HE WAS SAN DIEGO COACHING LEGEND
Shannon AndersonCollins has coached for 22 years.
The way she sees it, she probably wouldn’t have coached for 22 seconds if not for her father, Art Anderson, who died Feb. 25. He was 84.
“He was a 100 percent influence in my going into teaching and coaching,” Anderson-Collins said.
“I grew up on the football field. We’d play hide-and-goseek in the locker room, but I wanted to be there beside him on the field.
“The truth is, although I played basketball and softball, I wish I could have played football.”
Arthur Anthony Anderson was born Oct. 9, 1936 and grew up in Wahpeton, N.D., playing football, basketball and baseball. His basketball team won the 1954 state championship.
He started as a 6-foot-4 freshman offensive lineman at the University of Idaho. He joined the Marines and was stationed in San Diego, playing for the All-Marine and All-Sea Service teams in 1959-60.
Anderson played 41 games in the NFL, first with George Halas’ Chicago Bears (1961-62) and then the Pittsburgh Steelers (1963).
He was the head coach at Clairemont High from 19731979 (28-38-1), including 1974 when the Chieftains went 8-2, losing to Oceanside 7-6 in the section semifinals.
“The thing about Art was that he was very, very concerned about his players,” said Steve Miner, who was an assistant under Anderson before becoming Clairemont head coach and was at Madison for many years. “He could be stern but he did everything he could to help the kids.
“He was a good man — a gentle giant. He knew how to treat people properly, but you didn’t want to tick him off.
“He was very, very, very competitive. He just wanted to get the best out of everyone. He especially loved his linemen.”
One of his players, Brad Cummings, who was employed in a variety of positions for the 1971 Chieftains when Anderson was an assistant coach to Leroy Dotson, said Anderson was a joy to play for — usually. “You were only afraid when he yelled at you,” recalled Cummings. “He was a gentle bear of man (at 6-4, 300 pounds by then) who never tried to intimidate you.”
Although primarily known as a football coach, Anderson enjoyed great success coaching track and field as well as cross country. His track teams captured two Western League titles. He won multiple league titles in both sports at Hoover and Crawford as well.
Overall, Anderson was selected Coach of the Year nine times, leading to his being inducted into the San Diego Coaching Legends in 2006. In 2019, he was inducted into the Wahpeton High Hall of Fame.
“He’d never talk about his record because it wasn’t really the wins and losses but if you played well,” said Shannon, who went on to play basketball at Point Loma Nazarene for four years.
“For him, it was important to do things right on and off the field. You’d go to his film sessions after a win and you’d swear you lost but he loved what he did.
“We used to play basketball in the backyard in the dirt but to show you how competitive he was, the day I beat him he stopped playing against me.”
Anderson is survived by his wife of 60 years, Sharon, and four children. A celebration of life is being planned.