, and then was an assistant coach at Cedar Rapids Washington before becoming the head coach at Cedar Rapids Jefferson for nine years. He still serves as the girls? track and field coach at Jefferson.

?One thing I got from (Evans) is that you never ever take any opponent lightly,? Calloway said. ?We were always prepared.?

Both Woepking and Calloway were members of the famed 1963 Mt. Pleasant football team, which went undefeated and, even more remarkably, unscored upon.

Evans? coaching tree also includes Dana Holgorsen, the head coach at West Virginia University, who was a senior at Mt. Pleasant Community High School in Evans? last year as a coach.

?Coach Evans was a great leader and even better person. He mentored and positively shaped the lives of thousands of young athletes, who are better for knowing him,? Holgorsen said. ?My family and his have been friends for years, and my thoughts and well wishes are with them.?

Evans spent his entire head coaching career at Mt. Pleasant.

?He had the opportunity to go other places,? Jensen said, ?but he always told me, ?There?s no better place than Mt. Pleasant.??

And Mt. Pleasant was a better place because of Evans.

?There were, I?m sure, successful teams before he got here, but he really started the tradition of winning football games in Mt. Pleasant,? Jensen said.

Evans is tied for 42

^nd

place on the Iowa football coaches? all-time wins list with 202 victories in 33 years of coaching. His career record was 202-91-4, and that includes seven undefeated teams and 17 conference championships.

?I don?t know a greater, more fierce competitor than Coach ? no one liked to win more or hated losing more,? Jensen said.

Evans was the recipient of numerous awards for his noted accomplishments. He was the Des Moines Register Coach of the Year in 1959. In 1969, he was inducted into the Iowa Coaches Hall of Fame. He received the National Federation of Interscholastic Coaches Association Distinguished Service Award in 1986. Fourteen times he was named the Southeast Seven Conference Coach of the Year. He was the Southeast Iowa Class I Coach of the Year in 1984. In 1974, Evans served as an assistant coach in the Iowa Shrine Bowl, and he was the head coach in 1975. He was inducted into the Northeast Missouri State University Hall of Fame in 1988.

But it wasn?t all about winning.

?I learned [from Evans] that you?ve got to play [the game] right,? Jensen said. ?You want to win, but you win the way you?re supposed to: with hard work, determination, and passion.?

Evans? perspective on winning, losing and playing the game never changed.

?I got a chance to talk to Coach at his home a few weeks ago,? Calloway said. ?I asked him what he was most proud of.?

With his record and renown, Evans had a lot to be proud of. And while Calloway notes that the 1963 season was very special to Evans, that wasn?t his answer.

?He said that he was most proud that he never had a kid that got injured seriously,? Calloway shared. ?I thought that was very touching.?