As former longtime Ellet High School football coach Joe Yost reflected on being inducted into the Akron Public Schools Athletics Hall of Fame , an old opposing player showed him the ultimate respect.
Marcus Sims approached Yost on Saturday night at Guy's Party Center in Akron and complimented him. As a Garfield senior in 1989, Sims quarterbacked the Golden Rams to a Division I regional championship game appearance.
“If there was any other team I would have played for, it was you definitely because of your coaching scheme, your mentality and the structure you brought to the football game,” Sims said to Yost. “I wanted to shake your hand.”
Yost coached Ellet football for 38 seasons and went 234-152-2. He holds the APS record for career wins by a football coach.
Yost expressed gratitude about being able to attend the Class of 2024's induction ceremony . He had experienced dizziness earlier the same day and explained he has endured significant health issues since the spring of 2023.
“I've had two minor strokes, and half the time I can't talk,” Yost said. “I've learned to live with it.”
Two other local football coaching legends, Manchester's Jim France and Garfield's Bill McGee , were in attendance. Yost said the three friends still get together. France sat at Yost's table, and McGee joined Yost as an inductee in the APS Athletics HOF's third class .
“It brings back memories, and I think it's a real needed thing,” Yost said of the APS Athletics HOF. “Akron's got a lot going for it. Sometimes people forget that.”
Some of the greatest sports figures to hail from Greater Akron were honored last week when the APS Athletics Hall of Fame and the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame held banquets. The Beacon Journal attended both ceremonies and gathered interviews behind the scenes with Yost and others. Here are more highlights.
Former Garfield High School football sensation Antoine Winfield Sr. says coach Bill McGee is 'the greatest high school coach of all time'
Four days before McGee entered the APS Athletics HOF , he attended the Summit County Sports HOF induction ceremony Oct. 1 at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Akron to support the player he has labeled as the best he ever coached — former Garfield safety and running back, Ohio State cornerback and three-time NFL Pro Bowl selection Antoine Winfield Sr.
“Every coach should have at least one player like Antoine Winfield,” McGee said. “Not only was he our best player, but he was our most liked player. The kids all loved him. The coaches admired him.
“He was the best at so many things. He was the best tackler we had. He was the best on pass coverage. After his freshman year, he stayed healthy better than anybody else. He was a 135-pound freshman, and he suffered a break, two fractures in his hands and wrist, and only got to play in two games. But we suspected that as a freshman he was our best player.”
McGee was inducted into the Summit County Sports HOF in 2002. Winfield was inducted into the APS Athletics HOF two years ago. Now McGee and Winfield are in both halls of fame and ecstatic for each other.
“It's truly an honor,” Winfield said. “You get two elites as a player and as a coach, and this is the highest honor you can get, especially in sports, getting welcomed to the hall of fame. I'm just thankful and blessed.”
Akron Public Schools Athletics HOF: Beanie Wells, Class of 2024 induction highlights
As the head coach at Garfield for 26 seasons, McGee went 191-83-4 and won or shared 16 City Series titles.
“The greatest high school coach of all time,” Winfield said. “That man blessed me with absolutely everything. He's a mentor, a father figure. He took really good care of me. I'm so happy that he's getting the recognition that he deserves because he's been a hell of a coach for a very long time.”
Summit County Sports Hall of Fame: Here are speech highlights from the induction ceremony with Shawn Porter and Antoine Winfield Jr.
Football fan Shawn Porter admires fellow 2024 Summit County Sports Hall of Fame inductees
Two-time world boxing champion Shawn Porter said he was thrilled to be inducted into the Summit County Sports HOF with NFL greats Winfield, Pittsburgh Steelers two-time Super Bowl champ James Harrison and Miami Dolphins Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor.
Porter starred on the gridiron for Cuyahoga Falls and Stow high schools before graduating from Stow in 2006. Like Winfield, Porter played defensive back and running back in high school.
“I remember him at Ohio State and years and years [with the] Minnesota [Vikings],” Porter said of Winfield. “You just knew wherever he was going to be, you knew that he was going to be lockdown and get the job done.
“That's kind of why I relate to him in. Anything that I do, I get the job done. So I feel like that's something you can say about Northeast Ohio athletes. We get the job done.”
Bond between great Akron running backs Beanie Wells and John Wooldridge enters spotlight
This year's Akron Public Schools Athletics Hall of Fame event carried a special meaning for two former City Series and Ohio State standout running backs.
When Garfield graduate Chris "Beanie" Wells delivered an acceptance speech during his induction, the former first-round NFL draft pick called Central-Hower graduate John Wooldridge a “huge inspiration.” Wells added Wooldridge is “like a brother to me.” Wooldridge entered the APS Athletics HOF last year. He and Wells are also in the Summit County Sports HOF.
Wooldridge , 60, got to know Wells, 36, while the latter played at Ohio State. But Wooldridge had also monitored Wells' Garfield career. Wooldridge's nephew Mark Wooldridge Jr. was Walsh Jesuit's starting tailback during Wells' days at Garfield, so Wooldridge kept track of the local high school football scene. Wells dominated it.
“When I saw [Wells] play [for Garfield], not only did I think he could be one of the best running backs that had ever played in the city of Akron, but he had a physical structure about him that was uncommon for running backs at that time,” Wooldridge said. “He was built more like a lineman or a linebacker.
“He was just a beast to be playing running back at that level. That caught the attention of everyone. He was twice the size of a lot of these running backs, doing the same things that they were doing.”
A successful businessman, Wooldridge has mentored Wells off the field.
“That's been one of the highlights for me as I watched Beanie grow and develop over the course of years, just how he's really embraced the entire professional aspect of life,” Wooldridge said.
Former Akron Zips football coach Lee Owens not surprised by Jason Taylor's coaching career with Miami Hurricanes
With Taylor unable to attend his Summit County Sports HOF induction, former University of Akron football coach Lee Owens represented the former Zips star who became an iconic Dolphins defensive end .
Owens reflected on Taylor entering the coaching realm. He is the defensive line coach of the Miami Hurricanes.
“He always had the great communication ability,” Owens said. “He's just one of those guys that made everybody else around him better, which is a great quality of any coach. He's good-looking. He's going to be a great recruiter. I mean, my daughter had a crush on him since she was a teenager here at Green High School all the way through 'Dancing with the Stars' to his [acting] career.
“You knew whatever Jason wants to do, he can do. He's just that kind of guy. He's smart, he's charismatic, he's athletic, and I'm excited for him and for the start that he's having to his career with Miami right now. It's awesome.”
More Akron Public Schools Athletics Hall of Fame coverage
More Summit County Sports Hall of Fame coverage
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ellet football's Joe Yost gets utmost respect, plus more from legends at Akron HOF events
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