A few thoughts on Coach Kirk:
* As a student at Marshall University, he held the distinction of being the starting center on both the basketball and football teams. He was head coach at Tampa and then a Denny Crum assistant at Louisville, '71-'76.
* At VCU, he inherited Ren Watson and Gerald Henderson, but then had to "re-recruit" them; both were nearly out the door when he arrived following the stunning resignation of Chuck Noe in October, '77.
* His first recruiting class was Ed Sherod (John Marshall), Danny Kottak (Louisivlle) and Penny Elliott (Clearwater, Fla.); he later landed Monty Knight (TJ), Kenny Stancell (Frederick Military) and Greg McCray (Hopewell by way of Florida JC).
* The leisure suits (with wide open collar over lapel) he preferred were the fad at this time. Anyone remember Tony Manero (John Travolta) in Saturday Night Fever? In the tournament at U.Va., Virginia trainer Joe Gieck made the mistake of saying, "Where'd ya get that suit, Dana, K-Mart?" Fortunatley Terry Holland intervened. Dana (probably 6-5, 230, and with a mean streak) would have snapped Joe Gieck like a dry twig.
* VCU still played some games at Franklin Street upon his arrival. During his tenure, the Rams went 5-0 vs. UR in '78 and '79; renewed the series with ODU; won at Cincinnati, ECU, W&M and Navy, and had the ECAC victory over Georgetown. The toughest losses were to ODU (OT, on ref John Moreau's "five second" call, resulting in no postseason), to Virginia Tech in the TDIT, and to St. Bonny (a game that denied the Rams an NCAA bid)
* In the NIT loss at Detroit, Dick Vitale was not the Titans' coach. He had stepped down earlier in the season and was watching the game from the bleachers.
* Among the supporters, Coach Kirk was warm and engaging - easily the most approachable of any of the VCU coaches, all-time. He'll be remembered as the coach who took a program on the brink and lifted it to a higher level. Coach Kirk was a great Ram.
* As a student at Marshall University, he held the distinction of being the starting center on both the basketball and football teams. He was head coach at Tampa and then a Denny Crum assistant at Louisville, '71-'76.
* At VCU, he inherited Ren Watson and Gerald Henderson, but then had to "re-recruit" them; both were nearly out the door when he arrived following the stunning resignation of Chuck Noe in October, '77.
* His first recruiting class was Ed Sherod (John Marshall), Danny Kottak (Louisivlle) and Penny Elliott (Clearwater, Fla.); he later landed Monty Knight (TJ), Kenny Stancell (Frederick Military) and Greg McCray (Hopewell by way of Florida JC).
* The leisure suits (with wide open collar over lapel) he preferred were the fad at this time. Anyone remember Tony Manero (John Travolta) in Saturday Night Fever? In the tournament at U.Va., Virginia trainer Joe Gieck made the mistake of saying, "Where'd ya get that suit, Dana, K-Mart?" Fortunatley Terry Holland intervened. Dana (probably 6-5, 230, and with a mean streak) would have snapped Joe Gieck like a dry twig.
* VCU still played some games at Franklin Street upon his arrival. During his tenure, the Rams went 5-0 vs. UR in '78 and '79; renewed the series with ODU; won at Cincinnati, ECU, W&M and Navy, and had the ECAC victory over Georgetown. The toughest losses were to ODU (OT, on ref John Moreau's "five second" call, resulting in no postseason), to Virginia Tech in the TDIT, and to St. Bonny (a game that denied the Rams an NCAA bid)
* In the NIT loss at Detroit, Dick Vitale was not the Titans' coach. He had stepped down earlier in the season and was watching the game from the bleachers.
* Among the supporters, Coach Kirk was warm and engaging - easily the most approachable of any of the VCU coaches, all-time. He'll be remembered as the coach who took a program on the brink and lifted it to a higher level. Coach Kirk was a great Ram.
Actually, I'm pretty quickly moving into the old fart category myself. 
) also haven't had nearly enough exposure to the history of the program... of course, some of the blame for that is the program's for hiding the ball. I truly wish that the school would undertake a project to get a good history documented, and take advantage of the breadth and depth of the institutional memory of Ram fandom.
