Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
HS legend McClellan dead at 79, won 8 titles
Frank McClellan, who coached the Barton Bears to eight high school football state championships, died Saturday morning after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 79.
McClellan, a member of the National High School Fame and the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, went 367-75-4 in his 38-year career, including 34658-3 in 35 seasons at in the Arkansas Delta in Phillips County. His 367 victories are the most of any Arkansas high school football coach. Barton, located “Arkansas lost a true legend,” former Corning, Sheridan and Wynne coach Don Campbell told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Few football coaches have had as much success in Arkansas than McClellan.
The Bears won eight state championships (1978, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994 and 1997) and 23 conference championships during McClellan’s tenure, which had two stints. McClellan coached the Bears were from 1970-79 and from 1981 to 2005, with one season at Durant, Miss., in 1980.
Under McClellan, Barton set state records for consecutive regular-season victories (111), consecutive conference victories (74) and overall consecutive victories (63).
McClellan is tied with Pulaski Academy’s Kevin Kelley and former Greenwood coach Rick Jones for state championships with eight. Wilson Matthews is the state’s leader with 10 state titles, all at Little Rock Central.
McClellan coached in four Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star football games, his last one in June 2006 after his retirement in November 2005.
Barton renamed its field after McClellan in November 2000.
Campbell was friends with McClellan for more than 30 years. He called McClellan a great man and a great friend.
“He was a heck of a football coach,” Campbell said. “It never went to his head. He was just a simple guy.”
Lanny Dauksch was an assistant coach at Barton from 1980-94 under McClellan before becoming a head coach at McGehee (1995-2000) and West Memphis (2001-13). Dauksch appreciated his time with McClellan during the 1980s and early 1990s.
“It was a wonderful opportunity,”
Dauksch said. “He knew how to prepare a team and a coaching staff for games. There was no loafing or anybody going half speed.”
Barton won four consecutive Class A state championships from 1986-89 and compiled a state-record 63 consecutive victories from 1986-90. Dauksch was a defensive coordinator for the Bears during that run and recalled McClellan’s preparation week by week.
“There were a lot of close games,” Dauksch said. “It’s fun when you’re winning a lot. I was impressed with how prepared the team was.
“We had good players, but [McClellan] had a way of getting the players ready to play. There were no letdowns. It was amazing how from Monday through Friday that he kept the intensity and performance up. That’s a hard thing to do.”
Dauksch credited McClellan for helping him become a head coach. While at McGehee, Dauksch went to three consecutive state championship games in 1997-99, winning it all in 1998 and 1999.
During his head coaching career, Dauksch used some of the lessons that McClellan taught him.
“The X’s and O’s are one thing. He was very good at that,” Dauksch said. “He had a great ability to prepare the
players. He could look at every individual player and see how they would respond.
“Some of them had different buttons to push. He could figure that out.”
Known for his marathon practices, McClellan ran the Wing-T offense at Barton. Campbell, who used the Diamond-T offense during his career, said McClellan’s coaching style worked wonderfully.
“He never changed that old Wing-T,” said Campbell, 79, who was born 10 days after McClellan. “He ran it to perfection. The kids understood the offense. He was unique. There will never be another Frank McClellan.”
Dauksch, who is retired, said he’ll miss McClellan and remembered him for how much he loved football and his players.
“He loved kids,” Dauksch said. “He was a stern coach, but he always had that other side of him. He was remarkable.”
Before coming to Barton in 1970, McClellan coached in Vaiden, Miss. (1967-68) and McAdams, Miss. (1969).
McClellan had been staying at the Three Rivers Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Marked Tree since 2013. He is survived by his sons Scott and Brad and daughter LeAnn. His wife of 55 years, Judy, died in 2018, and his son Frank Jr., died in 2009.