Touchdown Club ready for 69th season
The Macon Touchdown Club has been in operation since 1946 and will begin its 69th season on Sept. 8 at the Methodist Children’s Home on Pierce Avenue when Mercer head coach Bobby Lamb previews the remainder of the 2014 season as well as gives a recap on the Bears’ first two games against Reinhardt and Furman.
The Touchdown Club has had an unbelievable list of coaches to speak to the club throughout the years, including more than 20 who have won national championships.
That first season, Georgia Tech’s William A. “Bill” Alexander and Georgia’s Wally Butts spoke to the club on two different occasions. Alexander, who was credited with a national title in 1928, was the club’s first speaker on Oct. 7, 1946 and Butts, who won national crowns in 1943 and 1946, came a month later. Both returned for the Club’s annual jamboree, which was held March 7, 1947.
The Macon Club has attracted at least one coach from virtually every SEC and ACC team, as well as select coaches from around the nation.
Among the national championship coaches to speak to the club have been Paul Dietzel (LSU), Vince Dooley (Georgia), Bud Wilkinson (Oklahoma), Bob Devaney (Nebraska), Dan Devine (Notre Dame), Johnny Majors (Pittsburgh), Gene Stallings (Alabama), Phil Fulmer (Tennessee), Mack Brown (Texas), Danny Ford (Clemson), Erk Russell (Georgia Southern), Eddie Robinson (Grambling), Jake Gaither (Florida A&M), Shug Jordan (Auburn), Gene Chizik (Auburn), Jim Tressel (Ohio State), Chris Hatcher (Valdosta State), John McKay (USC).
Also: Bobby Dodd (Georgia Tech), Bobby Ross (Georgia Tech), Howard Schnellenberger (Miami), Urban Meyer (Florida), Lloyd Carr (Michigan) Bobby Bowden (Florida State), and Frank Broyles (Arkansas). Woody Hayes (Ohio State) was scheduled speak in 1985, but he suffered a stroke the weekend before he was scheduled.
Joe Gibbs and Tom Coughlin, who both have multiple Super Bowl titles, also have graced the Macon Touchdown Club’s speakers rostrum.
You can also add to that national championship list current Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson, who won back to back national titles at Georgia Southern in 1999 and 2000. He will be one of the 11 speakers that Club executive director King Kemper has lined up this year.
In addition to Lamb and Johnson, other speakers are John Stephenson, President and CEO of the new College football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Troy’s Larry Blakeney, former Georgia quarterback David Greene, Atlanta Falcons and Fox Sports announcer Wes Durham, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, UAB head coach Bill Clark, Georgia Southern’s Willie Fritz and Army’s Jeff Monken.
The club will also have a “ladies night” program this year featuring impressionist Scott Moore.
If you are interested in joining the Macon Touchdown Club, contact Kemper at 957-1920 or president Mallory Jones at 745-3991.
The meetings are each Monday, starting at 6:30 p.m. The cost for the season is $250.00, and includes the club’s annual jamboree, which is set for February or March of 2015.
Contact Bobby Pope at bobbypope428@gmail.com
This story was originally published August 18, 2014 at 10:49 PM with the headline "Touchdown Club ready for 69th season."