EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY HISTORY 5960 ORAL HISTORY PROJECT: INTERVIEW WITH MR. BILL CAIN ORAL HISTORY REVIEW WITH MR. BILL CAIN BY: JEFF PRINCE NOVEMBER 14, 2001 EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY HISTORY 5960 ORAL HISTORY PROJECT: INTERVIEW WITH MR. BILL CAIN GENERAL TOPIC OF INTERVIEW: A look back at the life experiences of Mr. Bill Cain. Also, a look at how a former alumni of East Carolina College made his way back to his alma mater to become the Athletic Director for East Carolina University. NARRATOR: BILL CAIN INTERVIEWER: JEFF PRINCE DATE: NOVEMBER 14, 2001 PLACE: OFFICE OF BILL CAIN MINGES COLISEUM GREENVILLE, NC PERSONAL DATA: BIRTHDATE: 1933 SPOUSE: YES OCCUPATION: PART-TIME WITH EAST CAROLINA ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT BIOGRAPHY Bill Cain was the Athletic Director at East Carolina University from 1975 to 1980. Bill Cain was born in Rockingham in Richmond County, where he gained an appreciation for sports. His bard work ethic and determination took him to the college level. He chose East Carolina College, came in the full of 1953, and played football as a walk-on. Bill Cain decided to enlist in the Army, in 1955, because he felt he was too small to play football and to get his obligation out of the way. He served two years, beefed up from 148 to 210 pounds, returned to East Carolina on a scholarship, and became co-captain ofthe football team. After graduating in 1959, Bill Cain became the coach for Suffolk High School, in Virginia, for five years. After other coaching jobs, he returned to East Carolina University in 1968. He was the freshman football coach from 1968 to 1970, and was the golfand tennis coach from 1972 to 1975. Today, Bill Cain works part time with the athletic department in Minges Coliseum and is very active. Truly a very proud alumni of East Carolina. INTERVIEWER'S COMMENTS It is true that everyone has a story to tell. Growing up as a child listening to family members tell their stories of the past and to ourselves telling similar ones to friends, it is enlightening. I never knew that there was a field that actually studies the method oforal history. I am glad to be a part of such a class and have enjoyed the learning process involved. The process of interviewing is fun and serious. It is so because you want to interview someone who is interesting and energetic but at the same time you want to do a good job, ask relative questions, and make it a pleasant experience. Well, I must say that I was nervous when I conducted my first interview. I performed some background work to help prepare and I ~ -1-h-e in+-ervi~v.J actually found it both comfortable and enjoyable. I had a good narrator, as well, and received some good information in return. I made some mistakes and have learned from them. Now, it is time for another interviewing project. The second interview has come rather quickly. I chose Mr. Bill Cain because he was, and still is, involved with sports and was a former Athletic Director at East Carolina University. I gave Mr. Cain a phone call at his office, where he still works part time with the university. As soon as he answered, I knew I would have another great interviewing experience. I told him my name, what I was doing, and he agreed to the interview immediately. He asked if I knew a Bill Prince, and I had to think for a minute. I told Mr. Cain that he was a distant relative but I did not know much more about him. Mr. Cain then began to call me "Bill I thought, oh no! This is really going to be interesting! I told him my real name, again, and Mr. Cain said, ''forgive me, when you get my age you start to forget things sometimes." We talked some more, about sports and what I was doing in school, and then we agreed to a specific time for the interview to take pJace. I was excited and looked forward to the interview on November 9, 2001. I went to the archives at Joyner Library to do some fieldwork on Mr. Cain, but only found a couple of articles. The archives section was in the process of rearranging material, so by the time I was given the articles I had very little time to examine them.. I did get enough information in order to ask some good questions. The interview process with Mr. Cain was shorter than I expected and was plagued with several interruptions. In working part time, he is quite a busy person. However, I did get about forty-five to fifty minutes worth ofinterview time. The experience was a lot better the second time around despite all the difficulties involved. Mr. Cain made me feel very welcomed as I