KFBCA inducts new members to Hall of Fame
The Kansas Football Coaches Association inducted four new members to their Hall of Fame Sunday night
Top left: Pittsburg High football coach Josh Lattimer was on hand to accept former Pittsburg High coach Larry Garman's Hall of Fame plaque. Top right: Dan Lankas was on hand with a large crow of supporters at Sunday's Hall of Fame induction. Bottom left: Larry Taylor's son, Deron, accepted his late father's Hall of Fame plaque at Sunday's ceremony. (Photos: Johnny Abromeit)
The Kansas Football Coaches Association inducted the 2023 Hall of Fame class during their annual All-State selection meetings Sunday night in Wichita. Sports reporter Bethany Bowman served as emcee for the event and also worked with KFBCA Executive Director Mark Littrell to provide biographies for each honoree.
Check out some excerpts of the bios for this year's class of inductees below:
Dan Lankas
After a decorated athletic career for Atwood High and Kansas State University, followed by a stint in the NFL, Dan Lankas took his first coaching job in 1970 in Jacksonville, Illinois, as an assistant. After a season there, Lankas returned to Kansas for a head coaching job at El Dorado, where he saw success over eight seasons, before returning to Atwood late in 1979 to farm with his brother after their father’s death.
It was in 1984 that Lankas returned to the sidelines for Atwood and went on a historic run over the next 20 seasons with three state championships, three sub-state runner-up finishes, and 10 league titles as a 2A school in a league made up largely of 3A and 4A teams. He posted a 162-44 record at Atwood before retiring in 2003, and over his head coaching career Lankas posted a record of 237-75.
Larry Garman
In 1962, Larry Garman started his career coaching at Pittsburg High, the same year he graduated from Pittsburg State. After three years serving as an assistant, Garman took the head coaching job in 1965 and embarked on a long, dominant career.
Over the next 33 years, Garman won three state titles in five championship game appearances and posted an overall record of 255-84-5. In 1998, the legendary coach made the move to Athletic Director while continuing his coaching career as an assistant for Pittsburg State University in 1999 until 2023. Garman spent six decades as a head coach, all in Pittsburg.
Larry Taylor
The late Larry Taylor accomplished more in 14 years as a head coach than most dream of doing in decades. From 1964 to 1978, Taylor led Shawnee Mission North to six state titles in seven appearances with three undefeated seasons - 1965, 1967, 1970 - and won seven Sunflower League titles.
Coach Taylor is a member of multiple halls of fame, coached three high school All-Americans, and the field at Shawnee Mission North High School is named in his honor. Taylor passed away in September of 2019.
CJ Hamilton
Silver Lake became a fixture in the state title game through the course of CJ Hamilton’s career on the sidelines, earning 18 championship game berths and 40 postseason appearances over his 47 seasons as head coach. The Eagles won eight of those title games, with the most recent in 2013.
Hamilton’s career ended in 2021 after an injury on his farm left him unable to coach in the capacity he preferred. Hamilton holds multiple coaching records in Kansas, including the distinction as all-time winningest coach in Kansas high school history with a 447-98 overall record.
This was the fourth KFBCA Hall of Fame class. See the complete list below:
2020 Roger Barta
2020 Gary Cornelsen
2020 Marvin Diener
2020 Ed Kriwiel
2020 Dick Purdy
2020 Chuck Smith
2020 Tom Young
2021 Ed Buller
2021 Bill Freeman
2021 Alan Shuckman
2021 Gene Weir
2022 Eric Driskell
2022 Mark Littrell
2022 Gary O'Hair
2022 Rick Wheeler
2023 Larry Garman
2023 CJ Hamilton
2023 Danny Lankas
2023 Larry Taylor