HISTORY: FROM THE NEWSPAPERS: VERDELL RAGSDALE NAMED MEDFORD GRID MENTOR Jackson County, Oregon ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************************************************************* Transcribed and formatted for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Elizabeth Corethers 9 April 2003 *************************************************************************** Medford (Oregon) Mail Tribune, Tuesday, 29 Jun 1948, p. 1 VERDELL RAGSDALE NAMED MEDFORD GRID MENTOR L. Verdell Ragsdale, who has an enviable record in coaching at Mount Angel preparatory school for two years and before that was successful at other northern schools, today was named head football coach at Medford senior high school, School Superintendent E. H. Hedrick announced. Hedrick said that Ragsdale was hired at a special meeting of the school board on June 18 but announcement was upheld at the request of Mount Angel officials who requested time to make arrangements since Ragsdale's contract still had a year to run. Ragsdale, who had a strong endorsement by Bill Bowerman, who recently was signed as head track coach at University of Oregon, was hired to be Bowerman's assistant with the understanding that he would get the head coaching job if Bowerman resigned, which was unexpected at the time, Hedrick said. Ragsdale, a graduate of Willamette university and who also attended Eastern Oregon College of Education at LaGrande, majored in physical education and also has done summer school work at the University of Washington. He is at present attending summer school at University of Oregon. He is expected here in August, Hedrick said. Before going to Mount Angel, Ragsdale was head coach of all sports at Columbia Union high school, White Salmon, Wash., and at Camas, Wash., high school. He also coached "B" football at Salem high school while attending Willamette. While at Camas, the new Medford mentor's football teams were highly respected and in five seasons won four more games than they lost with such teams as The Dalles, Hood River, Corvallis, St. Helen's and Commerce, Lincoln and Central Catholic of Portland. Ragsdale, a graduate of Baker, Ore., high school, is 36 years old, stands six feet tall and weighs about 165 pounds. While at Willamette he played varsity baseball, basketball and football and also took part in these sports at EOCE. One of his fellow teachers described him as having the "ability to make school work interesting to the students," according to Hedrick. At Camas Ragsdale was active in the Kiwanis club, was chairman of the victory garden committee, coached the Junior American Legion baseball team, and was director of its softball league. The former president of the student body at EOCE is married and has two children.