The Young Herd

Red Dawson helped mold 1971 team

The Herald-Dispatch

Red Dawson was somewhere around Greensboro, N.C., when he heard the news.

The Marshall football team he had helped coach only hours earlier had been involved in a plane crash. Later, he learned that all 75 people aboard the DC-9 jet carrying the team, staff and some supporters back from Greenville, N.C., to Huntington died in the crash near Tri-State Airport.

Marshall lost its game that day to East Carolina. Rather than flying back with the team on that foggy, rainy Nov. 14, 1970, night, Dawson, who had been on the road recruiting, drove back.

On the drive home, he learned about the plane crash by radio.

The 27-year-old Dawson helped hold the football program together following the tragedy. He remained on the Marshall coaching staff one more year and was instrumental in helping new head coach Jack Lengyel rebuild the Young Thundering Herd.

Today, the 60-something Valdosta, Ga., native operates a Huntington construction company.

He has also been closely involved with the making of "We Are Marshall," the Warner Bros. movie that chronicles the story of the plane crash and rebirth of the football program. Actor Matthew Fox is playing Dawson in the movie, with dyed red hair to match.

Dawson was a star end at Florida State, where he is a member of the athletic Hall of Fame. He played one year of pro football.

The Dawson family includes his wife, Carole; daughter, Katie; and son, Bill Jr.