DURHAM, N.C. (WPVI-TV) — The high school football coach whose story inspired many in “Remember the Titans” has died, according to North Carolina Central University officials. He was 84.
Herman “Ike” Boone, a Rocky Mount native, was a double-graduate of North Carolina Central University and NCCU Athletics Hall of Famer.
The cause of death was not immediately released.
As documented in the “Remember the Titans,” Boone was the head football coach at T.C. Williams High School in a racially divided Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971. Boone united and coached the diverse team and turned it into Virginia’s most powerful football team at the time, winning a state championship while navigating the early days of desegregation.
In December 1971, President Richard M. Nixon was quoted as saying “the team saved the city of Alexandria.” Read more via WPVI-TV.
