ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996 TAG: 9610170040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
A hall of fame induction is a confirmation, an affirmation, a coronation.
However, to most of the friends and foes in attendance and the hundreds of players touched in the past and present by Norm Lineburg and Bob Williams, the verification of their success Wednesday night really was old news.
Radford High's Lineburg and Williams, the retired Parry McCluer legend, were among eight inductees in the seventh class of the Virginia High School Hall of Fame at a banquet at a Charlottesville hotel.
The two men's careers have been separated by 90 miles of Interstate 81, but not much else. While each certainly has achieved more, Lineburg and Williams were primarily honored as football coaches, and deservedly so.
Neither is a man of many words. Each was humbled by his induction, and not because the program's slide show included photos of each as a toddler.
Neither, however, should have been surprised to be among an honored group now numbering 96.
Williams celebrated his 57th birthday a day late, with his induction. He retired from coaching after the 1994 season, his 21st as head coach at Parry McCluer, where he attended high school. He won 199 games and five state titles in an 11-season span (1977-87). He also had a state runner-up team.
Many of his Fighting Blues teams were so small, they might have been mistaken for Smurfs. However, what Williams accomplished in Buena Vista is giant - and not just because he averaged more than nine wins annually and took the Blues to 12 district and 12 regional titles.
Lineburg, 61, became a head coach when John F. Kennedy was still in the White House, starting at William Byrd in Vinton before moving to Fieldale-Collinsville. However, his personal Camelot has been at Radford, where he's in his 27th football season.
Lineburg's next football victory will be his 240th, in his 35th season, which includes 15 playoff appearances. You can count the state football coaches with more wins than that on less than one hand's fingers.
His Bobcats won four state titles, two in football (1971, '72) and two in track. Lineburg also was Virginia's athletic director of the year five years ago.
Those accomplishments by both men are grand. But there is more that makes each a worthy inductee to an honor court that already includes Martinsville basketball coaching great Husky Hall and late Roanoke sportswriter Bob McLelland.
Williams and Lineburg brought more than victory and acclaim to their schools, their teams and themselves. They gave their communities a sense of identity, and their residents a sense of belonging.
With blue-collar programs known for preparation, the dedication of Lineburg and Williams has made Friday night special in Radford and Buena Vista. At 8 o'clock, no one had to ask where the town was. Everyone knew.
Williams' teams seemed to play beyond their potential. Lineburg-coached teams always have been known for their organization, their precision.
``I firmly believe Bobby won the state championship a couple of times when there were 10 or more teams in his division with better talent,'' wrote Williams' friend and rival, Covington High coach John Woodzell, in the VHSL nomination. ``He just established a rather simple philosophy for both sides of the ball, got players to believe in what they were doing, motivated them highly ''
Lineburg has helped 46 Bobcats earn scholarships to four-year colleges. One of those was one of his first Radford quarterbacks, Kenny Alderman, now an assistant principal at the high school.
``There's a trust and a loyalty Norm Lineburg has built here,'' said Alderman, who went from Radford to play quarterback at Southern Mississippi. ``Trust and loyalty. Nice words, but things you don't see a whole lot anymore.''
With Williams and Lineburg, what they said they were going to do is what happened, because of their preparation and commitment.
Besides being a hometown kid who stayed put and did well, what meant as much to Williams was that he joined a Hall that already included his coaching mentor, Lexington's ``Pete'' Brewbaker.
As for Lineburg, there are whispers that he will join Williams in retirement in the not-too-distant future. Others in Radford say it won't happen soon, because it would take Lineburg at least three more years to clear out an office filled with what some call clutter, others call history.
In reaching the pinnacle of their careers with a deserved Hall pass, the night wasn't just about what Lineburg and Williams have won.
It was about what they've helped others accomplish.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB