"Orange Blood is Thicker!" - Bill T. McConnell

Jeff Thompson, Coach Homer Goins, Bill T. McConnell

Thirty years ago this week, two-time state champion, Paris HS Head Football Coach, Roger Gruneisen, became the head football coach at Bourbon County HS. Paris decided to go with a rookie head coach, myself. Roger was an excellent football coach and had the best rapport with kids of any coach I've ever met. The day I became head coach at Paris and two days before Stephanie and I were going to get married, she received a phone call. The phone call said that if we wanted jobs when the two schools merged, we had to come now. If not, when Paris shut their doors, we were both unemployed. Things were looking awful rough for Paris City Schools & Greyhound football. But, we had Bill T. McConnell.

Bill T. had played on the state championship team for Homer Goins in 1973. As a real estate agent, he had continued to support Paris City Schools. His son, Scott, was going to be a sophomore on the 1992 Paris Greyhound football team. Bill T. was already a buzz saw, but he took it to another level. He helped get our field repaired. He worked to help us have the financial support we needed. He made it clear to anyone that asked that his sons would be Paris Greyhounds. There was no transfer option or talk in the McConnell house. His boys would all be Greyhounds. In 2022, I sure do appreciate that even more than I did at the time this was all going on. 

We played some good football in 1992 and the following years as well. Bill T. McConnell and his loyalty/devotion to Paris HS is a big reason we even had a team that season. He is a big reason that school has been able to stay open and field football teams over the past 40 years. 

Chris Garrison, Matt Eads, Josh Hudnall, Scott McConnell, Todd McConnell

At the end of Scott's senior year, I can't remember all the details, but I know that I made Bill T. mad. I wasn't sure what it was, but all of our emotions were raw and I left it alone. A few weeks later, he came to see me and shared why he was mad at me. Again, not sure of the details, but I know after we talked it all out, we were good. He never brought it up again and he treated me just as good as always, and continued to support our program just like Scott was still on the team. As much as anything, that made an impression on me and made me respect him even more. 

When we were getting ready to sell Ernie's house in Paris, we were trying to decide if we would go with Bill T. or Stephanie's cousin, David Kincer, a real estate agent in Lexington. As always, I was open with Bill T. with what we were thinking. I told him as much as I loved him, that "blood is thick." Typical Bill T., true to who he was in every sense of the word, responded, "Orange blood is thicker!"  He was right. We listed with both David and Bill T.  They both (and Todd McConnell) did a great job helping our family at an awful tough time. 

Bill T. passed away this morning. I love him and his family. All of us that love the orange and black owe him a debt we can't repay. But, I hope all of us will help to fill the void he is leaving, love those kids, and support the Paris Greyhounds. Most of all, love his family and express how much we appreciate that they shared him with the rest of us. 

Right now, I would imagine Bill T. is in heaven, shaking the left hand of Blanton Collier & Bill Arnsparger....you know the left hand because Coach Collier said it was closer to the heart. 

#HeresToCaptainGeorge