Harmison could tell some stories from his storied football coaching days
SHEPHERDSTOWN — Richard “Dick” Harmison could tell you about how coaching high school and college football has changed through the years.
And you should listen to his evaluations and critiques.
Dick Harmison is 96 years old, being born on Sept. 3, 1926 and now residing in Stephens City, Va.
He’s been inducted into athletic hall of fames at Potomac State in Keyser, at Shepherd University and at Martinsburg High School.
An unbeaten season came his way in 1959 at Charles Town High School, when his boys went 10-0 with ballyhooed wins over arch rivals Martinsburg, Keyser and Harpers Ferry highlighting the unblemished season.
The 1959 season was Coach Harmison’s last at Charles Town because he went the short distance to Martinsburg High for the next school year.
After showing an 8-1-1 record at Martinsburg in 1964, Harmison joined the college football coaching ranks — first as an assistant at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington and a few seasons later at William and Mary in Williamsburg.
His last coaching station was at James Wood High School in Winchester where his venture back into the high school ranks began in 1985.
The Colonels had fallen on hard times after Coach Walter Barr had given them an unbeaten season and positive name recognition in the state of Virginia before he moved along to collegiate coaching at his alma mater, Shepherd.
Harmison coached five more seasons at James Wood before laying aside his coaching mantle in 1989.
The ever-popular coaching icon had his recognized athletic beginnings at Romney High School, where his playing days lasted until graduation in 1944. His post high school playing career began at Potomac State College, before he moved on to Shepherd, a four-year school that routinely produced teachers and coaches from its School of Education.
While at Shepherd, he was impressive enough as a starter on both offense and defense as an end to earn first-team All-WVIAC recognition in 1950 and eventually merit a place in its Athletic Hall of Fame, being inducted in 1990.
And then it was off to his lengthy and decorated coaching years after graduating from Shepherd in 1950.
He has seen leather helmets, muddy fields, Thanksgiving Day rivalry games, years as a college assistant, the euphoric and rarified air of an unbeaten season and been asked to resurrect a high school program that once had star-studded won-loss records but was no longer a powerhouse.
Few are there who become legends in their sport or are recalled as one of the best in the last 70 years in their geographical area.
Richard “Dick” Harmison is one of those few.