by, Kary Booher, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame joins with the family and friends of Doug Potts in mourning the former Bolivar High School football coach. He passed away Tuesday at age 79.
Potts was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and had remained active with the Hall of Fame as part of its Board of Trustees.
“I met him in August of 1966,” said Jerald Andrews, President and Executive Director of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and who was a lineman for Potts’ teams. “No one influenced my life more than Coach Potts.”
Potts was 213-132-2 (.617) from 1966 to 2000 at Bolivar High School, guiding the Liberators to a state runner-up finish in Class 3 in 1992. His 213 wins are 26th-most in Missouri high school history. His teams won 13 conference championships, four district titles, appeared in seven sectionals, three quarterfinals and two state semifinal games. He was named the Missouri State Football Coach of the Year in 1992 and inducted into the Missouri Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1994. He also served as President of the Football Coaches Association and the Missouri Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
Potts also coached basketball and golf, plus served as the athletic director of Bolivar High School for 20 years and assistant principal for 10 years.
A son of an Army Master Sergeant, Potts graduated from Neosho High School in 1956. He then went on to play football for Pittsburg State University from 1961 to 1964, playing on the 1961 NAIA national championship team and earning an all-time letterman award. He was all-conference and All-District 10, plus a Small College All-American honorable mention.
Funeral arrangements are through Butler Funeral Home in Bolivar, although times are expected to be announced later.
