<strong>The</strong>His lessons of caring, loyalty,and humility turned <strong>Cistercian</strong>athletes into winners on and offthe gridiron • By David Stewart ’744SOME OFyou talking outside myoffice,” Coach Tom“IOVERHEARD<strong>Hillary</strong> said as he eyed hisfirst team of <strong>Cistercian</strong>players in August of1984. At 6'6" and 240 pounds, this monumentof a man commanded their attentioneffortlessly. More than a very fitlookingcoach, he stood with the presenceof a player, a real player.“You were saying, ‘We’ll lose to<strong>The</strong> CONTINUUM
Dallas Christian, Trinity Valley will betough, we’ll beat Fort Worth Christian,Greenhill is too strong …’”David Patrick ’86, a junior that year,remembered embarrassed looks allaround. “He didn’t name any names,”Patrick recalled. “He didn’t have to. Weall had expressed those same feelings atone time or another.”“<strong>The</strong> <strong>Cistercian</strong> Hawks,” Coach<strong>Hillary</strong> said forcefully, as if hiswords could turn back a tide ofdoubts, “do not go into any footballgame thinking they can’t win.”As the weeks wore on, thesewords would be reinforced withdeeds. Consistently. Coach <strong>Hillary</strong>,the boys began to believe, was incapableof uttering a hollow word.Photo by Mark Cochran ’97“We knew he was the real dealfrom our first meeting,” said KevinSpencer ’85, a team captain duringthe 1984 season.“He made a point of meeting withthe seniors prior to summer practices,”said Spencer, now a Dallasattorney and president of the<strong>Cistercian</strong> Alumni Association. “Hewanted to know how we felt aboutthe upcoming year, what our goalswere. He asked us what we wantedout of our last season of football.”<strong>The</strong> message: This is your team, seniors;I expect you to lead it. <strong>The</strong>louder, though unspoken message:I believe in you.Members from fifteen more seniorclasses would be given the samecharge. <strong>The</strong>se messages formed theessence of Coach <strong>Hillary</strong>’s coachingphilosophy. He strived to shape boysinto men by trusting them and givingthem a chance to lead. Coach <strong>Hillary</strong>’sgoals transcended football seasons andreached into boys’ lives. <strong>The</strong> fieldserved as the classroom for these lifelessons; Coach <strong>Hillary</strong> served as bothteacher and textbook.“I think the most important leadershiptrait that Coach taught andthat made him so special was howmuch he cared for each and everyoneof us,” said Chris Carlson ’85, a captainof the 1984 team and a graduateof the United States Naval Academy.“Coach <strong>Hillary</strong> cared so much forhis players that you did not want tomake a mistake, not because hewould yell or scream, but because hewas giving his best and you wantedto do the same,” he added.Robert Schoenvogel ’96, a captainduring the ’95 season, said, “His consistentlyoutstanding example as acoach gave us a model to follow.Whether at the beginning of two-adaysor during the last minute of thebig game, Coach <strong>Hillary</strong> was the samecoach, and this was what made him sospecial. He towered above everythingand never wavered. I was an EagleScout,” added this 1996 DaveyO’Brien Award recipient and recentgraduate from the University ofVirginia, “but Coach <strong>Hillary</strong> probablytaught me more about leadership thanmy six years in the Boy Scouts.”“<strong>The</strong> lessons he taught, the characterhe instilled, the leadership heportrayed were far more importantthan the fact that we went 6-4 andwon a playoff game,” echoed ArmyMajor Tim Bock ’85, another one ofthe captains during Coach <strong>Hillary</strong>’sfirst year at CPS. “He helped medevelop into what I am today.”<strong>The</strong> implications of Coach’s trust inhis seniors did not escape them. “Hetaught me the ability to have faith inmyself, while having the strength torely on others,” Spencer said.Coach <strong>Hillary</strong>’s commitment toshaping leaders and his unconditionaltrust in them spawned strong relationshipsthroughout his teams. Respectspread from the coach to the seniors,and from the seniors to underclassmen.What <strong>Cistercian</strong> teams lacked insize, speed, and talent, they made upfor in confidence, leadership, and teamchemistry. <strong>Hillary</strong>’s Hawks enteredevery game believing they could win.FOR TOM HILLARY,there just wasn’t enoughtime in the day to satisfyhis hunger for athleticcompetition. He lovedthe thrill of competing,and he loved to win. But at SMU inthe early sixties, <strong>Hillary</strong> learnedabout winning the hard way.Recruited out of Houston’sBellaire High <strong>School</strong> by SMU HeadCoach Bill Meek, <strong>Hillary</strong> received ascholarship to play quarterback in1961. <strong>Hillary</strong> joined a talented classof players that included another quarterbacknamed Jerry Rhome and alineman named Mike Bulger.On the heels of an 0-9-1 record in1961 and a 2-7-1 finish in 1962,Coach Meek lost his job. Most membersof <strong>Hillary</strong>’s recruiting class wereencouraged to move on before the’63 season to free up scholarships forthe new coach, Hayden Fry. (JerryRhome moved on to Tulsa where heset NCAA passing records and wasdrafted in 1965 by the DallasCowboys.)<strong>Hillary</strong> decided to stay at SMUbut expected to concentrate primarilyon baseball, his first love, and basketball,under legendary coach E.O.“Doc” Hayes. But Coach Fry needed<strong>Hillary</strong>’s athleticism and he turnedhim into a tight end and defensiveend. <strong>Hillary</strong> started at both positionsduring his junior and senior seasons.<strong>The</strong> demands of football under Fryforced him to give up basketball.<strong>Hillary</strong> became fast friends withfellow recruit Mike Bulger, who also<strong>September</strong> <strong>2000</strong> 5
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