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Regular Session, 2012
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 83
BY REPRESENTATIVE SHADOIN AND SENATOR WALSWORTH
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the Lincoln Parish School Board to name the Ruston High School
football stadium in honor of the late L.J. "Hoss" Garrett.
WHEREAS, former Ruston High School football coach L.J. "Hoss" Garrett, a
member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Tech University Athletic
Hall of Fame, was one of the most successful coaches in the history of the state of Louisiana;
and
WHEREAS, Coach Garrett's remarkable career in coaching spanned thirty-eight
years, beginning at Forest High School and then Arcadia High School before he became
coach at Ruston High School, where he coached with great dedication, distinction, and
success for thirty-five years; and
WHEREAS, it was at Ruston High School where Coach Garrett produced all but
twenty-three of his wins in a career that included two hundred seventy victories against only
one hundred twenty-two losses; and
WHEREAS, Coach Garrett led the Ruston Bearcats to state championships in 1941,
1947, and 1951, and in 1944, his team was the state runner-up; he also won fourteen district
titles, and from 1951 through 1954, his team won an incredible forty-seven straight regular
season games; and
WHEREAS, Coach Garrett also coached the Ruston High School track team to four
straight state titles, beginning in 1956; and
WHEREAS, upon his retirement, Coach Garrett was the winningest prep football
coach in state history, and he was recognized in 2009 with a Ruston High School
Distinguished Educator Award; and
WHEREAS, in addition to his excellence in coaching, Coach Garrett was a gifted
football player himself; he played for two years at Jones County Junior College in ENROLLEDHCR NO. 83
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Mississippi before going to Louisiana Tech University, where he was a standout player on
the 1932 and 1933 Bulldog teams; and
WHEREAS, Coach Garrett merits special recognition for all of the lives he touched
with his extraordinary talents both on and off the football field; and
WHEREAS, the singular achievements of Coach Garrett, who passed away in 1986,
remain a source of tremendous pride for his family, his friends, Ruston High School, and the
state of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, in order to pay posthumous tribute to him for a distinguished career of
excellence in coaching and to recognize his momentous contributions, it is appropriate that
the Ruston High School football stadium be named in honor of the late L.J. "Hoss" Garrett.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Lincoln Parish School Board to name the Ruston High School football
stadium in honor of the late L.J. "Hoss" Garrett.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to the president of the Lincoln Parish School Board and to the family of L.J. "Hoss" Garrett.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE