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Hatfield exhibit on display at Delta Cultural Center
January 26, 2007
HELENA --The Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas is presenting a special exhibit on Coach Ken Hatfield, a Helena native and former head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, in conjunction with Hatfield’s scheduled keynote address at the 71st Annual Phillips County Chamber of Commerce Banquet on Monday, January 29.
The exhibit opens Friday, January 19, 2007, and will continue through Friday, March 2, 2007, at the Delta Cultural Center in the historic 1912 Missouri Pacific Depot at 95 Missouri Street. Admission to the exhibit is free. The exhibition includes items of memorabilia from Hatfield’s personal collection which he has donated to the Delta Cultural Center, as well as other photographs and items which aid in recapturing Hatfield’s days at Fayetteville, both as a player and as a coach.
As a player, Hatfield was famously a starring defensive back on the 1964 Arkansas Razorbacks football team that posted an 11-0 season and was awarded the Football Writers of America national championship.
After placing second nationally as a sophomore in 1962, Hatfield led the nation in punt returns in 1963 and 1964. Longtime Razorback fans will recall his 81-yard return against Texas in the Hogs’ 14-13 win in 1964. In all, Hatfield would score five touchdowns on punt returns during his college days, including a record 95-yard run in 1963’s Tulsa game.
Among his teammates on that championship season were Jerry Jones, future owner of the Dallas Cowboys; Jimmy Johnson, future head coach at Oklahoma State, and for the Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins; Jim Lindsey, later a running back for the Minnesota Vikings, and still later, a member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees; Glen Ray Hines, a future NFL tackle with the Houston Oilers, the New Orleans Saints, and Pittsburgh Steelers; and Bill Gray, today executive associate athletic director at the University of Arkansas.
“Some of them turned into professional players, and some of them just got rich,” says Jack Myers, Delta Cultural Center curator of education, who oversaw the development of the Hatfield exhibit.
“It’s a ‘who’s who’ of who old-timers think of as Razorbacks,” Myers said, rattling off the roster of the 1964 championship team.
Today, Hatfield still ranks as the only college player to finish in the nation’s top two in punt returns for three straight seasons.
Hatfield was also an Academic All-America selection for the ’64 Hogs. An accounting major, Hatfield earned his degree in 1965.
In 1989, he was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. When the Hogs’ “All-Century Team” was named as a part of the university’s grid centennial in 1994, Hatfield’s name was featured prominently on the list.
The Delta Cultural Center exhibition focusing Hatfield includes items of memorabilia from Hatfield’s personal collection which he has donated to the museum, as well as other photographs and items that aid in recapturing Hatfield’s days at Fayetteville, both as a player and as a coach.
The two kiosks of photographs from Hatfield’s life are divided into various aspects of his player days, as well as his leadership of the Hogs as head coach. Team pictures of the 1964 champions and Frank Broyles, their legendary coach, are displayed, as are individual shots of some of the other gridiron greats who were Hatfield’s peers at the University of Arkansas.
Another grouping of photos spotlights the Hatfield brothers at Fayetteville, including a shot of their father in attendance for a “Dad’s Day” game at which his seat was the only one to be decorated with the numbers of two Razorback players. Another photo captures Hatfield receiving an honorary saber as a member of ROTC.
A display of memorabilia includes a Hatfield sweatshirt from the Cotton Bowl, a cap from his coaching days, and a jersey from his days on the field for the Razorbacks. Also included is a medallion from the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year awards ceremony held at Little Rock in 1983.
A 1963 annual from the University of Arkansas is open to display photographs of Ken and Dick Hatfield. Flying above is a handmade Razorback flag from the collection of Jack Myers, curator. One of the earliest of the fan flags to fly during Razorback football games, the flag dates to 1966, Myers notes.
“That’s the first one I ever remember seeing,” Myers recalls. “My parents and I made it and took it to all of the games.”
Also, continuous screenings of the documentary “The Pride of Arkansas: Arkansas Football 1894-1994,” narrated by broadcasting veteran and former Razorback Pat Summerall (1949-1951) will be offered at the Delta Cultural Center during the exhibition.
Hatfield’s career as a head coach began at the U.S. Air Force Academy from 1979-1983, leading Air Force to successive bowl trips in 1982-83. He finished his time there as national Coach of the Year in 1983.
Returning to Fayetteville to become head coach of the Razorbacks in 1984, Hatfield would lead the Hogs to two Southwest Conference championships during his tenure, and took Arkansas on six bowl trips in six seasons from 1984-1989. He was named by the “Houston Post” as Southwest Conference Coach of the Decade for the 1980s.
He would head next to Clemson after posting a 55-17 record at Arkansas. Hatfield led the Clemson Tigers to a 32-13-1 record over a four-year period in 1990-93. His four squads a Clemson all spent time ranked among the nation’s top 20 squads.
He was head coach at Rice University from 1994-2005, posting a record of 55-78-1. He resigned at Rice on Nov. 30, 2005, leaving behind a career coaching record of 168-140-4.
Hatfield’s banquet presentation will be held at the Phillips Community College Fine Arts Center. Cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m., with the program and dinner getting underway at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $30.
Other events slated for the banquet evening are the Phillips County Farm Family of the Year presentation, as well as the announcement of the Citizen and Business of the Year.
Hatfield was a 1961 graduate of Helena Central High School.
During his early youth, Hatfield’s family moved around, living for a time in Fort Smith, Arkansas; England,Arkansas; and Texarkana, Arkansas. Divorce would bring Hatfield, his older brother, Dick, and their mother back to Helena to live with her parents when Hatfield was in the sixth grade, and Dick was in the seventh.
The family lived in a 1912 home at 726 College St. that still stands today. Hatfield’s grandfather, J.F. Wahl, served the Helena Schools System as superintendent for 44 years, and often took the two brothers fishing and hunting, introducing them to the outdoors life of the Arkansas Delta.
Both Ken and Dick Hatfield were active in sports at Helena Central High School, participating in football, basketball, and track during the school year, as well as playing baseball during the summer. Hatfield recalled in a 2006 interview with the “Arkansas Times” that he and his brother’s busy sports schedule was the result of his working mother wanting “to make sure we had something to do.”
For more information on the Coach Ken Hatfield banquet, interested persons can call the Phillips County Chamber of Commerce office at (870)-338-8327.
For more information regarding the Hatfield exhibit at the Delta Cultural Center, interested persons can call (870)-338-4350.
The Delta Cultural Center shares the vision of all seven agencies of the Department of Arkansas Heritage – to preserve and promote Arkansas heritage as a source of pride and satisfaction. Other agencies within the department are the Historic Arkansas Museum, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Arkansas Arts Council, and the Natural Heritage Commission.
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