The big game is tonight and my final Copper Bowl Week Salute goes to former Hancock head coach Richard Salani and the 1984 Bulldogs. Coach Salani was an outstanding athlete for Hancock in the late 60s. He went on to play football at Michigan State, as a wide receiver and punter, under head coach Duffy Daugherty. In 1974 he was named head coach of the Hancock football team and he held that position until 1994. A master of the Xs and Os he always had his teams well prepared. He was also a tremendous motivator. Im pretty sure he could get you fired up to pull weeds. As he would give his pre-game speech before the Copper Bowl, his voice cracking with emotion, you felt like your heart was going to explode through your chest. I learned an awful lot from him, on and off the field, and still consider him a good friend. With a 34-14 Copper Bowl win the 1984 Bulldogs sealed a second consecutive undefeated season. With a potent offense and stingy defense they reeled off 17 consecutive wins going 8-0 in 1983 and 9-0 in 1984. No losses in two years, but they never made the playoffs. Under the old MHSAA format an undefeated season was no guarantee of a playoff berth. There was nothing particularly flashy about this team. Just a group of good athletes, really tough kids, that worked hard and were committed. I was proud to be a part of it.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 11:54:22 +0000
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