The former head varsity football coach at Fremont High School from the 1960s and ’70s, Gerald Ferguson, died on July 25. He was 86.
Ferguson, affectionately known as “Fergie,” coached from 1958 through 1977. Under his leadership, his teams won 104 games and earned league championships in 1959, 1962, 1964, 1969, 1971 and 1974.
Ferguson expected maximum effort on every play until the whistle blew, said Ken Greenly, who was coached by Ferguson in 1971 and ’72.
“Fergie was a no-nonsense coach who believed in hard-nose football,” Greenly said. “This probably had to do with him being raised in the heartland of the country and playing football for the University of Nebraska. Team success was built around sportsmanship, along with clean blocking and hard tackling.
“Fergie would tell us that if you woke up the morning following a game and were not hurting all over, you didn’t leave it all out on the field.”
Greenly said to this day, the group of guys still gather in September, as the football season begins, as former teammates to enjoy their friendships and reflect on the ’70 and ’71 teams they were part of under Coach Ferguson.
“He brought us together in a way that still bonds us today,” Greenly said. “Years later, Fergie would join us for a golf and dinner reunion. We’d have a good laugh about some of his practice methods and play calling, 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Fergie favored a grinding running game and the blocking and tackling mentality that went with it.”
Born on July 19, 1928, Ferguson grew up in Scottsbluff, Neb., where he attended Scottsbluff High School and excelled in several sports. In recognition of this, he is being inducted into the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame in Lincoln as an athlete on Oct. 5.
After high school, he went on to attend the University of Nebraska, where he was a star running back and quarterback.
In 1951, he joined the U.S. Air Force, attending the officers training school. He spent about a year in Okinawa supervising the loading of bombs onto aircraft during the Korean War. When he returned he spent another six years in the reserves.
But before he was deployed, he married Beverly Osler, on Nov. 28, 1953.
His career as the head football coach at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale began in 1958, after a move to California.
“He is regarded as one of the most successful and respected high school football coaches in the Santa Clara Valley,” said his son, Gary Ferguson. “He was not your typical yelling and screaming coach. He was very kind and would help anyone out at anytime.”
He even coached a couple of players who later went on to play in the NFL, including John Travis, who played with the San Diego Chargers in 1966, Jack Wender of the Chargers and Carl Ekern of the Los Angeles Rams.
Len Piumarta was a senior at Fremont High in 1959 when Ferguson started coaching.
“The team went 3-6 his first year,” Piumarta said. “He only had two letterman returning from the 1958 team. But in 1959 a young man by the name of Tyce Fitzsmorris came to Fremont as a junior from Southern California. He scored 12 touchdowns his first year for Fergie. He went on to star at Stanford. Later, coach Ferguson named his newborn son Tyce. He was a great man and a very respected coach.”
Piumarta said Ferguson brought his friend Jack Carroll out from Nebraska, and Carroll became Sunnyvale High School’s head coach.
“Then the rivalry between the two schools really began,” Piumarta said.
According to Fremont head football coach Jake Messina, the team has ordered “GF” memorial stickers for the helmets to be worn next season.
On or off the field, Gary Ferguson said his father was everything to him.
“For me, the most memorable moment with my Dad would be when I asked him to be my best man and he said he would be honored,” he said.
In his retirement, Gerald “Jerry” Ferguson spent his spare time golfing or fishing.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Beverly; three children, Gary and his wife, Janet, Tyce and his wife, Kathy, and Corinne Kennedy and her husband, Timothy; six grandchildren; a great-granddaughter, Sophie Grace Walker; twin sister, Geraldine Miller; and extended family.
A Celebration of Jerry’s Life will be held at Mariani’s Inn & Restaurant in Santa Clara on Sept. 6 at 2 p.m. Interment will be at the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella.
Remembrances may be made to Asera Care Hospice, 650 W. Alluvial Ave., Fresno, CA, 93711; or Parkinson’s Disease Foundation at support.pdf.org; or to the donor’s favorite charity: Stephens & Bean Chapel, 202 N. Teilman Ave., Fresno, CA, 559.268.9292.
