Bluegrassrivals

Is he still living? If so where does he reside? There is an interest in his offense he use to run at Elkorn City and Fleming Neon...the old side saddle T.

I believe he may be residing in Tennessee on Cherokee Lake near Bean Station. During football season you can see him at many of Letcher Central's games sitting on the sidelines. Especially when Hillard Howard was still coaching.

He is still living. He attends a lot of East Ridge Football games.

if you are interested in the side saddle offense, give me a email address and i would be glad to help you

Oldtimer...I sent you a PM. Thanks.

My Cousin is a Nurse down in Morristown, Tn. About 7-8 years ago he was treating a guy in the ER down there. Him and the guy started talking and they found out they were both from here. The guy told him he used to coach football at Elkhorn. My cousin looks at his chart and it says Jack Hall. He called him "Side Saddle Jack" like the Dipper used to and Jack just laughed and said yeah thats me. Last I heard he was still living. IMO he doesnt get the credit he deserves for his accomplishments as a coach.

HAIL PIKEVILLE! Wrote:My Cousin is a Nurse down in Morristown, Tn. About 7-8 years ago he was treating a guy in the ER down there. Him and the guy started talking and they found out they were both from here. The guy told him he used to coach football at Elkhorn. My cousin looks at his chart and it says Jack Hall. He called him "Side Saddle Jack" like the Dipper used to and Jack just laughed and said yeah thats me. Last I heard he was still living. IMO he doesnt get the credit he deserves for his accomplishments as a coach.

Not being a smart alleck, what were some of his accomplishments? When did he coach? How long? I have never heard of the side saddle offense, what kind of offense is this? What type of offense is this similar to?

Jarons Wrote:[/B]
Not being a smart alleck, what were some of his accomplishments? When did he coach? How long? I have never heard of the side saddle offense, what kind of offense is this? What type of offense is this similar to?

He coached Elkhorn City to a state title in Class "A" in 1964. He has had success at about every school he coached at. His last coaching stint was at Fleming-Neon(his almamater) in the early nineties where I believe they won the district over Pikeville and Hazard his last year. Football experts would be able to explain the "side saddle" better then me but it was unlike anything I had seen before or since in football. It is stated that he picked this up while he was playing college football at Wyoming in the fifties. Not sure if this is true.

He was at BL for one year and won 6 games and I think they beat pburg that year.

The side saddle offense was his trademark.

For those who dont know. Elkhorn City was the first high school in Pike County to win a state championship. The side saddle wing t offense is a somewhat hybrid of a single wing/wing t. Very simple offense mixed with some good ole mountain football.

Jack is doing great, lost some weight and telling whoppers on Cherokee lake. The guy is a living legend! Love to hear his stories of the battles with Hillard, Walter Brugh, and old time eastern ky football. Any questions about the side saddle feel free to send me an IM. I may still have a playbook or two

Woodrow Call Wrote:Jack is doing great, lost some weight and telling whoppers on Cherokee lake. The guy is a living legend! Love to hear his stories of the battles with Hillard, Walter Brugh, and old time eastern ky football. Any questions about the side saddle feel free to send me an IM. I may still have a playbook or two

Does any one know who is his next door neighbor is???? None other than the new Pikeville head coach, Dudley Hilton. Dudley has a place at Cherokee right next to him. You talk about 2 old men getting together and telling some football stories.

The side-saddle wing-T..I had the displeasure of playing against Neon at the height of their success under Jack, and as a Defensive End, that sidesaddle was a pain in the butt to play against. Youd be looking the qb in the eye, and have a direct clear shot at him, and as soon as the ball is snapped, youd have a quarterback (usually nothing more than a blocking back that takes snaps), and a blocking back, and a pulling guard stampeding overtop of you, lol..I absolutely LOVE Jack Hall though. And even though they were our biggest rivals back in the good ol days, I adored those Neon teams too. I would pay money to be on a porch with Jack and Dudley Hilton to not say a word and listen to old football stories, and thats no joke. I remember listening to Bill Currys talkshow one night in the early 90s and a coach called in and asked Coach Curry if he had any idea how to defend the Sidesaddle, and Curry was thrown for a loop, lol..He said "Lord I havent heard of the sidesaddle wing-T in 30 years..Im sorry, I have no idea", LOL..and I cant remember who it was, but they were facing Neon that Friday night. I wish I could remember the coach..but I remember playing Neon my Jr year in Jenkins, and they had a whale of a football team (went 10-2), and they broke open a close game in the second half, and I remember vividly, tackling Mikey Paul Quillen after about a 7 or 8 yard gain, with him and John Henry Hall on top of me, and I told MP in the pile, "Im so (bleepin) glad you all are seniors. Im gettin tired of this sidesaddle (bleep). Why dont you all run a normal (bleepin) offense?"..both of them laughed and JH Hall said, "Sorry man, blame Jack..its his baby"...they ended up beating us 41-8 that night in an awful rain storm..Jack retired from Neon after that season, and we beat them 46-14 the next season........ because they ran a normal offense, lol..

http://users.bestweb.net/~robgood/footba...e_Fly.html Hope this helps some.

Great info...but the guy I'm trying to help is the website you just posted. LOL. Thanks anyway.