entered bis office in Minges Coliseum. There were pictures ofthe university, one ofa former athletic director and football coach, Coach Stasovich, and as Bill Cain stated, '1he standard retirement rocking c~Bill Cain provided some interesting remarks about Ficklen Stadium, his love for football, his passion for the school, his work ethic, and how the school has changed. The down side to this interview was that it did not last long because he had to leave at a certain time. He did invite me to come back Jater ifI was to ever need anything. Listening to the tape, I cut down, tremendously, the laughter and I tried to refrain from the personal comments. One thing, that I am ashamed ofand did not know until I listened to the tape was a comment during a talk about the Dodge car Mr. Cain owned. As soon as Mr. Cain mentioned something about the car having ninety thousand miles and it being a 1967, I got excited. When I went to say something, l~ ~ Mr. Cain mentioned that his father, having passed away and given the car to his son, always rides .µ,-J with him. I mentioned the car and not bis :father passing away. That hit me very hard because I ~,tu­ o-o have several relatives that I was close to}that have passed awayrand feel the same as Mr. Cain in ~) which they are, in a sense, still around. Sorry! I have gotten emotional here. Moving back to ~. this project, I have written out the majority ofthe interview to make up for the lost thne ofthe interview. In the end, this entire interviewing process has been very rewarding and it will definitely help me as I continue to pursue my graduate degree. EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY msTORY 5960 ORAL IDSTORY PROJECT: INTERVIEW WITH MR. BILL CAIN NARRATOR: BILL CAIN INTERVIEWER: JEFF PRINCE PLACE: OFFICE OF MR. CAIN NO. OF TAPES: l MINGES COLISEUM LENGTH OF TAPE: 90 MINUTES GREENVILLE, NC DATE: NOVEMBER 14, 2001 SIDEA COUNTER TOPIC OF DISCUSSION 002 Introduction I was born in Rockingham, North Carolina and raised here and went to Rockingham High School and from Rockingham High School I came to East Carolina College and that was in 1953. I came here to go to school and try to p]ay football and I weighed about 148 pounds at that time, Jeff. I got up with Coach Boone and he allowed me to come out and eventually I made the team. 007 Childhood Well...my mother and futher...we didn't, we didn't have a whole lot then. They were very hard workers. I, I felt like that they gave me everything I needed to have and they taught me some discipline and .,J::. respect to bard work and dedication, loyalty..and t_,..catried over, ~ over the years. I look back and refer to my days in Rockingham very fondly. So, I have good memories. 012 Family My mother was a, was a house wife and my dad was a foreman in a textile plant in Rockingham He retired from that. They both passed away several years ago but they lived in Rockingham at the time oftheir departure. I have one brother who lives in Rockingham, now, and he is ayounger brother..and I have one sister who lives in Faison, South Carolina, near Charlotte. My sister and I are very close. I wouldn't say that my brother and I are close but we communicate. There's no family squabble. There's about three, four years separation. I am the oldest in the family. In fact, my dad passed away about five years ago and he had bought a car, a Dodge in 1967, and ifyou see a yellow Dodge, 1967 Dodge, riding around I have my initials on the back. It's got ninety thousand miles on it. So, I am riding around with him when l am in the car. 025 Ideals/Work I think a strong work etbic...having not knowing and not having an awful lot..•I was expected to work. So, I worked, went to school, played sports. They have carried over even today. I make a statement everyday that the day I wake up at 4:30, in the morning, and don't wanna get up, that's the day I quit and out ofhere. Its really been helpful to me to try to accomplish some things in my life. 035 School (Likes/Dislikes) [Liking/Disliking School]...I probably did...It wasn't because ofthe fondness ofthe academic part ofit, it was fondness ofthe socializing Qlld playing some sports, and seeing friends, and so forth. I think the academic part came a little later. I was involved in football and basehaa in those days. I worked! I remember working at the A & P, bagging groceries. I delivered newspapers. One friend who is now the vice chancellor, vice president, over at Campbell University was a good friend and, he was here at East Carolina, he encouraged me to come to East Carolina. And some ofthe other friends never even went to college. [Towards Dating] .. .I always had, and I might been a little unique, I always had at an early age.