The Raymond Berry Years

Paris, Texas: The Wright Press, 1983. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Dark blue leatherette with silver lettering. Evidence of light moisture staining at the top of the pages, visible at the endpapers and first and last several pages. No other flaws to the book. 263 pages with numerous illustrations and statistics documenting the career of Paris High School football coach, Raymond Berry. From 1938-1962, Berry served as head coach and took his Wildcat teams to seven district titles, including four outright and three co-championships. Notable players he coached included his son, Raymond Emmett Berry, who played on the 1947-48 teams, spent 13 years for the Baltimore Colts (1955-67), helping them to two World Championships. He then coached the New England Patriots for six seasons, getting them to the Super Bowl in 1985 and being named NFL Coach of the Year. Gene Stallings was another player under Berry's tutelage at Paris High School, playing from 1950-1952 before going on to a coaching career himself. Stallings coached Texas A&M University to a Southwest Conference Championship in 1967 and Alabama to an NCAA National Championship in 1993. He was also former NFL head coach for the Phoenix Cardinals and assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys. From Berry's obituary in the Paris News in 1999, "On Nov. 2, 1974, his former Wildcat players honored him with an appreciation dinner. Then on May 10, 1981, the Mark Raymond Berry Physical Education Complex was dedicated in his honor at Paris High School. He was an 'I Love Paris' honoree of the Paris Education Foundation in 1992. After 25 years of coaching at Paris High, he was named director of health, physical fitness and athletic coordinator for the Paris ISD. Following 48 years of coaching and teaching, he retired in 1975. Berry was known as the 'Dean of Texas School Boys Coaches.' He once said his greatest achievement was his influence on the lives of young people during his years as a coach and teacher.".