Don Cochran

The following memorial written by Marv Cochran .

His brother Don was a freshman on the “61’ team

My brother Don was a member of the 1961 Missouri Valley College Viking Football Team.  I certainly remember you, Coach Ashford, and a host of the Viking Football Squad.  I think I saw all but one of your games in 1961.  I would have been eleven years old at the time.  Seeing Don’s name on the envelope you sent did bring a tear to my eyes. 

In high school Don was coached by Gene Morrison, who was a former Mo Valley All American running back from back in the day.  Don’s coach his senior year was Ed Elliot who would later return to Valley to coach football and then later become the President of Central Missouri. State in Warrensburg, Mo.  I walked into his office at UCM (CMSC) thirty years later and was amazed when he said, “You are Don’s brother”. 

I have vivid memories of the Vikings coming out of the locker room and I think at that time they went in front of Young Hall.  The excitement of the cleats clicking on the concrete as the Vikings prepared to enter the field still brings a chill to the back of my neck.  One thing that always impressed me about Coach Ashford’s teams was the discipline on the bench.  I remember Coach Ashford with his tie on and the players sitting on the bench like soldiers.  Today some high school soldiers here have ‘get back coaches’ to keep the kids contained and out of the box.  To this day I remember you and the pulling guard locking arms and taking the defensive end into the bleachers on the tailback off tackle power play (185-175).  Don was 23 years old and had just finished his first and very successful year as a high school coach when we lost him in an accident.

Marv Cochran