Pigskin Pulpit: A Social History of Texas High School Football Coaches [Hardcover]

Ty Cashion (Author), O. A. Phillips (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

High school football is one of the identifying institutions of twentieth-century Texas. It is not unusual to see youthful football players placed on the same pedestal as the cowboy, oil man, or other icons of the Lone Star State. In fact, it is shaped in the image of its coaches who are, by and large, an enigma to most of us. We think of them as caricatures, men who are alternately revered and vilified (usually depending on how many games they have won recently), but they have always been members of a traditional, closed society, and we do not really know them in their complexities.

Pigskin Pulpit opens the Texas high school coaching profession to historical scrutiny for the first time, examining this breed of men who shaped the game—and generations of players—in their own images. Tracing side-by-side the development of the game and the coaching profession from its beginnings to today, author Ty Cashion explains how this avocation wove itself so tightly into the fabric of Texas culture.

Football fans and critics of the game alike will be drawn into this probing, analytical study that is sure to become a Texas classic.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

TY CASHION, the author of many books and articles on Texas history and culture, is professor of history at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Texas State Historical Association (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876111681
• ISBN-13: 978-0876111680
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,052,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Thought This Was Supposed to be a History Book?, March 19, 2000

By 

Northeast Texas Reader (Northeast Texas, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pigskin Pulpit: A Social History of Texas High School Football Coaches (Hardcover)

Aren't history books supposed to be dull as dishwater? I gave this book to my 80+ year-old Father for Christmas. He really enjoyed it! So did I, for that matter. Dr. Cashion must have spend untold hours interviewing old-time Texas High School football coaches and those who played under them. This book is as close to listening to those old timers as the written word can be. Growing up in football crazy Garland, Texas (back-to-back state championships in the 1960's under Chuck Curtis), I remember as a child "high school football fever." This hits the mark, or should I say is a "two point conversion."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Reading!!!!!, April 8, 2004

By 

"felderhoff" (Collin County, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pigskin Pulpit: A Social History of Texas High School Football Coaches (Hardcover)

This is a great book. It tells the story of how High School Football has become the number one event in Texas. I am glad someone put these stories into print because sadly many of these great men are leaving us but their stories and the impact they have had, and continue to have, will be passed on. This is a must read for any football fan.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you ever cussed a coached, if you ever idolized a coach, December 31, 2006

By 

Texas Bob (Katy, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pigskin Pulpit: A Social History of Texas High School Football Coaches (Paperback)

I missed Ty Cashion's book "Pigskin Pulpit" when it was first released a few years ago but with the re-release in paper back this year (2006) I had the opportunity to read it. I think the reason I didn't read it the first time was the title. I thought it was another "Glory" of High School Football book. Had I just paid attention to the subtitle "A Social History of Texas High School Football Coaches" my history buff inclination would have made reading this book a no brainer.

Ty Cashion was ordained to write this book. A professor of history at Sam Houston State University and more importantly the son of a Texas High School football coach, Ty had the knowledge to tell the story and the access to interview, by my count, at least 82 different Texas High School football coaches, many of which are no longer with us.

Some 40+ years ago, when I was a kid, I would listen to Texas High School football play off games on the radio. The radio announcer start by saying something like this: "Broadcasting from P.E. Shotwell stadium in Abilene, Texas ...".

P. E. Shotwell, Darrell Tully, and Gordon Wood may just be the name of Texas High School football stadiums for football fans of the current generation but they are just three of the many coaches that made Texas High School football what it is today. Many young athletes dream of "going pro" and signing multimillion dollar contracts. School boy football players born into the depression era of the early twentieth century just dreamed of the chance to play college football, get an education and coach football. It was their ticket off the farm and a way to a better life.

Ty Cashion chronicles the path to their goal and how the experiences that they had impacted several generations of young men in Texas.

If you ever knew a coach, if you ever played for a coach, if you ever learned from a coach, if you ever cussed a coached, if you ever idolized a coach ..., you need to read this book.