A legendary North Louisiana high school football coach has passed away.
Alton Franklin, affectionately known as “Red,” passed away over the weekend at the age of 89.
Franklin was the head football coach at Haynesville High School for 35 years, winning 11 state championships along the way.
Franklin’s son, David – the current head coach for the Haynesville Golden Tornado – says his father arrived at the school during integration, and he helped the community come together as one.
“He was fair to everybody, and I think the time that he came in, football was a really good solution to the problem that we were having,” said David Franklin. “He just made sure that the blacks and the whites both understood that he’s going to treat people fairly, and they’re going to play fairly, and I think that was something that kind of brought our town together.”
David Franklin says his father was not only the head coach of his players, but he was also their mentor in both football and life.
“His thoughts were always to do the little things right — not only in football but in life — and then the winning kind of takes care of itself after that.”
David Franklin says his father was quite the disciplinarian – both on the football field and at home.
“He taught us to do what was right, and we did what was right, because we knew what was going to happen if we didn’t do what was right.”
Red Franklin was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 2010.
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