Seven to be inducted into Buc Athletics Hall of Fame

Five former Buccaneers and two former Miller High School coaches will be inducted into the Buccaneers Athletics Hall of Fame in ceremonies, Oct. 1, at the Holiday Inn Airport (5549 Leopard St.) and Oct. 2 during the Miller-Ray Hall of Fame Football Game in Buc Stadium.

This year’s inductees are: Coach Bill Hooper (In Memoriam), Coach Frank Bacy, Johnny Cotten (Class of 1956), Simon Clarich (Class of 1956), Anthony Hill (Class of 1964), Michael Anthony Hernandez (Class of 1992) and Marcos M. Flores (Class of 1992).

A brief bio on each athlete follows:

Coach Bill Hooper, Head football coach 1964-1969


Bill Hooper will be honored in memoriam for his outstanding contribution to the Buc spirit and lore. First, he was a first-assistant under legendary Coach Pete Ragus. When he took over as head coach in 1964, he had one of the state's hardest jobs to fill. He didn't skip a beat and soon he had the Bucs in the state playoffs ranked among Texas' top programs again. The Bucs advanced to the zone or state playoffs four years under Coach Hooper and were ranked as high as No. 4 in the state in 1968. Hooper's overall record was 40-25. The legacy Coach Hooper left the Bucs was that they had a standard to achieve every year. We were the Bucs from CC Miller High and we were expected to compete and compete hard. Under Coach Hooper, we did. Thanks Coach Hooper.

Hooper Record at Miller:

1964: 4-6

1965: 7-4 (Alice beat Miller for the District 14-4A title 7-5)

1966: 7-4 (Alice beat Miller for the 14-4A title 9-7)

1967: 5-5

1968: 9-3 (Miller beat Alice in the bi-district playoffs. Austin Reagan beat the Buccaneers 25-0 in the second round of the playoffs, which was called regionals).

1969: 8-3 (Miller lost a game in non-district and its district opener against Moody, but stormed back to win the district championship. Brownsville beat the Bucs in bi-district, 25-15.

Coach Frank Bacy, 1982-1996

Frank Bacy was an assistant football coach and head track coach at Miller High School for 14 years before going on to serve at Ray High School and later serving as head football coach at Moody High School. During his tenure at Miller, he was named "Track and Field Coach of the Year" four times, sending a legion of athletes to the regional and state meets and instilling a sense of discipline and pride in the Bucs that lived up to the Buc spirit and lore. Coach Bacy headed both the boys' and girls' programs at Miller and instilled the sense of discipline, hard work and pride in both programs. When the Miller teams showed up at a track meet, everyone knew they were in trouble. Under Bacy, the Bucs won three district championships, finished as runner-up in regional four times and coached athletes at the state meet six consecutive years. He had athletes in the state track meet in nine of his 14 years at Miller, a mark that no one coach in CCISD or Corpus Christi can equal. In football, he was in charge of some of the most prolific offensive attacks in Buc history with several of his players going on to star at the collegiate and professional level.

Johnny Cotten, Class of 1956

Johnny Cotton was one of the most prolific track athletes in the history of Miller High School and went on to a stellar and record-setting college track career at the University of Texas. At Miller, he was part of the legendary district and regional championship mile relay team that finished second in state with a time of 3:19.1. At Miller, Johnny set several meet and school records. At the University of Texas, he was part of a record-setting relay team and set several personal records as well. He ran at all the major national track meets and was considered one of the best in the nation.

Simon Clarich, Class of 1956

Simon Clarich was also one of Miller's all-time great track stars. In only two years at Miller, Simon established school records that stood the test of time under the cinder track conditions and was rated among the nation's top track stars in hurdle events. In 1956 he was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation in the 180-yard low hurdles, an event which sent him to regional and state competition with a best time of 19.3 seconds. Simon received a full track scholarship to McNeese Stte in Lake Charles, La., in 1957, bu transferred to Del Mar College. While running track for Del Mar College, he ran in the Border Olympics, then one of the premier meets in the nation, in Laredo, at Monterrey at El Tecnologico Invitational and the Texas Relays. He earned medals at every national meet he competed in and, perhaps more important, his records at Miller will never be broken.

Anthony Hill, Class of 1964

Anthony Hill was one of those quiet leaders at Miller who played football hard and expected nothing more than to lead the Bucs to the playoffs and keep the school's tradition and lore alive. Anthony Hill accomplished that and much more. He was a standout defensive tackle for Miller in 1962 and 1963 and was a member of the 1963 state finalist team. For his play, he earned All-District honors twice and his senior year he was named to the All-State team. He went on to a stellar career at Henderson Junior College (now Trinity Valley Community College) where he was a member of the 1965 Junior Rose Bowl team.

Michael Anthony Hernandez, Class of 1992

Michael Anthony Hernandez was a standout football and baseball player for the Buccaneers, earning honors in both sports and playing college baseball. He was the starting quarterback for the regional semifinalist 1991 football team and the second baseman on the bi-district championship1991 baseball team. Along the way, he earned lettered four years in baseball and three in football. He earned All-District, All-Metro and All-South Texas honors in both baseball and football. As a Buc quarterback for three years, he passed for more than 550 yards as a sophomore, led the district in passing as a junior with 1,256 yards and 15 TD passes and threw for 1,456 yards and 16 TDs as a senior. He is the third-rated quarterback in passing yards at Miller. In baseball he earned All-District, All-Metro and All-S. Texas honors three years in a row. He went on play for St. Mary's University and transferred to Texas A&M University-Kingsville where he was a member of the 1995 Lone Star Conference team for the Javelinas.

Marcos M. Flores, Class of 1992

Marcos M. Flores was a standout baseball and football player for the Bucs, earning three letters in baseball and two in football while earning several post-season honors and going on to play baseball in college and at the professional level. He earned All-District and All-Metro honors in football as a defensive back for the 1991 regional finalist football team. He earned All-District, All-Metro, All-South Texas and All-State honors in baseball where he was an outfielder for the 1991 bi-district championship baseball team. He set several school records in baseball, including runs-batted-in. His three-year batting average was .405. He went on to star in baseball for Laredo Community College and Texas A&M University-Kingsville where he held the career and season records for home runs. At A&M-Kingsvile, he was named to the All-Lone Star Conference team twice and to the NCAA Division II All-Region team. He played one year professionally as an outfielder for the Nasuha, N.H. Pride of the Atlantic Coast League. He also served as coach at Mathis, Robstown and Pleasanton and is now an administrator with the Calallen ISD.