”Remember the Titans” Coach “Doc” Hines Remembers the Titans
By Paula Lonergan
Published in The Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley Journal News, April 24, 2003.

"Remember the Titans” is the highly acclaimed high school football saga starring Oscar winner, Denzel Washington. The movie focuses on the newly integrated T.C. Williams Titans high school in Alexandria, Virginia during the early 1970s. With forced desegregation, the football team now consisted of players of different races and from previously opposing teams. The premiere of the movie took place at the Rose Bowl in September 2000.

Coach Paul “Doc” Hines was the offensive line coach of the 1971 Titans football team. Emmy winning actor GregAlan Williams portrayed Doc’s character in the movie, as he was the longtime friend and assistant coach working alongside the head coach of the team, Herman Boone (Denzel).

As the movie showed, right from the start Doc and the other coaches worked hard to correct the prejudiced and biased attitudes of the players. The team was to attend a football camp in Gettysburg, PA. When the players got on the buses prepared to leave, all the black players got on one bus and the whites got on the other. Doc noticed this and told Herman. The buses were emptied and players were told to split up, each now obligated to sit next to a player of another race.

While at camp, the coaches worked hard to get the kids to talk to one another, not at one another. Eventually, they learned to work together as a unified team. In view of the initial challenges facing the team, Doc said, “right from the beginning, we (the coaches) told them, you don’t have to love each other, but you will respect one another.”

Doc was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia in the late 1930s. His loving, but strict parents instilled into him the value of hard work and persevering despite hardship. Doc chose to be a teacher and coach early in his life. Despite the violence and prejudice surrounding him, he persisted in getting his education and graduated from Virginia State. He was the only one of his four siblings to graduate from college.

Doc believes success starts with the attitude ‘if you don’t mind, then it don’t matter.’ He feels whatever you put your mind to can be accomplished, prevailing over obstacles and hurdles along the way. He travels and gives speeches in association with the ‘71 Original Titans foundation. He emphasizes the value of the mind over matter attitude and encourages all to follow positive examples, like the ones portrayed in “Remember the Titans.” Doc said he thought GregAlan did a good job in portraying him. When asked how accurate the movie was, compared to real life, he said, “It’s 80% accurate. The essence of the movie was true.”

“Remember the Titans,” is based on a true story and is a delightful, make-you-feel-good kind of movie. If you have not seen it, go and rent the DVD. It’s one you’ll want to watch and remember over and over again.