EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – Longtime NFL coach Gregg Williams remembers watching Excelsior Springs varsity football as a boy.

Specifically, Williams remembers watching the Tigers from 1964 to 1967, when they went undefeated under coach Vic Bonuchi.

Growing up, Williams’ dad took him to all the Tigers’ home games, then played at Roosevelt Field, and “many of the road games,” he recalled Monday by phone.

“My dad made sure I watched the game and thought about what I was going to do when I got a chance to play later on,” he said.

Watching those Tigers, Williams “couldn’t wait to play” high school football himself, he said. Some of the Tigers returned to Excelsior Springs after college and coached Williams, he said.

Soon, Williams will have the chance to reminisce further about the ’64-’67 teams. He will serve as emcee for the Excelsior Springs High School Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony in July, when they will be inducted together.

Returning after being called off in 2020 because of COVID, the ceremony is slated to begin with a reception at 6 p.m. July 7 in the high school commons area. The ceremony will begin at roughly 6:45 in the Performing Arts Center, Hall of Fame Committee member Terri Irons said June 3 by phone.

The ’64-’67 football Tigers are among six inductees. Excelsior Springs’ 1919 basketball team will be inducted as the “Golden Era” entry.

“Basically … they were state champions that year,” Irons, a former Excelsior Springs varsity volleyball coach, said. “The high school activities association … didn’t start until 1926, and so, there was what was called the University of Missouri Tournament that was basically a state championship.”

The Missouri State High School Activities Association, founded 95 years ago, staged its first state basketball tournament in 1927, its website states.

Chris Dailey, Michael Jarman, Wally Stiles and Bill Taylor are the individual inductees.

Daily, a 2007 graduate, was a standout tennis player. Jarman won the Class 1A- 3A boys state golf title in 1984, when he graduated, becoming the school’s second state golf champion. Stiles was part of Excelsior Springs’ string of undefeated football seasons before graduating in 1966 and having a collegiate career at the University of Missouri. Stiles also was an assistant coach when Williams played, Williams said.

Taylor, a 1949 graduate, was part of Excelsior Springs’ 1947 and 1948 undefeated football teams.

“He was a community leader as well,” Irons said. “Very active in community activities. He owned a business here in town. But he (also) was quite a football player.”

Irons expects a healthy turnout to honor the inductees. She attributes that primarily to the number of players from the ’64-’67 football Tigers.

“They’ve spread the word quite a bit through their classes – (on) reunion pages and whatnot,” she said.

The Hall of Fame ceremony helps kick off a series of events July 7-9. Those events include a reception the evening of July 8 for the Gregg Williams Tiger Golf Classic, followed by the tournament and auction July 9 at the Excelsior Springs Golf Course to raise money for the Gregg Williams Foundation. For more tournament information, visit greggwilliamsfoundation.org.