~.I set particular standards that I bad for myself +he. 15 n · and for people I associated with. I wouldn't associated with one] ~ . • re-re..-...... n,5 that would drink and smoke. I felt that there were plenty ofthem. . R-t l, That carried through right 'til I got married. [SchoolJ...Coming 5 f e/ ~ from what they called the ~Mill,Section, you had maybe a fifty to "le n•. J ..... ">, percent dropout and then we merged into a central high school, -µvv,,; there in Rockingham, at that time it was Rockingham High School. We were very strong in sports. Most ofthe mornings I would be up at ~ I mean working at six, go to school at 8 o'clock, and I would practice afterward, then; at night, go back to work a couple ofhours. 073 Going to East Carolina I never made that decision until the summer after I graduated. I was playing semi-pro baseball and working at the cotton mill and seeing I didn't want to spend the rest ofmy life in that environment, I had a friend and wanted to know ifI wanted to go to East Carolina College. East Carolina College was probably seventy-five, twenty-five. That might have had a little bearing on me also...seventy..five female, twenty..five male. I was really shocked when I went to the cafeteria over there and looked around and there were very small numbers ofmales. I met my wife here, she was a music major. So, East Carolina has really been great to me. When I came here, I majored in physical education and teaching. Even when I was at a younger age I had my sights set. I was very much interested in sports and knew I had to do whatever it took. The coach I had in high school was a role model. Fortunately, I had an opportunity to play against him Jater on when I was a head coach. Playing Football (Teacher vs. Student) I came here in '53, iall '53, and we had a great team. In fact, they went to a bowl game the year before. We played Elon, Guilford, and others. I new my size was a handicap and I wasn't doing well in the academic part ofit. So, in the full of'55, I went into the service, stayed twenty-one months, and came back in '57. When I came back, I had developed out ofthe Army from 147-150 pounds to 210 powxls. So, when I came back ... Coach Boone gave me a scholarship and I became a co-captain in 1959. I thought that was, it was an accomplishment. I graduated in '59, then in '60, I took the coaching job up in Suffolk, Virginia and stayed there for five years. I coached against my former high school coach, in high school. That was after I stayed at Virginia for five years. I wanted to move back to North Carolina and so...I got a job as Athletic Director and head coach at Albemarle Senior High Schoo~ over near Charlotte, which is about forty miles from Rockingham. It so happened that the schedule bad been set up before I got there ..tbat we play Rockingham, and it happened to be in Albemarle. It was quite an experience to have Coach Useley ..[I do not know ifthe -C-v-1 spelling is correct)..bring his team, to bring the Rockets in to play. ~ . We were the Bulldogs. Somehow or another, I motivated our ~ players and we ended up winning. I think Coach Useley was a ~,-..1 r much better coach than I ever bad dreamed ofbeing and I, I bad ~~~ better material at that time. He lived up to bis reputation as a coach because he got a lot more out ofbis kids than I did mine. I stayed three years at Albemarle and then came back to East Carolina as the freshman football coach in 1968. Stasovich hired me.~he was head football coach and Athletic Director here. So, when I came back, :freshmen did not play varsity ball. I had my own team. I like to brag a bit, but••we played NC State here in 1968, on Friday afternoon, there wasn't anybody at the game but....PARENTS! We won by two touchdowns. Freshmen couldn't play on the varsity team. NCAA allotted only three years so, some had to play on the freshmen team. So, some people got together and voted to let freshmen play. So, freslnnen come in and they still don't have games like we bad but a lot don't play until their second year. 142 Interruption (Knock On The Door) 145 Being Away From Home I guess, I was, when I came along and I came to East Carolina in '53, I must have been seventeen or eighteen, and I really have never been back[homeJ. That's the way life is. I have always been an independent person, free thinker. What you do doesn't influence me at all...with what I am gonna do because I have always been a person to make my own decisions. When I go=Iwould go _ c:i -