Mike Mastovich: Forest Hills to honor former coach Don Bailey, rename field house (WITH STATS)
Sep. 21—Any all-time list of the region's most successful football coaches must include Don Bailey's name.
That much is obvious to anyone who has followed high school football over the past 50 years. Bailey's success also extended beyond the field, as he shaped many young lives as an educator and administrator in the Forest Hills School District.
"He is the epitome of what a football coach should be," said veteran area coach Max Shoemaker, whose Chestnut Ridge and former Bedford teams often battled against Bailey's Rangers.
Bailey coached Forest Hills for 45 seasons (1974 through 2018), winning 375 games and 10 district championships.
His Rangers finished as Class 2A state runner-up after a double-overtime loss to Mount Carmel at Mansion Park in 1994.
A five-time Tribune-Democrat Coach of the Year, Bailey's teams appeared in 17 of the 34 district championship games in Forest Hills' classification. In addition to the titles, his Rangers were district runner-up seven times and made five trips to the state semifinal round (1991, 1993, 1994, 2002, 2010).
Lasting legacy: All those wins, championships and honors are only part of the reason Bailey, 72, will be honored on Friday. His work on the football field and as an educator will be spotlighted as Forest Hills renames its fieldhouse as the Donald G. Bailey Fieldhouse.
The ceremony will begin at 5:15 p.m. and eventually move to G.H. Miller Memorial Field, where the 2-2 Rangers will play undefeated Richland, a team coached by Bailey's son Brandon, the former Forest Hills standout quarterback.
"Back in 1974, the school board took a chance on a 23-year-old, young kid with only one year of junior high school football coaching experience," Don Bailey said. "I spent 11 years as a teacher, another 15 years as assistant principal and principal, two years as the director of education, and the last 10 years of my career as the superintendent.
"I was fortunate to have a lot of people impact my life. School board members, coaches, teachers, and the players, who number in the high thousands. And, my family."
'Two separate events': Family ties will be part of Friday's ceremony.
The Bailey father-son combination went head-to-head over the years when Forest Hills and Richland played. The games often were called the Bailey Bowl.
"For me, it's like two separate events," Brandon Bailey said. "Obviously, I'm excited for my family and the school district honoring my father. I'm looking forward to that event. After that is over, Richland is going to go out and try to beat Forest Hills."
Don Bailey and his wife, Diane, each taught in the Forest Hills School District.
Brandon and Don's youngest son, Derek Bailey, each played football for the Rangers.
"I've been very blessed and thankful to God for any success I've had over 45 years," said Don Bailey, who was inducted into the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020.
"My family, my sons Brandon and Derek, and my wife, Diane, she was my rock through all the years. Through all the wins and losses, she was always there for me."
'Unmatched for years to come': Current Rangers coach Justin Myers was quarterback on the 1994 state runner-up team and had a Geneva College Athletics Hall of Fame career at the next level.
"Mr. Bailey means everything to me. He's the one who got me started in football," Myers said. "I fell in love with the game as a player, with him coaching. He's always been there. He's been there to talk about football and to talk about life. He's always been there for his players.
"The honor is well-deserved. What he's done as a football coach, as a superintendent, it's going to be unmatched for years to come."
From a ball boy to a star quarterback, Brandon Bailey had an up-close vantage point as the Rangers built a legacy of success under his father. He passed for 5,667 yards from 1988-91 and helped ignite an incredible run as Forest Hills claimed four straight District 6 crowns from 1991-94 and won 101 games with an .820 winning percentage in the 1990s.
"The opportunity to grow up in the program, be on the sidelines, watch the older kids play and go up through it myself with my friends was special," Brandon Bailey said. "I was fortunate to have great teammates. We were so successful because we played well as a team. My dad and the other coaches really fostered that."
As superintendent, Don Bailey was instrumental in important projects throughout the district, which boasts a state-of-the-art campus, fieldhouse and multi-sport facility.
"This means a lot because I was the superintendent whenever we made plans to build this fieldhouse," Don Bailey said. "I was very proud that we built it without raising taxes or taking a loan. We paid cash."
Many former players and students are expected to participate in the ceremony and attend the game. They want to support their coach. Bailey often talks about how much it meant to see his student-athletes become successful in life.
"I've always been so proud of my players for what they have become," Don Bailey said. "Doctors, lawyers, engineers, pharmacists, teachers, members of the military — West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy. The players became good husbands, good fathers and good citizens."
Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.
