In 1970, after five years of coaching and teaching in the Kern County High School District, Jack transferred to North High School. He was hired over a cup of coffee at a meeting with Turk Eliades at the Westchester Bowling Alley.

Jack retired in 2004, after coaching and teaching at North for 34 years. While at North, he taught biology, physical science and physical education. He also served as the PE Department Chairman. He coached four different sports, one year as the head softball coach, four years as the JV wrestling coach, more than a decade of freshman and JV baseball, seventeen years as a varsity assistant football coach, and seven years as the head football coach.

His greatest memories of coaching are of the interactions with the athletes and the coaches that he was able to “rub shoulders with.” Developing lifelong bonds is what coaching is all about. Coaching second-generation kids and having former players come back to coach with you are two of the things Jack considers true blessings, and Jack was very fortunate to have many.

From 2001 to 2015, he has continued coaching football at Bakersfield College. Here he’s been able to coach former player’s sons, coach with former players, and continue coaching with former North High School football coaches.

The hope of a coach is that they have as great as impact on their players’ lives as those players have on the coach’s life.

Family is truly the foundation that holds up a high school coach. Jack has a very solid one in his beautiful wife Susie (NHS class of 1966), daughter Annie (NHS class of 1986), daughter Michelle (NHS class of 1988), their spouse’s Keith, and Blake (NHS class of 1981), son Sean, his wife Jenna, grandsons Randall, Logan (NHS class of 2015), Rhett, Declcan, Reese, and granddaughters Keelie, and Romy.

Born in Bakersfield and raised in Oildale, Jim Rice attended Beardsley Jr. High and entered North High in 1954, the school’s second year of existence. There, he and became one of the all-time “Stars,” a three-sport athlete, excelling in football, basketball and track and field.

Although just 5’10” and 155 pounds, Rice was a fierce competitor in football, playing running back and defensive back. In those days, you were placed on a team level according your height, weight and school year. So it wasn’t until his senior year that he was classified as a varsity player. But he quickly became known as one of the toughest guys on the team, attracting the attention of colleges.

He played two years of varsity basketball at guard, then was an all-around performer in track and field, shining in nearly every event he tried.

He received a scholarship offer from the University of California at Berkeley, but enrolled at Bakersfield College as a freshman. In those days, freshmen could not play varsity sports in four-year colleges, so he tried to play his freshman year at BC. But one day, after practice, he became paralyzed from the waist down.

His parents initially thought it was from football, but it turned out to be polio. He was in a coma for several weeks and the doctors later told him he would never walk again.

While in the hospital, BC’s football coach Homer Beatty paid him a visit and told him he could beat it because of his work ethic and determination. Miraculously, after extensive and painful treatments and rehabilitation, Jim was back on the football field.

Although Homer Beatty had left BC, Rice went on to have a great career at BC as a defensive back, special teams player and occasional running back. He played on the 1959 Renegade team that beat Tyler, Texas JC in the Junior Rose Bowl in Pasadena. In that game, he intercepted a pass and ran it back to the 7-yard line where his old North High teammate, Terry Hill, ran it in for a touchdown. That team included other former North High teammates Vern Burke, Bobby Ezell and Lloyd Mosley.

In 1960, Jim married his high school sweetheart, Carol Myers, and was out of football for two years. He received a call from Fresno State coach Cecil Coleman, who convinced him to come play for the Bulldogs. Jim started at cornerback for two years and had a team-leading nine interceptions during that time.

One of his favorite sports was water skiing and during the summer after graduation he won the National Jr. Boys Championship at La Port, Indiana. He repeated again in 1959 at San Diego. While a student at Fresno State, he came out of retirement and competed and won in all three events, slalom, tricks and jumping. During his skiing career, he won over 200 events, stacking up more than 50 trophies.

Jim and Carol now reside in Boise, Idaho, where he has built a very successful real estate business and is an avid fisherman and hunter.

This 1983 graduate of North High, Tara was one of three children born to Billy and Annie Ross. Tara and her two brothers, Bailey and Wyatt, come from a long line of Kern County athletes. Her father was a standout athlete at Arvin High School, Bakersfield College and Cal Poly. He returned to Bakersfield and to both coach and teach until his retirement.

As an athlete at North High School, Tara competed in three sports, softball, volleyball and basketball. In softball, she was a varsity starter as a junior and as a senior.

In volleyball she was a three-year varsity starter. As a sophomore she won second team All-league honors and first team All-league honors as a junior and a senior.

Playing basketball, Tara started on the varsity team all four years. She was also a four-time All-league first team player. She ended her career as North high’s all-time assist leader. As a junior she led the team to the Valley Championship game and an appearance in the CIF State Tournament. As a senior, she led the Lady Stars to another Valley Championship final.

