HASKELL -- Jimmy "Red" Parker has always known how to make his point.
Just hours after the second game of the 1964 season, a loss to Arkansas Tech, Parker was determined to find out who really wanted to be a Boll Weevil.
Bill Lawrence, who played in the Arkansas A&M secondary that season, recalled the details of the spot on the Monticello campus that became known as "Tech Hill" on Thursday night as Parker, 84, prepared for the final regular-season game of his storied career.
"When we got off the bus that Saturday night, Coach Parker said, 'I'll see you boys Sunday morning,' " Lawrence said. "We showed up Sunday morning and we practiced and he ran us."
The following day it rained. It came down in buckets and soaked the Weevils' field.
"We didn't think he'd send us out there and kill us in all of that mud, but the school was building a new science building on a hill nearby," Lawrence said. "It was a spot about as big as a gym floor. There were about 70 or 80 players that day who went to that hill.
"He got rid of 13 or 14 players that day. They were players who didn't want to commit to be a Boll Weevil."
Parker put his players through a seemingly endless drill that day called "Bull in the Ring."
"The defensive backs would line up against the running backs," Lawrence said. "He was trying to eliminate people. He was going to make us tougher. He always said, 'You've got to be a good teammate.'
"What he was trying to teach us was the word 'love.' You've got to love each other, and we realized that after that day."
Arkansas A&M finished 9-1 that season.
Many of Parker's former players were on hand Thursday night at Harmony Grove High School to honor the coach as Parker completed the final regular-season game of his 62-year coaching career, but he has at least one more game to coach.
[PHOTOS: Jimmy "Red" Parker Celebration]
Senior running back Jon Johnson ran 13 times for 127 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Cardinals (6-4, 3-4) rolled to a 36-0 victory over 5-3A Conference-rival Horatio. The victory extended Parker's career another week, setting up a playoff game at Fordyce, where Parker began his coaching career in 1953.
"I know you think I've done a lot for you all these years," Parker told the crowd that gathered for a reception in the Harmony Grove gymnasium before Thursday's game. "But I can honestly say that all of you have done much more for me."
Parker, who announced last week that he would retire after the season, coached on the field named in his honor while sitting on a folding chair Thursday night at his team's 45-yard line. None of the players or assistant coaches stood within 5 yards of Parker, so as not to obstruct his view.
After each play coaches consulted with Parker, whose sharp mind and quick wit were still evident after a long career that saw him rack up more than 300 victories at five high schools and eight colleges.
Parker has heard from many coaching and playing legends since announcing his retirement. Former Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden sent Parker an email wishing him well and a happy retirement. Parker also was contacted by Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney, former Ole Miss and New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning and former Little Rock Central High School Bernie Cox.
Larry Lacewell, another Arkansas coaching legend who played under Parker at Fordyce and coached with him at A&M, said he was asked by Parker to speak to his team before a scrimmage against Bauxite earlier this season.
"I stood before them and said, 'I know this is hard to believe, but I scored the first touchdown for Red Parker back in 1953.' " Lacewell recalled Thursday. "Red looked over at me and said, 'You scored the first two touchdowns for me.'
"Trust me, people that know me with my ego, I darn sure would have said the first two. As it turned out, I went home and looked at my scrapbook and, sure enough, I had scored the first two. He remembered it better than me."
Parker was known for being strict with his players, but he also knew how important it was to get to know them. Ronnie McFarland, who played high school ball at Warren, recalled how well Parker recruited him to play for A&M.
"He came over to see me play when I was a junior," McFarland said. "He knew me. He knew my mother. He knew my daddy. He knew everybody. He has a great recollection of names and people. That's what makes him so special.
"If you've never played for him, it's hard to describe what it's like."
One former player after another heaped praise on the coach for being more than just an influence on the field.
"I don't think none of us would have gotten out of college if it hadn't have been for Red," Lawrence said. "He taught us how to be a competitor, how to be a great person on and off the field, and how to treat people."
Sports on 11/06/2015