Photo: Felicia and Bill Gaskins
WSU legend Bill Gaskins, a
Cougar Nation gem, is gone at age 76
By Dylan Haugh, Cougfan on Nov. 15th in 2020
PULLMAN—Bill Gaskins mused in an interview with
Cougfan.com two years ago that the only reason Washington State football
coaches recruited him out of Spokane's Lewis and Clark High was to get an
inside lane to his talented younger brother.
If so, the gambit paid off in a major way -- and not because of
his little brother. Gaskins went on to become not just
one of the school’s greatest defensive backs, playing on one of the most iconic
teams (the 1965 ‘Cardiac Kids’) but a giant in the Pullman community over the
last five decades.
The Spokesman-Review reported yesterday that this
personable, caring fixture of the Palouse has died. He was at home, in Pullman,
at age 76. The cause was not known at press time. We will provide memorial
details as they become available.
The loss is one that touches many.
Former WSU volleyball coach Cindy Frederick tweeted, "Bill was truly one of the best people! This is so heartbreaking."
Chris Moton, a football standout in the late 1980s said, "He took me under
his wing and had me in his home when I was on the team... solid role model for
me..... I’m glad he came into my life." Palouse Posse mainstay Torey
Hunter tweeted, "This one hits different. RIParadise."
In our 2018 story on Gaskins, we
noted, "The one-time All-Coast safety, second-team All-American, standout
sprinter, and WSU Hall of Fame member is still a towering presence in Pullman.
But his stature today doesn’t stem from the gridiron. It’s from a life well
lived, working in and serving a community he and his wife -- and college
sweetheart -- Felicia fell in love with in the early 1960s and never wanted to
leave."
Except for Bill’s two seasons playing in the
Canadian Football League and a pharmacy internship in Puyallup, they never did
leave Pullman.
Bill spent 41 years as a clinical
pharmacy instructor at WSU and the director of pharmacy at Pullman Regional
Hospital. Felicia also spent four decades working at WSU, most recently as
associate vice president for the Office of Equity and Diversity. Both of their
kids, William and Helen, are WSU grads, as is one of their five grandchildren.
“It’s a great place to raise children. The people here are caring
and genuine,” Bill told COUGFAN in 2018 in his
baritone voice and welcoming manner. “We just found a place that turned out to
be very perfect for us and our family.”
Gaskins was a star running back and
defensive back at Lewis and Clark High before journeying to Pullman in 1962.
Felicia, from Tacoma, was a year ahead of him in school and it was nearly love
at first sight when he spotted her walking across campus.
Here are condensed highlights from our illuminating conversation
...
COUGFAN: When you played at WSU in the early 60s, the civil rights
movement was in full swing. What was that time like?
Gaskins:“When
Kennedy was assassinated, it changed a lot of things for a lot of people … In
previous generations, like my parents’, they taught us that if we were model
citizens then equal rights may not happen for us but it would happen for our
children. With the civil rights movement, minority people realized if it didn’t
happen right now for us, it probably wasn’t going to happen for our children
….”
COUGFAN: When did things start to change for the better and where
do you see our society at the present day?
Gaskins:“When
we got into the ‘70s and the ‘80s we thought that things had changed and we
made a lot of progress and were on the road to a more tolerant, caring society Unfortunately
that isn’t the case today for a lot of people. I think the percentage of people
who believe all people are equal -- based on character and nothing else like
religion, color, creed -- is greater today, I would say. I believe the great
majority of people believe that, but there still is a significant group of
people who believe Blacks, Hispanics, women and other minorities are not equal.
That is unfortunate.”
COUGFAN: You were a Pac-10 referee for 17 years. You played
college football in the 1960s and then officiated during a new era. What was
that contrast like for you?
Gaskins: “I
always tell people, the athletes today are so phenomenal, they do so many
amazing things compared to when we were players. It would be interesting to see
what a player from the 60s would be like in 2018. The players are bigger,
faster, stronger … These players are unbelievable in my mind, they just do
things that I could never imagine doing sometimes.”
COUGFAN: You still help out the Pac-12 with its assessment of
officiating. What does that entail?
