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TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR COACH JOHN MCKISSICK FOR AN AMAZING CAREER SPANNING SIXTY YEARS AS HEAD FOOTBALL COACH AT SUMMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, AND TO CONGRATULATE HIM FOR BEING NAMED THE 2012 DON SHULA NFL HIGH SCHOOL COACH OF THE YEAR.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that Summerville High School Coach John McKissick was awarded the prestigious Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year Award in Indianapolis on Friday, February 3, 2012; and
Whereas, at 85 years old and with five hundred ninety-four career victories, Coach McKissick is the winningest football coach at any level, and he was presented the award by the 83-year-old Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history; and
Whereas, created in 2010, the Shula Award honors exemplary high school football coaches who display the integrity, achievement, and leadership demonstrated by Coach Shula; and
Whereas, the award included a $10,000 cash award for Coach McKissick and a $15,000 grant for the Green Wave football program, and two days after he received the award, he attended his first Super Bowl football game in Indianapolis; and
Whereas, Coach McKissick just completed his sixtieth season at Summerville High School, during which he has led the Green Wave football team to thirty-three regional titles and ten state championship titles; and
Whereas, having won numerous state and national coaching honors, he was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982 and the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in Kansas City in 1990; and
Whereas, in 1986, Governor Carroll Campbell awarded Coach McKissick the Order of the Palmetto, the highest award conferred on civilians by the State of South Carolina, and he was named to the South Carolina Hall of Fame in 2005; and
Whereas, during his sixty-year tenure that has lasted through twelve United States presidents, four presidents: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, sent him letters of congratulations or commendation during their presidencies; and
Whereas, he has long maintained that awards and honors result from being surrounded by good people who are working for a common cause, and he feels he has been blessed both to work with great people and to work for Summerville High School; and
Whereas, in the words of Coach McKissick, "Life is tough. Life is football without a helmet," so he has prepared generations of Green Wave football players to meet life head on and to be successful both on and off the gridiron; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the pride and recognition that Coach McKissick has brought to Summerville High School and to the Palmetto State, and look to hear of his continued successes in the years ahead. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the House of Representatives of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, recognize and honor Coach John McKissick for an amazing career spanning sixty years as head football coach at Summerville High School, and congratulate him for being named the 2012 Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Coach John McKissick.
This web page was last updated on February 8, 2012 at 11:16 AM