Webster City native John Gregory poses with his book, “So You Want To Be A Football Coach” at Kendall Young Library in 2019.

Kevin Twait remembers going to a South Dakota State spring practice and watching a head football coach take the line.

Twait, who said he was right around 20 years old at the time, vividly recalls the man being upset at an offensive lineman not being able to execute a trap block.

Twait watched as the coach turned his hat backward, lined up against the defense, and perfectly executed the block without missing a beat.

That coach was John Gregory.

Gregory, a Webster City native and former coach in the Fort Dodge football system, passed away this week at the age of 84.

“My dad (Duane Twait) and I liked to go watch spring practices at colleges. They (South Dakota State) were recruiting someone from Emmetsburg (where Duane coached), so we went to Brookings on a visit,” said Twait, Iowa Central’s long-time head football coach and its current athletic director. “Gregory was the head coach, but was heavily involved with the offensive line. He wasn’t pleased with the left guard, so he showed him how to do it himself — no helmet or pads or anything.

“I had never seen a head coach do that.”

That’s the type of hands-on leader Gregory was in all of his stops along the coaching map.

Gregory, who grew up in Webster City and was a standout athlete for the Lynx, cut his coaching teeth in Fort Dodge. His first-ever job was the head coach at Fort Dodge North Junior High. He was an assistant varsity coach with the Dodgers in 1963 and 1964. Gregory then became head coach at the former Lake City High School in Calhoun County.

The legend also spent his time in Webster City and at Iowa Central. As a sophomore at Webster City, he played under Iowa Central football coach Paul Shupe. He was later an assistant on Shupe’s staff at Iowa Central.

Gregory also served as the athletic director at Iowa Central. In his three years on staff at Iowa Central under Shupe, Iowa Central went 24-3 and won the Wool Bowl in 1969.

Gregory also recruited and coached future No. 1 NFL pick and eventual Super Bowl champion John Matuszak — arguably the most famous athlete in Iowa Central history.

After leaving Fort Dodge, Gregory spent 10 seasons at South Dakota State. He was then hired as the offensive coordinator at Northern Iowa in 1982.

Gregory journeyed north of the border to the Canadian Football League, where he was an offensive line coach for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He later took over as head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Gregory reached the top of the CFl, as offensive line coach when the Blue Bombers won the 72nd Grey Cup.Three years later in Saskatchewan, they won the 77th Grey CUp.

Gregory returned to Iowa in 1995 to coach the newly-formed Iowa Barnstormers, where he paired with former UNI quarterback Kurt Warner thanks to a suggestion from former colleague and Panther head coach Terry Allen.

“Sad day in Barnstormers history,” Warner posted on Twitter. “My coach (Gregory) when I played for them passed away.

“RIP coach, I wouldn’t be who/where I am today without you.”

In their three seasons together, the Barnstormers went 30-10 and made back-to-back appearances in the ArenaBowl. Gregory would remain as head coach until the end of 2003.

Gregory spent four seasons at the helm for the Barnstormers when they later returned to Des Moines.

“Fast forward 25 years when he was coaching the Barnstormers (the first time around) and I was at Iowa Central…he gives me a call,” Twait said. “He tells me he has 30 good shoulder pads that he wants to give away, and I had first dibs if I could get them in the next couple of days. I told him I had something until 1 p.m. but I could be there by 3 p.m.

“He met me at Veterans Memorial Auditorium (in Des Moines). I went there with a trailer and the school van and we loaded them up. I asked him how much he wanted and he said it was on the house. He was just Fort Dodge and Iowa Central through and through.”

Dick Tighe, former Webster City and St. Edmond head football coach, remembers Gregory as a hard-nosed leader.

“He was a good coach,” Tighe said. “He was always fired up. The first time I met him was at Carroll Kuemper and we played the Dodgers.

“He was kind of old school, but he also adapted.”

Gregory retired from coaching in 2012, and moved back to Webster City in 2022.

“I remember one time he flew into the airport and it was my job to pick him up,” Tighe said. “The kids talked to him and he signed some autographs before I took him back to the airport.”

Through his interaction with Gregory, Twait knew how much he meant to his players.

“His players loved playing for him,” Twait said. “He wasn’t bigger than his audience. His players wanted to win on Saturdays for him.

“He had great abilities and coached deep into his years.”