Gaskins:
“A couple times of year I’m enlisted to review the officials in a
game … I’ll go to the game and I watch all the players on the field, referees,
umpires, field judges and look to see that they they’re in the right positions
to make calls and that they don’t miss calls that they should have made.”
COUGFAN: How tough was it being an official in a multi-billion dollar
sport?
Gaskins: “Nobody
has any idea -- other than officials -- how scrutinized officials are. Every
game in the Pac-12, there are five guys that are former officials who review
the game -- every single official on every single play to make certain that
they have not made an incorrect call or that they have done something that is
inappropriate. They’re graded on that... every single official in the Pac-12 is
on a one-year contract. They’re evaluated at the end of the year. If they’ve
done well they’ll get another contract …”
COUGFAN: Were there any games you wish you had the chance to
officiate but didn't?
Gaskins: “Unfortunately
in my career, since I was a WSU alum, I never had the opportunity to do the
Washington vs. Washington State game ... I always regret that I didn’t have the
opportunity to do that game because that really is a special one ... But the
appearance of former player (from the rivalry) officiating could be
misconstrued if there was a controversial call.”
COUGFAN: In your WSU playing days, what were some of the more
memorable games?
Gaskins:
“There really wasn’t a game, it was a season actually -- my senior year (1965)
when we went 7-3 and beat three Big Ten schools on the road (in nail biting
fashion). It was the best record that WSU had in quite a while. It wasn’t a
really special team, but all the people on the team fit together and played
their role and did their jobs. It made us successful. We weren’t predicted to
do very well in the conference that season. That’s really what made it a
memorable year for us. All the games were good.”
(Of note: the Cougars missed the Rose Bowl that season by virtue
of a two-point conversion that was whistled back in the final moments at
Arizona State.)
COUGFAN: Bert Clark was the WSU coach in your junior and senior
seasons. He’s fairly notorious for the way he treated players. Talk about that.
Gaskins: “...
The two of us got along fine but things went a little bit sideways when I
explained to him that my scholarship at WSU was for both football and track so
I wouldn’t be out for spring ball because I would be running track. For the
most part, though, he was fair. He played the best 11 guys.
“That first spring he was there, I was thankful I wasn’t part of
it. I’m not sure I’d have returned in the fall if I had to go through what I
saw ... Eighty-five guys turned out that spring and by the fall, the roster was
down to 38 or 39, and some of the guys who left were really good players … He
was a tough task master and he could do some unusual things. We had three-a-days
one fall … At practice one time after a poor game, he brought out a belt and
said we were going to run every play until perfect. After the first play, he
singles out an offensive lineman and hits him on the butt with the belt. After
another play, he hits a running back -- and the guy just jogged off the field
and never came back. Bert put the belt away after that.”
COUGFAN: Who were some of the best athletes you played with at
WSU?
Gaskins: “One
of the best athletes that I’ve ever been around was a guy named Clarence --
Clancy -- Williams. He was an All-American (1964) here at WSU and a year behind
me. He was a track athlete too … I’m not sure there’s any sport that he
couldn’t excel in, he was just an amazing athlete.”
(Williams was a first-round draft pick by the L.A. Rams and played
eight seasons in the NFL. He died of cancer in 1986. His son Butch Williams was
a three-time first-team All-Pac-10 tight end for the Cougars.)
“In my senior season we had an All-American tackle, Wayne Foster,
who was amazing. He was probably 220 pounds -- which was big for a defensive
tackle in those days. He was very difficult for offensive linemen to handle and
part of the reason we were so successful was because of him. Those are just two
people …”
COUGFAN: What’s it been like to watch the football program return
to prominence during this current run with Mike Leach?
Gaskins:
“We’ve gone through some very difficult times and it’s nice to see
they’re back on the winning road ... One of the things that I’ve been very
pleased with is that the players seem to be very good citizens. They work hard,
they do their jobs. Obviously they’re not all perfect but the greatest majority
are good citizens and working toward completing their degrees which I think is
the most important thing for young men to understand in this day and age. I’m
glad to see we’re successful on the field but more importantly we’re also
successful off the field.”
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Also see, “WSU football hero to be honored by College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences” form Aug 8, 2019: