Science Hill High School

George Biddle

George Biddle

George Biddle spent nearly a half century in various roles with the Johnson City school system, most notably as assistant superintendent for maintenance. "I was a little bit shocked to know that I was going to be one of them (in the Hall of Fame)," Biddle said, "because I never taught a day of school."

But he enhanced the experience for students and athletes. Biddle often went to an Army surplus store in Nashville to buy everything from aluminum and desks to buses.

"Money wasn't always easy to come by at Science Hill," the 89-year-old Biddle says. "I'd go get government buses from the Army surplus place in Nashville and then let the vocational school fix them up. Knowing where we came from and how many trips I made to Nashville, every foot of the place (Science Hill) makes me feel proud."

Biddle had a bird's-eye view of how all the heavyweights operated, and quickly remembers working with people like superintendents Howard McCorkle and Sidney Smallwood.

Biddle was old school. Science Hill fixture Kenny Arrowood recalls Charlie Bailey telling him how Biddle would bust your butt, and Steve Spurrier remembers how Biddle would leave it.

"George was our driver and he left my butt in Kingsport one night,"

Spurrier said. "We beat 'em over there in basketball and I knew a bunch of guys on the Kingsport team. After we'd cleaned up and everything I went over and shook hands with a couple of those guys, and I came back around on the other side to find the bus and he'd already pulled out.

"Fortunately young Bob Evans was like the 9th- or 10th-grade coach in Kingsport but he still lived in Johnson City. He said, 'I'm heading back Steve, so I'll give you a ride.' So I got back to the high school about the same time -- right after -- the bus did. And I went up to a bunch of my teammates and said, 'Man, we had fun on the bus ride coming back didn't we?' And they're like, 'Yeah, we sure did.'

"They didn't know I wasn't on the bus. It was the dangest thing I'd ever seen. Coach (Elvin) Little didn't know I wasn't on that bus. So anyway, I made sure I was around George's bus in plenty of time after that." Biddle probably had things to do.

"George was an overachiever," Arrowood said. "Nothing they gave him was too big. He'd always jump in and get it done."

Biddle still runs an antique store in Jonesboro, but has plenty of sports memorabilia between his ears.

"I loved ballgames and I loved getting those buses ready for the coaches and players to go play," Biddle said. "Kermit Tipton is one of the finest men you could ever know. I wouldn't take anything for my life with the Johnson City schools."