Gary Coakley ’69 (NDHS) says he would have “run though a brick wall” for Bo Schembechler at U-M
When 1969 NDHS alum Gary Coakley started working with disadvantaged youth at Holy Cross Children Services, which has offices in Detroit, Saginaw and Clinton, Michigan, he realized quickly that while playing football for Notre Dame High School’s head coach Walt Bazylewicz and later for the University of Michigan’s Bo Schembechler was tough going, it wasn’t anything like what some of the kids at Holy Cross went through.
As program director for one of Holy Cross’ Boysville campuses, he found that the struggles of many of the children there were “very, very real.”
“Some of these children who were in jails or corrective facilities have committed felonies, serious crimes—they have hurt people. But, what are we to do?” Coakley said during a 2011 speech he had given at an event called “The Detroit to Prison Pipeline: A Conversation About Prevention,” which was sponsored by the Prison Creative Arts Project, a U-M nonprofit group that works to create voices for the incarcerated through creative expression. “Do we turn our back on them? These children often have children themselves.”
Coakley ran track and played football and basketball at Notre Dame.
“[These youth] struggle to read the simplest words, like ‘butter’ or ‘ice cream,’” Coakley said. “[Reading these types of books] is an important part of children’s lives and of their education. Their minds need these experiences to develop, to understand and to remember.”
Employed by Holy Cross for 32 years, Coakley started there as a treatment specialist, working directly with the students. After two years, he was promoted to the residential manager position. “My responsibilities were to hire and train treatment specialists and to coordinate the activities for the students,” he says. “I can describe my experience as the hardest job I could ever love. Working with these young men gave me purpose, and as my time with Holy Cross came to a close [he has since moved on from Holy Cross], I consider myself very lucky to have had the chance to serve.”
But still, he retains many wonderful memories of his fellow staff members there and the young men he met.
“I was honored to have worked with hundreds of staff who tried so hard to help these kids and their families. The Holy Cross Boysville campus was a very unique world out in the country serving inner-city youth. At one time we had up to 160 students at our campus. It was more than just a job. We had these kids 24/7, and we were responsible for all their needs. They went to school on site. We fed them, clothed them and tried to attend to their emotional and physiological needs. Taking care of them was a real mission for us.”
While certainly not having the same gravitas as his work with disadvantaged youth, Coakley says he put nearly the same effort into playing football for Bo Schembechler at the University of Michigan. “I would have run through a brick wall if Bo asked me to,” he says.
Coakley earned a football scholarship at U-M after a stellar career at Notre Dame High School. He was a four-year starter on Notre Dame’s varsity football and basketball teams and ran track for four years for Coach Conrad Vachon. He recalls his good high school friend and classmate Ed Tazzia holding up a congratulatory sign in the gym after he scored his 1,000th point in basketball. “He would always keep track of my stats,” Coakley says.
Being the first African-American student to attend Notre Dame, Coakley says, was initially very lonely and very different. “Everyone was curious but nice for the most part. Being an athlete helped in the transition, but I never felt totally ‘in.’ I did have a lot of friends there, but I don’t want to start naming them because I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out, although I did mention Tazzia, didn’t I!”
From Harper Woods to Ann Arbor
Coakley says he has very fond memories of his time at Notre Dame High School.
Coakley was a wide receiver for the Wolverines. He started on the team for two years and played in the 1972 Rose Bowl. “I never dropped a pass in a game, but never caught one, either. As a wide receiver that wasn’t easy to accomplish,” he says with laugh. “And Bo Schembechler was one of the most dynamic personalities that I had ever met. He was like a Conrad Vachon times ten!”
Coakley says going to U-M, playing football and being coached by Schembechler has prepared him well for all the life experiences that he’s faced up to this point.
Coakley wants to talk about Notre Dame again, including playing football there. “It also was a memorable time for me. One of my favorite co-players at Notre Dame was Terry Bugarelli,” he says. “He made me a better player. He got hurt our senior year, and I didn’t play as well as I could have because he didn’t play. Also, running track with Doug Brown and being coached by Vachon are very vivid memories for me.
Everyone had a real impact on me while at NDHS,” Coakley says. “The ones I remember most were Mr. Rice, Fr. Bryson, Coach Bazy, Coach Van Dam, Conrad Vachon, Coach Roy Johnson. . . I look back very fondly at the time I spent in high school. I am very proud to say that I graduated from Notre Dame.”
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.