Bill Budness touched many lives during his 30 years teaching and coaching at Greenfield High School.
Since Budness, 74, died Wednesday, people throughout Greenfield and western Massachusetts have been sharing stories of the former gym teacher, football coach and softball coach.
Greenfield athletic director Mike Kuchieski, who played football under Budness in 1980 and 1981, and had him as a teacher, said that Budness’ ability to connect with so many students was one of the things that made him great.
“He was hard-nosed but fair to everybody,” Kuchieski said. “It didn’t matter who you were, you were treated the same. Coach Budness and Coach (Fran) Murphy were two of the reasons why I looked into coaching and physical education.”
Budness was born Jan. 30 1943 and graduated from Chicopee High School in 1960. He attended Boston University, where he was an All-American linebacker, later inducted into the BU Hall of Fame. He graduated in 1964 with a degree in education and was drafted in the fourth round (31st overall) of the 1964 AFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders.
Budness spent seven seasons (1964-70) playing for the Raiders, who from 1967 to 1969 played in the AFL championship game. The Raiders defeated the Houston Oilers, 40-7, in 1967 to advance to Super Bowl II, where they took on Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers. Behind an MVP performance from quarterback Bart Starr, the Packers won 33-14.
Budness returned to the area after retiring from football. In the fall of 1972, he was hired as both the physical education teacher and football coach at Greenfield. That same year, Tom Suchanek began teaching math and science, and helped out as a volunteer football coach.
Over the next 30 years, the two shared many experiences both as coaches and teachers. Suchanek said that one thing that stood out to him was how great a football coach Budness was.
“He wasn’t a screamer or a yeller. If somebody didn’t get the job done, he wasn’t going to jump all over them. It wasn’t his style,” Suchanek said. “I think because of that, the kids liked him. He was an exceptional football coach. He was a mastermind on defense. He could look at defense and immediately tell you what everyone was doing.”
Greenfield varsity assistant coach Al Dean, who first began coaching eighth-grade football in 1969, said that he has never met a man who knew more about the game.
“I remember the first time I went to scout a football game with him,” Dean said. “I was looking down at the field and after the first couple plays, he described exactly what was happening on both sides of the ball. Within seconds he began breaking down what both teams were doing.”
Budness went 49-48-4 and took Greenfield to three Super Bowls.
“One of the other things that always sort of stunned me was how much he cared about the high school game,” Dean said. “I just marveled that he could care about high school football that much after having played in the Super Bowl. He was by far the most nervous head coach I worked with. He would be a wreck before games. But it also told you a lot about the kind of person he was. He cared about how well the kids did.”