By Woodrow Carroll
Bob Reade died July 5. The legendary Geneseo High School and Augustana College head football coach was 87 years old and living in Geneseo. Many longtime football fans may remember Reade when he was head coach for three years in both football and basketball at Plano High School.
Following his stint at Plano, Reade was head football for 17 seasons at Geneseo’s Darnell High School during which time his teams compiled a 146-21-4 record. A Geneseo unbeaten streak reached 52 games. In his final three seasons at Geneseo, Reade’s teams captured Illinois Class 3A football State championships in 1976, 1977, and 1978.
Nearby Augustana College in Rock Island called and Reade took the reins in the Fall 1979.
It was not long before Augustana became a power in the CCIW (Collegiate Conference of Illinois Wisconsin). The Vikings were 141-23-1 under Reade’s tutelage through 1994. Augustana won four Division III national championships in 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986 under Reade.
There is more to the Reade story than just unquestioned success at Geneseo and Augustana.
A Monticello, Iowa product, Reade played collegiate football at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.
In the Fall 1959, Reade took over head coaching duties in both football and basketball at Plano High School. In 1959, there were challenges, to say the least! The previous season Plano’s records were 0-8 in football and 0-21 in basketball.
Harlan “Butch” Cotter was the Plano head football coach in 1980 when Plano captured its first playoff appearance He invited Reade to speak to his Reapers’ squad. After speaking to the players, Reade related a story to Cotter and this reporter about his first football team at Plano.
“We lost 50-13 to Yorkville in my first game (in 1959) at Plano. After the game a Plano fan came up and said it looked as though things were turning around.” Reade said, “What was it like before I got there?”
Reade’s team ended with a 1-7 record in his first year at Plano. The Reapers beat Plainfield, 7-0, in a game moved to Sandwich because the Plano field had been inundated by rain.
Plano had a scheduling problem in the early 1960s. The Reapers played Yorkville home and away each year, which was not good for Plano! Although Plano forged a scoreless tie with Yorkville to start Reade’s third year at the school, his overall record against the Foxes was 0-5-1.
In the Fall 1961, Plano was 4-3-1 for its first winning season in many years.
Football may have been Reade’s chosen sport, however, in basketball his teams found more success in Plano. The 1961-1962 Reaper basketball team’s record was 21-5. Plano lost to Shabbona in both Little Ten Conference play and in the Conference tournament. After losing to Yorkville in the Naperville Invitational, the Reapers scored a memorable victory at Yorkville late in the season.
After three seasons in Plano, Reade moved to Geneseo. Reade’s first football season in Geneseo the team’s record was 4-5 in 1962, the last time any football team coached by Reade finished with a record below .500.
Reade was a coach of talented players, including, Barry Pearson who played end for Reade at Geneseo in the late 1960s before going to Northwestern University. An all-conference Big Ten honoree at end, Pearson played four seasons in the National Football League.