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.     »  K-.- 2   CCACH j
· · ·; if . —
, wp,.  yy   BY LIZ HOWARD
 @gj;‘;§*'    a. Josv rrownnn
I   i  I     P I  .; · .   _ - » r · .
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  5 .;;··--"       _   _ Q I Senior Ron Robinson, right, presents tooth Jerry
I   T" ‘  I         · »   Claiborne with a plaque from the last team (Iuiborne <
7   _  ’·   will ever tooth. I
(   `\ f f    l,»‘i’    
I      i Football tooth1erryCloiborne and his wife, Faye, share l I (
.· · .     oteorful moment during the retirement tribute , z
Ia     _A   dedicated to them. I
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1
Y   . \
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he man was so relaxed as he sat there _;   { g
in the partially dismantled office. The ( \,   .j I _r  I
T plaques and pictures had been taken     I, I
down; cardboard boxes were stacked ~ . J""  E
near the door; 0n the desk the nameplate jrg ‘    ,  I
“]erry Claibome" was jutting out of the comet     `  _ i (
of a half·filled box.   - . I (
“I don`t know what I’m going to do · ,   t
with all this stuff," Claibome said, gesturing   #01 _ » _ x
around the room. “I think Faye and I are `“ N"" ' `
gonna have to have a room built — kind of a (
memories room.” to specialize in air conditioning. I asked him I
One of the prominently displayed what it (air conditioning) was. We didn’t have 2
items of memorabilia will be the plaque it back then; most people didn’t know what it I
presented to him by the 1989 Wildcats, his was," he added laughing. I
28th and final squad. But, Claiborne never went back for s
“”I`o Coach jerry Claiborne who that engineering degree. Coaching was good to 2
showed us the right way; who taught us the him and he was good for coaching. I·Ie leaves I
best way and made us winners.” the profession as one of its more revered I
“Boy, I said ifl could just make it practitioners. He was a winner and he did it I
through the (football awards) banquet, the “right way”, a phrase heard often in
retirement would be easy. I was doing fine athletics today because somewhere along the r
until Ronnie Robinson came up there with line “the right way” became the unusual way. I
that plaque and then that video of my career... “As a student-athlete and 40 years as a U I
I looked over at Faye and she was crying. Well, football coach," said athletics director C. M. I
that did it. We both just hugged and cried. It Newton at the retirement announcement, x
was wonderfull" “]erry has always been a great role model for I
Yes, it’s been a wonderful life for the his peers, players and everyone involved. I
native Kentuckian who grew up with two “Speaking as an alumnus of the s
desires — to play for his beloved state University, I really admire the discipline, the I
university and to coach football. stability, the academic achievements and the C
"I just always wanted to he a football competitiveness that he, his coaching staff and 2
coach. I respected my high school coaches and players have brought to the University of
saw what they were doing, the guidance they Kentucky. The national championship for I
were giving. Really, I majored in math because graduation rate of his football program rivals I
of my football coach, too. In case I didn’t like any other national championship this c
coaching, I could go back to school in institution has won. For that, we are extremely (
engineering. My high school coach wanted me proud and grateful,” Newton concluded. (
s in xii xixi s