John Reddell
Roster Info
| Season | Class | # | Pos | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | SO | 86 | LE | 6-1 | 175 |
| 1951 | JR | 86 | LE | 6-1 | 175 |
| 1952 | SR | 86 | RE | 6-1 | 175 |
Personal Info
| First Name: | John |
| Middle Name: | C. |
| Last Name: | Reddell |
| Common Name: | |
| Nickname: | |
| Hometown: | Oklahoma City, OK |
| High School: | Classen |
| Birth Date/Place: | February 17, 1930 in Oklahoma City, OK |
| Death Date/Place: | October 14, 2002 in Bedford, TX (age 72) |
| Related To: | John (son), Brad (grandson) |
| Obituary: |
John Reddell, 72, longtime high school football coach and two-sport athlete at the University of Oklahoma, died of congestive heart failure Monday, Oct. 14, 2002. Funeral: 11 a.m. Thursday at Highland Meadows Christian Church, Colleyville, 2600 Hall Johnson Road. Visitation: 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home, Colleyville, 5725 Colleyville Blvd.
Memorials: The Coach John C. Reddell Memorial Scholarship Fund at Euless Trinity High School c/o HEB ISD Administration, 1849 Central Drive, Bedford, Texas 76021.
A Bedford resident, Coach Reddell, who retired as Trinity head football coach in 1991, had a career record 260-135-12 over 39 years of coaching in Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Arlington, Midland and Trinity -- all as head football coach. Reddell's record for wins is among the highest in Texas high school football history. He will more be remembered for the compassion and guidance he gave to the many students and young coaches during his career, emphasizing character, poise and fair play.
Reddell was born in 1930 and grew up in Oklahoma City, where he was an outstanding three sport All-State athlete at Classen High School. Upon receiving a football scholarship, he attended the University of Oklahoma and played under the legendary Bud Wilkinson. He is perhaps the only athlete to have started on a football national champion and a baseball national champion in the same academic year, 1950-51 at OU.
Reddell was voted Coach of the Year 17 times, received the Gordon Wood Distinguished Service Award, the National High School Coaches Award and served as a director of the Texas High School Coaches Association. He had the distinction of coaching in the highest attended high school district football game when Trinity played Bell in Texas Stadium before 27,681 fans.
An inscribed plaque displayed at Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD's Pennington Field Hall of Fame reads:
"Grateful to coaches and players for the spirit of sheer grit and courage that time and again changed certain defeat into victory, which was an inspiration for 39 wonderful years of coaching. The Athlete -- The Competitor -- The Gentleman"
Survivors: Wife, Dodie; sons, John Jr. and wife, Karen, Steven and wife, Tina, David and wife, Debbie and Brad and wife, Michelle; stepsons, Kevin Gavlak and wife, Dee, Kris Gavlak and wife, Gladys and stepdaughter, Kathy and husband, Tom; sister, Francis of Oklahoma City and 18 grandchildren, Aaron, Leslie, Crystal, Brian, Shelby, Kyle, Austin, Briana, Genivie, Taylor, Elisha, Mici, Bryce, Tara, Britney, John-David, Brett and Braden.
Notes
- A (C) indicates that the player was a captain for that season (named before each game in 1982, 1995 through 1998, and 2022 to present).
- Related To refers to other OU athletes only.
- Calculations for career totals will be skewed if the season totals are incomplete.