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A Legend in His Time

A Legend in His Time
by Fred Hilton, News Sports Editor

He was Mr. Sullins. That was his name. That's how he was addressed. It was his title. He wasn't coach Sullins or coach and certainly not Earl. That was partly a product of his time. There was Mr. Iba at Stillwater. It was Mr. Sullins at Ponca City. But Mr. Sullins also commanded respect, just by being himself. The term legend is probably overused. But Ponca City lost a Po-Hi athletic legend when Mr. Sullins died Friday at the age of 98. Fortunately he became a living legend.

He received almost every honor the city and the people of Ponca City could bestow on him.

In 1997, Mr. Sullins was honored by the city on Earl Sullins Day in a ceremony in Robson Field House. The featured speaker at the ceremony was Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne which goes to show how far and wide his influence extended, "I was greatly influenced by my high school coach, Earl Appleby, at Hastings, (Neb.) Osborne said at that celebration. "And I found out he was coached by Earl Sullins. "So thank you coach Sullins for the influence you had on my life." Excluding four years he spent in the Air Force during World War II, Mr. Sullins was head football coach for 16 seasons at Po-Hi. That is the longest tenure of any Po-Hi football coach before or since. "Mr. Sullins formed a lot of boys' lives," says Wallace Officer who played at the high school under Mr. Sullins, 1938 to 1941. In fact, Officer played under Mr. Sullins longer than that. "My class went to the high school with Mr. Sullins," Officer recalls.

Mr. Sullins first came to Ponca City as the junior high football coach following his graduation from Central State University. He moved to the high school in 1938 after seven years as junior high coach. Mr. Sullins coached the Wildcats until 1941 when the war broke out and returned in 1946 and was head coach until 1959 when he stepped down to accept the newly formed position of "Supervisor of Physical Education" (later Athletic Director). During his tenure as football coach, the Wildcats amassed a record of 115-47-10 His 1947 team went 9-0-2 but missed a chance at a state title. In the state final, the Wildcats tied Okmulgee 7-7, but Okmulgee was awarded the state title after officials went through various tie breakers. Okmulgee had one more first down that Ponca City, Mr. Sullins' 1954 team, which was 9-1, also missed out on a possible state championship when the state playoffs were canceled that year.

Under his tutelage, the Wildcats had just three losing seasons. The first was just after the war ended. The Wildcats went 3-5-2. Unfortunately the final two losing seasons came in Mr. Sullins' final two seasons as head coach. The Cats were 4-6 in both 1957 and 1958. That bothered him some, but not that much. "I don't complain," he said later. "I had 25 years (coaching Ponca City teams) with three losing seasons. There were many All-Staters and two All-Americans." The All-Americans were Tom Catlin and Tracy "Waddy" Young. Mr. Sullins never married, Ponca City High School athletes were his family. "He was a wonderful coach," Officer, who was a 145 pound halfback in 1941, summarized. "I'll tell you one thing. If you were the player that fit a certain position, then you played that position. There was no politics involved." "Mr. Sullins never cussed or discussed us," C.L. Schneider, who Sullins in later years picked as one of the best ever players in his 16-year coaching career. "He never raised his voice. If we did something wrong in practice, he'd just say, 'Now boys, let's do it again until we get it right."

Mr. Sullins retired in 1971 and the football field was renamed Sullins Stadium six years later. He retained close ties with the football team, running the scoreboard at home games until this past season, But Mr. Sullins may be best remembered for a phenomenal memory. Ask about the score of a game in the late '40s and you got not only an exact score, but also a bit of play by play if you wanted, He also recalls the plays he didn't call. In the 1947 championship game “We had good kicker. But late in the game I thought Dick Powell could score a touchdown for us. If I had called for a field goal we would have been state champions." He remembered the good and bad with the same easy smile and quiet objectivity. Mr. Sullins will be missed.