Former football coach Wes Gall (left) and current coach Ben Pack (right) were with Jack Smith and Larry McGee on Friday night when they received their award.

Jack Smith and Larry McGee were recommended and selected for the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association’s 2022 Life Time Service Award, for their dedication and service to Manchester High School Football.  Both received their award at the annual awards banquet held in Lansing last Friday evening. 

Smith and McGee, who actually retired from the Manchester “chain gang” in 2017, together logged a total of 98 years of service to the team — 50 for McGee, who began in 1967 and 48 for Smith, who started in 1969. In addition to doing field measurements for every JV and Varsity football game, they also hauled the team’s equipment to both home and away games for all those years. Both consider their time with the Manchester football teams a “pleasure.”

McGee said he was “speechless” when he learned that he and Smith had been nominated and received the award from the Football Coaches’ Association. “I never dreamed,” he added. “I thought once we were done, we were done. When I got the call that said we’re getting an award, I just had no idea what to say. I truly appreciate all they did for me.”

Smith, too, said it was an incredible surprise to be honored by the Football Coaches Association, and an experience he’s grateful to have had.

“Their loyalty and service is matched with the best in the state of Michigan,” said Ben Pack, Manchester’s current varsity football coach, calling McGee and Smith “two of the best.” “For 50 years this duo helped coaches, and hundreds of players, by hauling equipment to away games and running the Chain Crew during home games.”

“We always tried to make it as easy as we could for the coaches,” McGee explained, “so they didn’t have to worry about forgetting anything. We were there and we did it because we loved it. We always liked spending time with the kids and the coaches, and it was an honor to do it.”

One regret that McGee has is that “After we got done, now they have to beg people (to do the job); no one wants to step up. That makes us sad.”

Smith, who is McGee’s uncle, (his sister was Larry’s mother) said, “I’ve got a lot of excellent memories, but I think the best one is when the team went to the Silverdome for the state finals (in 1993). There’s been a lot of different games and a lot of different teams over the years, but that year was a top experience … everyone on that team was a leader, always would pick up where another left off.”

Smith said that really, he enjoyed working with every single player over the years. “You win some games and you lose some games, but it is all still a lot of fun.”