By ANTHONY MITCHELL and BERNARD BROUSSARD
For over two generations at Hanson Memorial High School, legendary Coach Richard "Dick" McCloskey was more than a football coach.
McCloskey was a Christian gentleman who was hard as a rock solid while walking the sidelines but had just a unique heart-warming softness off the sidelines over his many years at Hanson.
Coach Mac not only cared for his players -- caring for them with the love of a surrogate father -- but he truly loved them and cared about them as human beings and people first, then as players. The love of Coach Mac was returned by all that knew him -- players, parents, coaches and even his fiercest foes.
Coach Mac, a deeply religious Catholic, led the Fighting Hanson Tigers football program to the State Class 1-A Championship in 1976 and later became the state’s winningest high school football coach with a victory over the University High Cubs on Sept. 7, 1984. The 13-9 victory over University gave Coach Mac his 271st victory, earning him the title of state winningest coach. McCloskey eclipsed the mark set by longtime Ruston Coach H.L. Garrett, who strung together 270 wins over his career. Mac finished his outstanding coaching career with an incredible 286 victories all at Hanson Memorial High School.
Coach Mac will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday at Prather Coliseum on the Northwestern State University campus in Natchitoches.
Coach Mac will be inducted into the Hall of Fame along with former Saints Coach Jim Mora; Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons President; Mel Didier, LSU All-American and Major League Baseball executive; LSU football star and All-Pro defensive back Jim Cason; three-time Dallas Cowboys All-Pro tight end Billy Joe Dupree; Lee Smith, Major League Baseball record holder; and Bill Curl for service to Tulane and the La. Superdome Project.
Former Hanson Tiger and current Teurlings Catholic Head Football Coach Sonny Charpentier will be present to accept the award and to speak on behalf of Coach McCloskey during Saturday’s induction ceremony. Charpentier was a 1975 graduate of Hanson.
On Sunday, July 6, a Special Mass honoring Coach McCloskey will be held at 10 a.m. at the Church of the Assumption with Father Michael Russo. A reception and induction ceremony will be held following the mass.
McCloskey came to Hanson in 1947 and turned a six-man football program into a powerhouse 11-man winning machine.
For nearly 40 years, Coach Mac’s fire and energy guided the Hanson Tigers’ program to new heights. Coach Mac’s faith and passion for football and people were his driving force that left a mark on everyone who came into contact with him.
McCloskey, who never married, devoted his life to Hanson, for he had that special quality of touching everyone he came into contact with a lasting impression. Coach Mac handled the entire athletic program at Hanson for more than 25 years, overseeing the baseball, track, basketball and boxing programs.
While at Hanson, Coach Mac was given an opportunity to become an assistant coach with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, of which he turned down to remain at Hanson, the school he agreed to coach in 1947 after graduating from Loyola University of New Orleans.
McCloskey, a native of New Orleans, was a multi-sport star at Fortier. He later attended Jones Junior College before graduating from Loyola University of New Orleans in 1947. McCloskey received his master’s degree from LSU in 1953.
While at Hanson, Coach Mac’s trailer home was a second home to all those he touched. Coach Mac impacted the lives of so many of his former players including those who chose to return and coach under him at Hanson — the likes of Billy Gene Talbot, Kirk Pontiff, Sonny Charpentier, Larry Lombardo and David Fuhrer just to name a few.
Coach McCloskey was a fighter until the end of his life when he succumbed to a long illness and died on Jan. 9, 1986 at age 67. That day will live on forever in the lives of the many players, parents, coaches and people whose lives had been touched and in some cases changed by the man proved to be a giant among men.
Even to this day, it has been stated that: "Coach may be gone, but his spirit will forever walk the halls of Hanson."
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