Side-Saddle Jack is the greatest coach in Kentucky football history.

tebow Wrote:He was at BL for one year and won 6 games and I think they beat pburg that year.

:Clap: Coach Hall coached two years at BL 1986 and 1987 , we won 10 games in those two seasons and yes we're the only team to of ever beaten P-burg from BL .. It wasn't about that though , he , taught more football there in two years than most coaches teach in ten ... With the recent success the bobcat program has had lately , I think it would be great to invite him back to a game and honor him .... Definitely , a man that made a difference in my life and the lives of other young men ... The side saddle T , it's one of a kind , run to the sidelines for a play and he'd just say 6 , run it you got it ....... lol ...:Clap:

I had the pleasure of playing under Coach hall my freshmen year at neon. Afterwards he retired but it was an experience. We took a major nose dive after he left as well. He was thorough and rough with us but made us tuff. He knew how to get under your skin and bring out the toughness you had in you. He also pushed us hard in the weight room and in conditioning. I recall hardly any of the side saddle but may get a guy to talk on here who can. I know the QB was a blocker on many plays and we had a good one that year. John Hall was big and could crush opponents but also had a very strong arm.

It was mainly a power run offense like all the great mountain coaches use. If i recall correctly it would have been the 92 or 93 season my freshmen year. We had a really strong line with Lincoln Bentley, Shannon Strange, Zeke Jones and a couple good ends. Mikey Quillen and Robert Caudill were the ends. Our Wing back which if im not mistaken is unique to the Side Saddle was Jeremy Gross. He had some wheels and very good agility. We also had Jamie Hall at full back and Scott Caudill played in the backfield as well. I am pretty certain we got knocked outta the playoffs late by a very good Cumberland Redskin team. That year they had a great line backer, i think his name was George Massey. All the hype came from Pikeville as they were supposed to be the team to beat. They had a QB that was talked about alot and the rest of the team was solid. They had to play us at Neon that year and it was a tight game with us coming out on top.

I played for Coach Hall at Elkhorn City during the '78-'79 seasom. We went from 3-8 the previous 2 seasons under Gary Hall (no relation, believe me) to 8-3 and lost to #1 Paintsville in the playoffs. Jack is like a father to me, I communicate with him to this day although its been about a year. he is alive and well and as a previous poster stated is living in Tenn, near Cherokee Lake. He is at a football game nearly every Friday night during football season and is just an avid all-around sportsman. One of the best coaches of his era and there is no doubt in my mind if he were able, he could walk out on the field tomorrow and get a team ready to play. He is just an amazing man and his coaching skills are timeless. You want to kill him during practice but you would kill for him any other time.

The sidesaddle is very similar to the Wildcat formations that are so common today. I asked Jack about it this summer and he got a big kick out of everybody doing it now. I swear he could see every player on the field every play. We ran about 5 plays most of the time. Who get forget Sally Ran Pass. I am sure those from Elkhorn, and BL agree and all of the stories about Monroe. He was, is a legend!

Hilbily Wrote:I had the pleasure of playing under Coach hall my freshmen year at neon. Afterwards he retired but it was an experience. We took a major nose dive after he left as well. He was thorough and rough with us but made us tuff. He knew how to get under your skin and bring out the toughness you had in you. He also pushed us hard in the weight room and in conditioning. I recall hardly any of the side saddle but may get a guy to talk on here who can. I know the QB was a blocker on many plays and we had a good one that year. John Hall was big and could crush opponents but also had a very strong arm.

Coach Hall doesn't even call the QB a quarterback. he's called a blocking back and in my opinion that is the weakness to the offense because a lot of the time you can key on the QB and he leads you to the ball. But Coach had amazing success with it and hardly anyone could defend it unless you played against it every year.

Woodrow Call Wrote:The sidesaddle is very similar to the Wildcat formations that are so common today. I asked Jack about it this summer and he got a big kick out of everybody doing it now. I swear he could see every player on the field every play. We ran about 5 plays most of the time. Who get forget Sally Ran Pass. I am sure those from Elkhorn, and BL agree and all of the stories about Monroe. He was, is a legend!

Sally Ran, double screen, 28 throw back and believe me, I know all about 6, his bread and butter play. I played right tackle. You ran 6 the way it was supposed to be ran or you got his wrath. I've had more than one clip board broken over my head...

Coach Hall....... Well, I have to agree with what everyone says about him, I too played for him. I saw him a few years ago at LCC's first game at the new stadium, he called out to me and it all came back! I went over and gave him a big hug, and the Letcher Co. newspaper snapped a picture and we were on the front page of the paper! I owe a great deal to him. Coach Hall is a throwback to a different era in football, any young coach that has a chance to talk with him, should! He's been there and done it all. Make no mistake about it, even though he ran the sidesaddle, he knew all aspects of football. People overlook the fact that he ran a 4-3 defense with man to man coverage way ahead of his time in H.S. Football. I really love his stories, even though I know them all by heart, you never get tired of hearing them! LOL I really loved the one about his friend, Oxlinger who rode the bull and had his testicle torn off! LOL Not enough time or space to tell them all, but if you want to hear them, go down to Cherokee and visit with him!!