By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden football coaching legend Tom Stringer passed away Friday at the age of 64 years old.
Tom Stringer visits with John Tetuan, the star quarterback on his undefeated 1998 Class 4A state championship team, during Stringer's Hayden Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2023. [File photo/TSN]
A 1979 Hayden graduate, Stringer went on to earn first-team All-America honors at Pittsburg State as an offensive lineman before returning to Hayden where he served as head football coach from 1992-2006, leading the Wildcats to the school's first Class 4A state championsip in 1998 with a 13-0 record before adding a second undefeated state title in 2004.
A member of the Pittsburg State Athletics Hall of Fame, Stringer was inducted into the Hayden Catholic Hall of Fame in 2023 and said that being back at the school that meant so much to him throughout his life was extra sweet.
Tom Stringer, who passed away Friday at the age of 64, was inducted into the Hayden Hall of Fame in 2023 and is also a member of the Pittsburg State Athletic Hall of Fame. [File photo/TSN]
"It's really special because you get to re-live one of the best parts of your life,'' Stringer said on the night of his induction. "You don't know how bad you liked something until you get away from it, so this is good. I'm very proud and very grateful that I got selected to do this. It's been 17 years since I've been here and every day I think about this place. Every day.''
Stringer will be inducted into the Kansas Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Sunday, Dec. 7, at the Kansas Star Casino.
Stringer's Hayden teams won the Centennial League championship seven times and he achieved a career record of 131-35 during his 15 seasons as the Wildcats' head coach.
Stringer coached in the Kansas Shrine Bowl four times (twice as head coach).
