The man killed Sunday morning in a car wreck on Green Lane in Bristol Township was a popular youth football coach.
Credit: Contributed
Thomas Hall of Bristol was a volunteer coach in the community for more than five decades. He worked with kids in the Wardogs football team and at Neil Armstrong Middle School in Bristol Township.
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Hall, often called Coach T, is being remembered for his work in the community.
“I learned so much in the five years we coached together and the 14 years I got to work with him in the Wardogs organization,” Bill Smith, president of the Wardogs football organization said. “The memories I will cherish most weren’t on the football field, although I dare anyone who had seen Coach T stalk a referee up and down the sidelines giving him the business not to crack a smile at the memory.”
Hall passed away Sunday morning after being involved in a violent two-vehicle crash on Green Lane, near Fleetwing Drive, around 6:45 a.m. Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the wreck that also left another man with serious injuries.
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Her i’s Smith’s full message:
It is with infinite sadness that I must let The Wardogs Family know that Coach T has passed away.
Coach T had been involved with youth football in the Bristol area for 5 decades, most recently with Armstrong Middle School and Wardogs Football. Coach T was not only an extremely respected member of youth sports in this area but was a tireless volunteer in this community as a whole. I cannot think of another man who gave so much of themselves and asked for nothing in return.
I learned so much in the 5 years we coached together and the 14 years I got to work with him in the Wardogs organization.
The memories I will cherish most weren’t on the football field, although I dare anyone who had seen Coach T stalk a referee up and down the sidelines giving him the business not to crack a smile at the memory.I will remember those years when I sat in the freezing clubhouse signing up players where without fail he would come and sit with me just so I wouldn’t be alone. I learned so much about the man during those times, his service in the military, his mischievous early years when he would steal liquor from the Officer’s Club and take it back to the barracks to drink with his brothers in arms. How he made his way up North to start a family. And football. We would talk football for hours. He would bring me plays he wrote down on napkins and we would talk about them. For hours he would talk and I would just listen. I just spoke with him a few days ago as he was feeling like his old self and wanted to coach again. We joked about how I was giving him the 5 to 7 year olds.
I can’t believe he is gone, just like that. I know there are many who loved and respected the man as much as I did and this one is hitting me very hard, as it is our entire family.
For those who had the benefit of playing for him, remember what he taught you. For those of us honored enough to share a sideline with you Coach T, we will try and emulate what you were. A man of integrity, class and a deep faith that if you work hard enough and long enough, you can make a difference in someone’s life.
We will all miss you and I am grateful that I had the chance to meet and work with such a fantastic human being. Thank you and I will never forget what you had done for me. We will continue what you started and honor you memory every day.
Bill Smith
President – Wardogs Football & Cheerleading
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