Coach C.H. Hopper Kennedy

This is the story of Charles Hoffman 'Hopper' Kennedy. He became a high school football and basketball coach in the early 1920s. He worked his way up the ladder by working with each of his players to help each of them to believe in themselves to become the best they could be and to help them form into a team. He would scout the teams he would be playing--sometimes going to their school to see the plans they were working on to defeat him. His big break came when they hired him at Lynch, Kentucky. His team had nineteen shutouts in a row, twenty-seven shutouts in three seasons. He was chosen to coach the all-star game of 1942 in Kentucky and won the game. He had two players go to the NFL: #8, Harold Mullin, tackle, 214 lbs., six feet three; and #27, Joe Hollingsworth, running back, 189 lbs., six feet two. Hopper did this at thirty-nine years old. He also played semipro basketball from 1926 to 1928 where he won the MVP for being the center. He got his nickname Hopper in college when he played world billiards champion. Willie Hoppe started calling him Hopper. He then went to Lockport, New York, to coach high school football and basketball. He turned both teams into having a winning season. He talked to each player for hours past the practice into the night. By doing this, he formed the foundation of building his players into champions. That method won the games.