ESU Distinguished Alumnus - Bill Hargiss
May 1970

Homer W. (Bill) Hargiss.
     To anyone familiar with the history of sports at KSTC, the name is a legend.
     For more than 50 years, "The Bald Eagle," was fellow athlete, teacher and coach to a multitude of young Kansans at KSTC, College of Emporia and the University of Kansas.
     Bill Hargiss came to the Kansas State Normal in 1905 from a farm in Crawford County. For the next four years, he led the school in football and excelled in basketball, track, gymnastics, baseball and the glee club.
     In 1909, when he graduated, Hargiss went to Marion to coach high school football, starting a coaching career which is still one of the most enviable of all Kansas coaches.
     During his illustrious career, Bill Hargiss coached such greats as Glen Cunningham, our own Fran Welch, decathlon champ Jim Bausch and scores of others. And it was Hargiss who first emphasized the important relationship between education and athletics.
     Homer Woodson Hargiss coached at Marion only one year, leaving to do additional school work at KU and Harvard for a year. He then returned to Emporia as football coach at C of E where he remained three years before returning to KSTC, by way of Oregon State University.
     The by-word at KSTC in the spring of 1920 was "Bill Hargiss is coming back," according to past issues of the Bulletin. He came back as football coach, director of athletics and head of the department of men's physical training. And he stayed for many years—turning out good teams and even greater young men.
     Former students of Hargiss describe "The Bald Eagle" as a great coach, a greater man and an even greater teacher.  Hargiss likes to talk and it has been said he explodes all theories about "golden silence." At 83, he still likes to talk—maybe a holdover from his debating days at KSTC.
     Whether it is at KSN, KSTC, KU, C of E or anywhere else, Bill Hargiss is remembered. He is remembered for his love, his drive, his small loans of money and his guidance to all he coached. Here at KSTC, his name lives on partly through the Homer Woodson Hargiss Athletic Awards scholarships for which all athletes at KSTC are eligible if they are in good academic standing, as prescribed by the college. Recipients must participate in the sport for which the award is granted with the minimum award covering college fees and a book allowance.
     Hargiss is still very active although retired for several years. He lives at 1277 Randolph in Topeka with his daughter Genevieve, who teaches music education at KU. His wife Vera died several years ago. He also has another daughter who teaches in Hickman Mills, Mo., and a son who is an engineer in California.
     In his spare time, when he isn't watching athletic events on TV or in person, Bill Hargiss paints in oils.