RIP Ken Riley

[TruCane81]

My Godfather played in the same secondary with him back in the Gaither Era. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Riley when I was a little guy after the Classic(when it was held in Tampa). This was back when he was our head coach. I also remember how highly my mom's older cousins from Lake Wales would speak of him when recalling playing against him in high school during the Jim Crow era. They were underclassmen at Lake Wales Roosevelt when he was a Senior superstar for Bartow Union. It's a sad day for Rattlers everywhere...

My grandfather played for Union Academy back in the 50s. One of the most dominant teams in the history of high school football. They won the championship scoring over 500 points for the season and only gave up 19.

I met many guys who played on those great UA teams, but never had the pleasure to meet Mr. Riley. He worked for FAMU as head coach and AD after his career was over. He didn’t come back home until after he retired later on.

They called their coach Wolf Man and he carried a pistol on the bus. The rivalry with Roosevelt was heated and they would throw bricks at the bus when Union came to town. Coach Woodruff wasn’t having that ****. My grand dad told me about a song they used to sing whenever they knocked a guy out of the game. Those guys played dirty, rugged football.

Ken Riley came from a big time football tradition and was well loved in the community. He will be missed.