The Plano Senior football team has won seven UIL State Football Championships across four different classifications.

Tom Gray, the head coach for the Wildcats' first state title, died Monday night at the age of 82 due to complications from Alzheimer's disease.

"I sure was sorry to hear about Tom's passing," said John Clark, who took the helm at Plano when Gray departed for Amarillo Palo Duro in 1966.

He wasn't alone.

Mesquite head coach Robbie Robinson, who played for the state runner-up Skeeters team in 1974 under Gray, said he was "shocked" to learn of the news.

"Above everything else, [Gray] taught me the value of hard work," Robinson added. "He pushed us hard and we took a lot from him and the staff, but the one thing that stands out is embracing the value of hard work."

Gray was advocate of hard work even before he became a coach.

Born Feb. 6, 1930, in San Angelo, Gray played halfback at San Angelo Junior College and North Texas, acquiring the nickname "Potty" along the way because at 5-foot-7, 180 pounds he was built like a pot.

Gray, a first lieutenant and artillery office in the U.S. Marine Corps as the Korean War was ending, coached at McKinney for four years before coming to Plano as head football coach and athletic director in 1959. While his focus was the varsity Wildcats, he also established football programs for the seventh and eighth grade.

Plano has established itself as a football powerhouse over the past 50 years, but it wasn't that way when Gray arrived. In fact, the two coaches before him posted losing records.

"Tom ran a tight ship and got young men to play hard for him," Clark said. "If you have those two things, you are going to be just fine."

Gray changed Plano's fortunes, thanks in part to installing the Wing-T formation.

"Our senior year (1961), we were undefeated until losing to Jacksboro (20-12) in the regional playoffs," said Owen Haggard, who was inducted into the Plano ISD Hall of Honor this summer. "That was Tom Gray's third year at Plano. We had not done well the few years before he came to Plano. Coach Gray, with our team, started the winning tradition that Plano still enjoys today."

But while going from losing to winning was a big transition, it was nothing compared to the changes that came around in 1964.

That was when Williams Field opened, and Clark joined the staff as a basketball and football coach, but also the year in which Plano integrated with Frederick Douglass High School (known as Plano Colored School at the time). Gray told his players there would be, "absolutely no problems," and he was right as, despite potential tensions, no players left the team.

"There were some adjustments that had to be made by the schools and the players," Clark said. "There always are in these situations, but I think we did a good job and a lot of credit for that should go to the people in the Douglas community."

The success of the new partnership was evident in 1965 as Plano made the playoffs and beat West, Lake Worth, Dekalb and Iowa Park en route to the Class 2A State Finals.

"West was a big game because they were favored over us," Clark said. "Actually, I'm sure all the teams we played in the playoffs were favored over us because no one had really heard of us then, so we might have slipped up on them."

The season culminated Dec. 18, 1965, against Edna.

The game was played at Nelson Field in Austin and was originally going to be without a scoreboard before Texas head coach Darrell Royal agreed to let the teams use a basketball scoreboard from the campus. With the temporary scoreboard held up by a forklift and rain coming down, Gray and Plano won their first state title with a 20-17 victory over Edna.

"That team was such a fun group to work with," Clark said. "And there is always something a little special, especially in the community, about winning that first one."

The impact of the Gray-led Wildcats' title was long lasting.

"That title in '65 was huge," said Tom Kimbrough, former Plano head coach who took over in 1976. "Coach Gray set the winning tradition in terms of state championships. And once you establish that tradition, it's a lot easier to fill the program and sell the community on what you are doing."

The Class 2A State Championship win over Edna would be the last game Gray coached for the Wildcats as he departed for Palo Duro in 1966.

"He asked if I wanted to come with him to Amarillo," Clark said. "I told him, 'no Tom, I believe I'll stay here and see if I am lucky enough to get the Plano job.'"

Clark got the job and won two state titles over the next decade.

"Tom set up a good foundation here at Plano and I obviously benefitted from that," Clark said. "He was a good Christian coach who set high standards; he expected a lot from his players and coaches, but also expected a lot from himself."

Kimbrough noted Gray's legacy on the Wildcats' program as well.

"I never coached alongside Tom, but we certainly shared a bond as Plano coaches," he said. "Tom did an outstanding job, especially with that '65 team, and players were continually talking about how much they appreciated the job he had done."

That appreciation spread throughout the Metroplex as Gray took over at Irving in 1967 before going to Mesquite, where he served as head coach from 1968-1977.

As was the case at Plano, Gray was a trailblazer in Mesquite.

Gray led the Skeeters, who hadn't made the playoffs since 1941, to a 4-4-2 record in his first season. Mesquite continued to chase that elusive playoff berth until 1974 when the team posted an 11-1-3 record and advanced to the first state title game in program history before losing to Freeport Brazoswood, 22-12, in the Class 4A State Finals.

Gray's 56-39-10 record with the Skeeters puts him sixth in coaching victories in Mesquite ISD history and second at the school, behind only Steve Halpin.

But as was the case in Plano, Gray's contribution stretched beyond just football.

"Coach Gray impacted countless lives during his years at Mesquite High School," said Steve Bragg, MISD athletic director. "There are a lot of people still tied to the school district -- employees, ex-employees, former players, coaches who got their start through him and worked with him -- and they all have shared fond memories. He touched a lot of lives and had a huge impact on MISD."

Count Mesquite's current coach as one of those people.

"There is no doubt that Coach Gray and his staff had a huge impact on me," Robinson said. "They wanted me to get into the profession and helped me go in that direction, so he definitely had a big impact on my life."

Gray was inducted into the Plano ISD Hall of Honor in 2006.

Prior to that, he spent much of his retirement fishing, frequently taking family trips to New Mexico and trout fishing in the Pecos River.

"Tom was quite an outdoorsman; he loved to hunt and fish," Clark said. "I didn't really ever get to go out there with him or do too much of that though because I was always in the field house."

A sentiment Gray would no doubt support.

-- Staff Writer Devin Hasson contributed to this story

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