There are only a few names that come to mind when Cabool Head Coach Tyler Spittler thinks about Bulldogs football.
“I think of Rance Walls and coach John Mark Hale who’s been here forever,” Spittler said.
Hale has coached at Cabool for 50 years.
“I love coaching and watching boys turn into men,” Hale said.
In the late 1990s, he watched Rance Walls become Missouri’s all-time high school leading tackler by the time he graduated.
“Straight ahead you would not run over him,” Hale said.
Walls soon joined Hale’s family as his son-in-law and eventually joined Hale on the Cabool sideline.
“He coached the way he played, he was all in,” Hale added.
A few years later, another Walls joined the Bulldogs huddle.
“It’s a family thing watching my grandson. It’s hard to watch my position kids and keep an eye on him,” Hale said.
Logan Walls received all-state honors in his junior season, a fall that was a special year for his mom.
“I love to just look out there and see all three of my boys right there, so it’s pretty cool,” said Rance’s wife, Hale’s daughter, and Logan’s mom Elizabeth Walls.
However, just days after a loss in the district championship the Walls world stopped.
“I heard a loud thud [at home], and he had a massive heart attack and he was gone,” Elizabeth said.
Rance Walls died on November 14, 2022, at age 43.
“I just felt empty,” said Rance Walls’ son and Cabool senior Logan Walls.
“I still don’t remember everything that happened because I was in such shock,” Elizabeth said.
The Walls turned to the Bulldogs program for healing, but they knew Friday nights would never be the same.
“A big part of our relationship was football,” Logan said.
“It’s hard, it’s super hard, Logan’s first game was hard,” Elizabeth Walls said.
As Elizabeth watches Logan, she says she sees more and more of Rance in her son every day.
“Sometimes it’s a bittersweet moment because I look up and see his dad, and I know Rance would be so proud of everything that he has accomplished,” Elizabeth said. “It’s just bittersweet because he’s not here to see.”
Even though Rance is gone, his impact on Cabool football is not lost.
“I remember the night he passed I said, ‘I don’t want anybody to ever forget him,’” Elizabeth said. “He was one of a kind and those things (helmet stickers and special shirts) just remind me that he is not being forgotten.”
Players and coaches wear T-shirts saying ‘In loving memory of Rance Walls’ on the back, and players have Rance Walls’ initials on the back of their helmet to honor their coach.
