‘He was Haynesville’: Passing of iconic Haynesville coach Alton ‘Red’ Franklin stirs emotion
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Former Haynesville High football player and coach John Ware said Alton “Red” Franklin became a phenomenon at the Claiborne Parish school well before the advent of social media.
Franklin preferred to work outside of the media’s glare, cultivating a football powerhouse about 30 minutes from the Arkansas border that would rival any in the state. Haynesville’s program and its nickname Golden Tornado became synonymous with Franklin and the success he brought to the town of more than 2,000 residents.
“His name was iconic anywhere in Louisiana,” said Ware, now the head football coach at Lakeside. “In that era, you really had to do something for all of the people to know him and know what he accomplished was pretty unique. Coach Franklin wasn’t just a special coach, he was Haynesville.”
Franklin, a native of Centerville, Alabama, joined Haynesville’s coaching staff in 1966 and took over as head coach a year later. What took place for the next 35 seasons was Nirvana when the Golden Tornado won 11 state championships and Franklin retired among the state’s greatest coaches.
The larger-than-life figure Franklin, whose coaching style was built on a hard-nosed, disciplined approach with unwavering leadership, passed away Sunday at the age of 89.
Bailey Funeral Home in Springhill is in charge of arrangements. Visitation for Franklin will be at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center from 5-8 p.m. Friday followed by services at 2 p.m. Saturday. His final resting place will be at Oakes Cemetery in Haynesville.
“He had a great wit, a big laugh about him,” John Curtis coach J.T. Curtis said of Franklin. “He enjoyed life. He loved coaching the Tornado. He was a real credit to this game.”
Ware’s father Rush played for three years for Franklin and was part of the coach’s first state title in 1970.
It helped spark a decades-long love affair between the football team and the small community.
“He established a tradition in that community,” Curtis said. “That tradition built one year onto the next and kids wanted to play for him. I can hear him saying, ‘Let’s Go Tornadoes.’ He had that community bought into the value of athletics. It was more than just winning football games. He was very much developing the character of the young men he coached.”
Ware went from starry-eyed youngster to playing for Frankin between 1989-82. He was a starting center on the team that capture Class 2A state titles in 1990 and 1991 – the fifth and sixth crowns under Franklin.
Ware returned to the school to coach with Franklin, serving as his defensive coordinator on his final state championship team in 2000. With Ware building something special on the baseball diamond, Franklin served as his assistant and theTornado went 105-73 with four district titles and trips to a semifinal and quarterfinal during that span.
“He went from a childhood icon for me to playing for him and coaching with him,” said Ware, a 25-year coaching veteran. “It’s a long history that I’ll never forget. He’s one of the main reasons I became what I am today.”
Alabama transplant that found a home in North Louisiana
Before the transfer portal became popular, Franklin played for legendary head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama for a year before transferring to then Louisiana College.
He played end for the Wildcats who went 8-2 during his senior year. He also earned his education degree in 1961 and set out on his impactful coaching career with stops at Marksville High for two years and moved back to Haynesville, the hometown of his wife Beth, to work at Springhill High for three years.
M.D. Ray brought Franklin with him to Haynesville as an assistant and when Ray left for Airline in Bossier City, Franklin’s career as a head coach began in 1967.
Three years later Franklin won his first state championship, the fourth overall for the school and first in 34 years.
There would be more to come.
“Nothing’s changed there, everything’s exactly the same as it was in the 80s,” Ware said. “We went from a belly offense – all the power stuff – to the Wing-T in the mid-80s. There was one defense until the 1990s and then the 4-3.
“I was a center at 5-7 and 155 pounds,” Ware said. “It was 10-15-20 years later after I played for him that I didn’t realize I wasn’t 6-4, 300. It was just that belief he put into each and every person that played for him. Size certainly didn’t matter. He was the ultimate team guy. We didn’t have stats. We were worried about winning.”
Curtis said his first encounter with Franklin was a miserable state semifinal in 1977. He said when the Patriots arrived at Haynesville it was 15 degrees, and both teams played in freezing conditions that his team eventually survived.
“We were well taken care of there by Haynesville,” Curtis said. “We were fortunate enough to win it.”
Curtis said two of the state’s juggernauts never faced off in a state championship matchup, but there was always a long-lasting impression of having faced Franklin’s teams.
“He was not giving the game away,” he said. “You had to earn victory. He was going to be solid in what he did defensively and solid in what he was going to execute offensively. He was going to get the ball in the hands of guys who could make a play.
“You walked away from those games knowing you earned it,” he said. “You were in a battle. The talent levels change from year to year, but the fundamentals don’t. The fundamentals of his teams were among the best in the state.”
Although his team didn’t win the state championship, Franklin was honored in 1985 as Region 5 Coach of the Year and was nominated for national coach of the year honors.
The 1990s at Haynesville was some of the best football played anywhere.
The Tornado won six state championships between 1990 and 1996, including four straight from ’93-96, and won an astounding 96 of 100 games.
“He adapted with the times,” said Ware, noting Franklin won state titles in four different decades with his last one taking place in 2000. “You don’t find many people to do that in a small town. He stayed true to who he was as a coach. He was a first-class offensive and defensive line coach.”
Haynesville continues to play its home games at 3,000-seat Alton ‘Red’ Franklin Stadium.
Ranking among the state’s best
Franklin retired in 2001 and was the third-winningest coach in Louisiana High School history after 35 seasons. His record of 365-76-9, which includes eight perfect seasons, currently ranks fourth-best all-time behind Curtis (600-116-6 in 56 years), St. Thomas More’s Jim Hightower (482-138-1 in 51 years), and Lewis Cook Jr. of Notre Dame of Crowley Lewis Cook (407-101 in 40 years).
Franklin’s 11 state titles trail only Curtis’ 26 to go along with four runner-up finishes. He won 27 district titles including 15 consecutive crowns. He was a 23-time district coach of the year and a six-time winner of the LSWA coach of the year honor.
Moreover, Franklin was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame, followed by the LHSAA and LHSCA Halls of Fame in 1991. He also took his rightful place in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and was recognized as a charter member of the Louisiana College Sports Hall of Fame that same year.
“I got to know Red at the all-star games in the 70s, 80s, and 90s,” Curtis said. “It was a great experience. Red was always a staple at that event whether he was a coordinator or on the committee that ran the game. As good a coach as he was, and he was certainly that, he was a better person. He was an outstanding Christian man that didn’t mind expressing his views, sharing his faith with you but was never intrusive. You saw a lot of his Christianity in the way he conducted himself and the way he lived his life. I admired that about him.”
Franklin’s influence on the Haynesville community was far deeper than wins and losses on Friday. On Sunday it was commonplace to find him at the First Baptist Church where he served as a deacon.
In a show of his humility, Franklin’s family requested that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to either the children’s playground at First Baptist Church or Haynesville’s Quarterback Club which presented Franklin with a golf cart and trailer upon his retirement in 2001.
David Franklin, one of Franklin’s three sons, took over the program until his father came out of retirement to serve as an assistant to his son, getting the gratifying opportunity to coach two of his grandsons before stepping away for good and leaving a lasting legacy.
“It was a tough day for everybody,” Ware said. “It’s very difficult. He lived where he had it good and had a lot of success. Just a special man that just doesn’t come around very often.”
Featured Image Courtesy: The Shreveport Times