Brother Rice Experience Paved Way for Webster's Coaching Career

Don Webster learned a lot more than earth science from longtime Brother Rice teacher and baseball coach George Sedlacek.

“He was a great teacher and wonderful human being,” said Webster, a 1966 Brother Rice graduate. “I remember sitting in class watching him, thinking wouldn’t it be great to have as much fun as he’s having and get paid for it.

"When I came to the realization that I wasn’t good enough for the professional ranks, I went into teaching and knew I would like to coach. I was fortunate as a young man that I decided very early what I wanted to do.”

Webster played one season of baseball for Sedlacek, who won 616 games and guided the Crusaders to their lone state championship in 1975.

Webster would go on to play four seasons of football at Purdue University. It was in West Lafayette where Webster would pick the brains of the coaches and learn every nuance of the game.

Webster used those lessons while working as an assistant coach at Richards, Eisenhower and Shepard, where he would become the head coach for 14 seasons during two stints.

“My claim to fame was being on the first varsity staff of Richards coach Gary Korhonen,” Webster said. “I always tell him I was there when he won his first game and had his first winning season.”

Webster became the head coach at Shepard in 1975 and resigned in 1979 after a 9-1 playoff season in order to go back to school and earn his master’s degree.

He returned to Shepard and was the head coach again from 1987-1995, including leading the Astros to six straight playoff appearances.

Shepard has made 10 playoff appearances, including the past two seasons under Dominic Passolano. Webster was the head coach for seven of those previous trips to the postseason.

His most memorable victory came against his former mentor.

Shepard ended Richards’ 34-game winning streak in 1990 with a 7-6 victory over the host Bulldogs. Shepard trailed 6-0 in the fourth quarter, but the Astros went on a 90-yard drive with star running back Tyrone Washington scoring a 35-yard touchdown with 1:20 remaining.

“We had a lot of good teams and great kids,” Webster said. “Beating Richards was probably our biggest win. We were led by Tyrone Washington, who was a wonderful player.

"We qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1978 the year before and we were starting to turn the corner. People didn’t know about Shepard football, but that win over Richards put Shepard on the map.”