NEW ORLEANS — Wayne Reese, Sr. was a legendary high school football coach in Louisiana. It's now been almost a year since he died from COVID-19, but since guidelines last year never allowed family, friends, and others in the football community to share stories with one another, a memorial was held for him Sunday, March 7, which would have been his 76th birthday.
He is one of Louisiana's greatest high school football coaches. Most recently, at McDonogh 35, but you may remember back in 1992 when he was coaching a running back by the name of Marshall Faulk at George Washington Carver High School.
Reese walked the McDonogh 35 High School hallways countless times. Sunday, a celebration of life was held at the school.
“This was his life: mentoring, coaching young men,” said Wayne Reese, Jr., Reese’s son.
Reese died April 2, 2020, from COVID-19.
“Today was about Wayne Reese, but it was for the rest of us,” said Ro Brown, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame member and Master of Ceremonies at the memorial service. “He was so much more than a football coach. He impacted everybody on campus. He was a big man on campus without trying to be."
Reese was a longtime New Orleans coaching legend, but he was known for his impacts off the field too.
“He gave, gave, gave. One of his former players said ‘Coach Reese, he has a lot of money’ and I said ‘no he doesn’t. It’s just he gives what he needs to give,’” Reese, Jr. said.
This last football season would have marked Reese’s 18th year at McDonogh 35 and his 50th year as a football coach.
“I was asked all the time by people – ‘When is Wayne going to get a really good job? When is he going to get a college job?’ It never really dawned on me that he would ever coach in college. He was a high school coach in all that it embodied. It was all he ever wanted to do and he did it very well,” Brown said.
Reese's family motto was faith, family, and football. All three were present on Sunday as he was remembered.
At the memorial service, Reese’s brother-in-law, Edgar “Dooky” Chase, Jr. announced a $50,000- academic enhancement fund in his name for schools and organizations.
