Kokor recalls Marshall airplane crash in 1970

The surviving coach said the film, "We are Marshall," stressed recovery.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Carl Kokor of Brookfield spent just two seasons on the Marshall University football staff.
To call those two seasons memorable is an understatement.
The Niles native and former coach at Leetonia High School was an assistant coach for the Thundering Herd for the 1970 and 1971 seasons. Kokor had been assistant at the University of Pittsburgh -- the Panthers went 1-9 in consecutive seasons -- before being released and spending a year away from coaching.
"Even I know that your stay is short-lived when you win just two games in two seasons," said Kokor. "I had gotten to know Marshall head football coach Perry Moss, however, and after applying for an opening on his staff was lucky enough to get hired. When he [Moss] was then let go by the Marshall administration in the wake of a recruiting scandal, my position was no longer.
"Fortunately, Moss' replacement, Rick Tolley, and I clicked after I interviewed with him at the national coaches convention and my position as defensive line coach was then set."
With his dual role as film coordinator, it was Kokor's job to set up the scouting and film schedule for the season; a task that he scrutinized one game at a time and finalized at a preseason meeting.
Kokor and Mickey Jackson, the wide receivers coach, were on a scouting trip to the Ohio-University-Penn State game at Penn State on Nov. 14, 1970, while Marshall played at East Carolina. Defensive coordinator Red Dawson, who wanted to visit a recruit on the way to the game, did not accompany the team on the flight either, and instead drove to East Carolina. It was the first time Marshall's football team flew to a game.
Not on plane that crashed
The three coaches did not know at the time, but their fate would be spared as all 75 passengers aboard the DC-9 aircraft -- 37 players, 12 coaches and staff and 21 community members -- perished when the return flight from Greenville, N.C. crashed at the Tri-State Airport in Huntington.
"Mickey and I were in our car on the back to Huntington when we heard on the radio that a plane had difficulty landing at the airport. Usually, I am a pretty optimistic guy and lots can go on with a plane so I called home to my wife, Rose Mary, to ask just what had happened," he said.
"When she said, 'they're all dead, they're all dead,' I was just devastated. It was so hard to believe that such a horrible thing could happen."
The three coaches became the living link to the families of the tragedy.
"I understand that. It doesn't surprise me at all and I accept that role," said Kokor.
In December the movie "We Are Marshall" detailed the tragedy and re-birth of the team.
"In order to gather the facts for the movie, the director and script writer sent me a list of 25 questions they were hoping I could answer in order to shed some light on certain events surrounding the tragedy," said Kokor.
Recovery from tragedy
"I was able to answer 23 in advance of their arrival to my home but the other two, well, I could not handle them without guessing at some of the facts. I felt that the movie wasn't a football movie as much as it was the vehicle by which to show the recovery of tragedy by schools, communities, people and the country. The trend right now isn't a family movie, but this was one great family movie," he added.
In 1971 the Thundering Herd won two games, the first a 15-13 victory over Xavier with a touchdown scored on the final play of the game, and against Bowling Green.
Mike Shaffer, Central YMCA program director, will be the guest speaker next Monday.