Bill Yoast

No one who has ever seen the Disney movie Remember The Titans will forget the image of Coach Bill Yoast patrolling the sidelines motivating his team to victory. In the sea of turmoil that accompanied the times, Coach Yoast was the calming influence. He was the anchor. The blockbuster-hit film's portrayal of Yoast has become an American classic. While the movie has had remarkable box office success, what is more remarkable is the journey that took a poverty-stricken adolescent from Tin Can Hollow Alabama to a Hollywood premier.

That journey has been chronicled in Yoast's critically acclaimed biography Remember This Titan. Charged with racial tension and drama, Yoast’s book ranks among the favorites of many, including a top five Wall Street Journal pick of former NFL quarterback, Boomer Esiason: “Bill Yoast was the coach of the Titans at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., in 1972, an era when pressures for affirmative action were already making themselves felt. Despite a long and successful history as head coach, Mr. Yoast was told to step down—his job was being given to a black coach, and he would work as an assistant. This put both the coaches and players in a dicey position, agitated and brooding over the racial resentments that had been brought to the surface. This moving saga reveals how players and their coaches, functioning as a team, manage in the end to overcome their mistrust and animosity. The book speaks to the strengths of football, and it does so eloquently.”

Yoast was ahead of the times fighting racial injustice and behind the times seeking personal glory. Coach Yoast has become one of the most respected coaches of our times for one reason. From the beginning he anchored himself to integrity. He preached it, he lived it, and he protected it. For him, integrity was not a word but a lifestyle. For him, the words: honor, kindness, loyalty, commitment, and hard work, have meaning that extends beyond the dictionary into action.

At a time when heroes are quickly fading from view and integrity has taken a back seat to convenience, thankfully there are people like Coach Yoast who we can turn to for inspiration and guidance.

Yoast has delivered his messages on leadership, team building, change, and diversity across North America. His wisdom comes from experience. His presentation is as down to earth and relevant as the man himself.

Audiences around the country, from seventy-year-old retirees to fifteen-year-old kids, athletes and non-athletes alike, have found Yoast's speeches transfixing and inspirational. His charismatic presence, his honesty, wit and Southern charm has delighted audiences across the country and kept them around long after he is finished, seeking autographs and a chance to meet him up close. At a time when teamwork, tolerance, and discipline have moved to center stage in America, Coach Yoast is the perfect speaker for any occasion.