After graduation she attended Bakersfield College and concentrated on volleyball. There, she was a two-year starter and two-time first-team All-Metropolitan conference player.

Then it was on to the University Nebraska, Omaha, where she received both a Bachelor’s degree and a Masters degree.

Her teaching career started at Mira Costa Junior College Oceanside, California. After one year there, she went on to teach at Delgato Community College in New Orleans, Louisiana.

In 1999, she was hired at Notre Dame High School of Acadia Parish, Crowley, Louisiana. Tara has been the head volleyball coach there since 1999, compiling an amazing record of 498 wins and 149 losses. Her teams have been to 15 straight Louisiana state tournaments and have been to the finals six times, winning in 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012. She was also honored as the Louisiana Coach of the Year in 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Her teams have also been District champions 16 straight years.

Tara’s 19-year-old son, Waylon Young, was the starting quarterback in both his junior and senior years at Notre Dame High School. He was also selected as the first-team all- District quarterback for both of those years. In his junior year he led his team to the state semi-finals. Currently, on an academic scholarship, he is a junior at Louisiana Lafayette University majoring in psychology. Upon graduation, he would like to get into the field of sports psychology.

Congratulations to Tara, an all-time great Lady Star. The Ross bloodlines have created some outstanding athletes and people.

Gene Smart was raised in Texas and moved to Oildale in 1955 to live with his Dad. One of the first North High kids he met was future NFL player Vern Burke. That started a long friendship throughout their time at North High.

An outstanding football player and wrestler, he became known for being one of the toughest of the tough in an era of tough guys.

He participated in baseball his first two years at North on the Frosh/Soph team, but made his mark on the football field and wrestling mats. He was a starting guard and linebacker on the varsity for three years and was a key player on North’s first SYL Championship team in 1957, as the Stars lost just one game. Smart was named first team All-SYL and first team All-Valley both as a junior and a senior. He was also named the team’s Most Inspirational Player as a senior. In addition, he capped his football career off by being named starter in the North-South All-Star game.

As a wrestler, Smart wrestled at 165 pounds and was winning his matches easily. He once pinned an opponent in the first 10 seconds of the match. North’s legendary wrestling coach, Win “Boot” Bootman, moved him up to the 190-pound weight class, though he still weighed less than 170 pounds.

A leader on the campus as well as the athletic fields, he was Vice President of the “BIG N” club as a senior. Gene is a quiet person who let his playing do the talking.

Gene credits Coaches Turk Eliades and “Boot” Bootman for much of his success. After his senior year, he joined the Army for two years, stationed in Texas. He then worked for Southern Pacific Railroad in San Antonio, Texas for 37 years before retiring. Gene and Elizabeth now live in Floresville, Texas.

Bill Thomas was born and raised in Bakersfield, attending Highland Elementary and Standard Jr. High. In an indication of what was to come, he was elected 8th grade Student Body President at Standard. He was tutored in sports as a youngster by coaches Paul Henry and Jack Denison. They must have done something right.

Thomas became an outstanding scholar/athlete at North, excelling in football, basketball and baseball. He started all four years on the basketball team under coaches Joe Goode and Lloyd Williams and was named all-SYL in 1968 and 1969, leading the league in scoring as a senior. He also tied a single game scoring record in a game in the Kern County Invitational Tournament with 36 points and finished his career as North’s all-time leading scorer.

On the baseball diamond, Thomas played on the varsity team for two years under Coach Sam Barton, making all-league pitcher as a junior and senior. In one game as a senior, he smacked a game-winning walk-off homer, calling it one of his favorite moments from his career.

Thomas played just one year of football. As a senior, under the legendary coach Turk Eliades, he was the starting quarterback. The three-sport excellence earned him the prestigious Sam Lynn Award in 1969.

After graduation, he attended Bakersfield College and played baseball under Walt Johnson and Pete Lango, before moving on to UCLA. While a Bruin, he set the school’s ERA record (1.66) while playing for Coach Art Reichle. He had the honor of meeting the great basketball coach John Wooden while at UCLA. His greatest memory from UCLA was pitching a 5 to 2 complete game victory over the California Angels, in a Spring Training Exhibition game.

Bill returned to Bakersfield after graduating from UCLA with his Doctorate in Dental Science. He has been practicing for 37 years in his office not far from North High. In the early 1980’s, he was the clinical instructor for BC’s Dental Assisting Program. Because of his commitment to BC, he was honored as one of the recipients of the 100 Stars Award program during the school’s 100-year anniversary.

Bill and his wife Linda have three daughters Laura, Katherine and Julianne. All were North high graduates, and all former North High girls’ varsity basketball players.