HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Jack Lengyel believed the best way to honor the victims of the 1970 Marshall plane crash was to continue the football program.
He was not alone but faced much opposition on campus as the university was torn on what to do following the tragedy. Lengyel came to Marshall in 1971 from Wooster and the football program continued.
“There were some faculty, alumni and fans that felt that we should not be playing football. They felt it was disrespectful to those who perished in the crash.” Lengyel said on Thursday’s MetroNews ‘Talkline.’
“My feeling was there was no better way to honor them than to play even though we knew how difficult it would be to compete.”
On Nov. 14, 1970, all 75 people on board of Southern Airways Flight 932 were killed when the plane crashed near the Tri-State Airport on the way back from a football game at East Carolina. Saturday marks the 50th-anniversary date.
Lengyel told stories on ‘Talkline’ about the years after the crash and what brought him to Marshall to coach the ‘Young Thundering Herd.’ He said he felt like he could help and the Big Green booster club backed him.
Jack Lengyel, who took over as head coach of the Marshall football team after the 1970 crash, joins Hoppy Kercheval to talk about the 50th anniversary of the tragedy and taking over afterward. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/sZznUUucjO
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) November 12, 2020
It started out rocky, according to Lengyel when it came to recruiting players. Many larger schools poached recruits from the Herd following the crash and Lengyel said the base on campus were basketball players using an extra year of eligibility to play football.
In 1971 and prior to that year, the NCAA did not allow freshmen to compete in varsity football. The 1971 team got the nickname ‘Young Thundering Herd’ for playing mostly freshmen after the NCAA granted a waiver to the program to allow freshmen to compete.
Marshall lost its first game following the crash to Morehead State by the final score of 29-6. However, the second game of the 1971 season and home opener at Fairfield Stadium was a storybook ending. Marshall defeated Xavier 15-13 as the Herd quarterback Reggie Oliver threw a touchdown pass as time expired.
“We were trying to get Reggie to snap the ball. The clock went down to five, four seconds left. We are yelling ‘Snap the ball Reggie, snap the ball,'” Lengyel remembered.
“He snaps the ball with one second left on the clock and we score and win 15-13.”
Lengyel will not be able to attend the ceremonies in Huntington this weekend but said he will watch on television. The current Thundering Herd, undefeated and nationally ranked, kick-off against Middle Tennessee Saturday at noon.