Contact information for Mr. Rustin Baker Lions only[Deceased: May 11, 2002 See Personal Page]
RUSTIN, Nathan Edward Jr. , 57, 3101 Sandfort Road, Phenix City, died Saturday. Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, Phenix City.
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Coach has fatal heart attack
Pacelli's Nathan Rustin died Saturday
BY GUERRY CLEGG
Staff Writer
Nathan Rustin played football at Alabama for Bear Bryant and looked the part of the nickname himself.
With wide shoulders and an even wider smile, he was equal parts grizzly and teddy bear.
Rustin, 57, died of a heart attack Saturday while cutting his mother's grass. Although he'd had heart problems in recent years, Rustin's death shocked and saddened the high school coaching fraternity on both sides of the Chattahoochee River.
"The thing that bothers me the most," said David Smart, a Columbus High assistant baseball and football coach, "is that I don't know if he really knew how much he meant to me."
Rustin, a starting defensive tackle on Alabama's undefeated 1966 SEC championship team, coached high school football and wrestling for 34 years. He spent the last 27 at Pacelli, where he was head football coach for 24 seasons.
"He was so strong, you'd almost have to kill him to whip him," said Henry Gresham, his football coach when he played at Central-Phenix City.
Gresham recalled an incident one night when Rustin was bringing the Pacelli wrestlers back home from the state tournament. They stopped at a McDonalds and two drunk customers started harassing Rustin. One man in particular kept bothering Rustin, who tried to ignore him.
Then the man started bothering one of the kids. That kid was Smart. That's when Rustin warned the man to leave his boys alone.
"The man took a swing at him and I'm telling you Coach Rustin just leveled him," Smart said. "Then he told the manager, 'You better get him out of here or I might kill him.' "
The McDonalds employees applauded.
"The other guy said, 'Fred, you done picked the wrong one,' " Smart said.
The man foolishly took another swing. Rustin leveled him again. The police came and arrested the drunk.
"Coach Rustin didn't want any trouble," Smart said. "He was just protecting his kids."
Rustin was remembered as a coach who could drive his players hard one minute and the next minute be singing "The Old Rugged Cross." Gresham recalled him as fiercely loyal, once even at his own expense. He was an assistant with Gresham at Baker in 1974 when LaGrange High offered him a similar position.
Baker countered by offering him the head coaching job.
"He wouldn't take it because he'd already given his word," Gresham said. "If he gave you his word, it was as good as a signed contract."
Rustin coached numerous state champions in wrestling. Pacelli lacked the resources to be consistently competitive in football. But he did produce some strong teams. The Vikings finished second in Region 5-A to Greenville in 1985 and to Brookstone in 1987.
"Work ethic and integrity, that's how I knew him," Smart said. "He was such a strong person, but you knew he cared about you."
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Contact Guerry Clegg at (706) 571-8502 or gclegg@ledger-enquirer.com
May, 2002
Contact information for Mr. Rustin Baker Lions only
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