Brent Hall, 83, of Ocala, Florida passed away at The Bridge of Ocala on June 18, 2022. He was born January 3, 1939, the son of the late Joseph Irvin and Wauneta (Williams) Hall. Brent was a native of Morgan County, Ohio, and moved to the Ocala area after his college career at George Peabody for a master's degree following receiving his bachelor's degree at Marietta College (1960). Brent indulged his interest in acting by becoming a Thespian in college, performing in multiple productions, including 2 leading roles. In 1970, he married his loving wife Jean Needham, and together the two shared many years of love and happiness. He was a beloved History teacher in Marion County as well as other schools in Florida but was better known as Coach Hall for his dedication to programs at multiple Florida schools especially Marion County's football program.
As a Coach, Brent compiled 149 wins, 98, loses and 3 ties in 22 years as head football coach at Jefferson County (Monticello), Forest (Ocala), Suwannee High (Live Oak), Spruce Creek (Port Orange and Belleview High School. Hall coached three state championship teams – Jefferson County in1966 and the back-to-back championship teams at Forest in 1974 and 1975. He led various teams to 6 Conference Championships, 7 District Championships and 7 Regional Championships. As an Athletic Director, Brent had 3 Conference All Sports Championships. As the Conference Commissioner (3 years), Brent implemented Title IX athletics for female students. Brent held several administrative positions including Dean of Boys, Assistant Athletic Director, Athletic Director, Assistant Principal, and Dean of Students. As the Conference Commissioner (3 years). Although coaching was his first love after his love of country, he also enjoyed his position as a teacher. He was proud to teach American History, Civics, Physical Education, American Government, Psychology, Driver Education and World History.
Brent's personal achievements include 1 Big Bend Area Coach of the Year Award, 6 Coach of the Year Awards, 1 North Florida All Star Coach Award, and he received the Big Sun Conference Special Award from the Athletic Directors and Coaches for integrity and service to athletics. Brent was a Co-Founder of the Big Sun Conference and was FACA State Football Chairman for 1 year. While in Ocala and Live Oak, Brent started the Marion County and Suwannee County Independent Football Leagues respectively. Brent had the honor of coaching the Florida All Star team in the Florida-Georgia All Star game two times over the years.
Brent has been inducted into the Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA), 2001, Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) Hall of Fame 2003 and the Forest Athletic Hall of Fame
Brent was voted Honorary Life Member of the FACA. This award is based on leadership and is presented to two people each year. He was a proud member of the Republican Party and the NRA. Brent was an avid reader and enjoyed cooking.
Brent is survived by his loving wife, Jean; children, Tina Hall, Kyle Hall, Brent S. Hall, Kimberly Wooldridge (Dean), William "Billy" Campbell (Greta), Melissa Mosher (Brad); grandchildren, William Hall, Dodie Hamrick (Daniel), Dean Wooldridge (Betsy), Sean Campbell (Lauren), David Paddock, and 11 great grandchildren; siblings, Royal "Coke" Hall; nieces and nephews, Kathy Miller, Lisa Dilts, Brent Hall, David Hall.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother Gary Hall, daughter Lori Paddock, Grandson Benjamin Paddock, and niece Beth Hall.
A memorial service for Brent will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Ocala on July 1, 2022 at 11:00 am. Gathering will be held from 10:00 am until the time of the service. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Marion County Youth Football Program, Forest High School Football Booster Club, or Belleview High School Football Booster Club in Brent's name. Online condolences may be sent to hiers-baxley.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Former football players share their memories, stories of FHSAA coaching great Brent Hall
John Patton, Special to the Star-Banner
The numbers will always tell part of Brent Hall's story.
After all, when you were a 22-year high school football coach with a 149-98-3 record, three FHSAA championships, two statewide Hall of Fame selections and your name on the field of a program you started, it's tough to count all of the ways you impacted others.
But talk to some of those who met him as nervous teenagers, committed to his goal of having the most fit team in Florida and absorbed his advice like a T-shirt to sweat on the seventh post-practice 50-yard sprint, and you'll get a better understanding why Hall's death from prostate cancer at age 83 on June 18 stirred a lot of memories and tears.
"He was the beginning of any intensity I had to play the game," said NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Jack Youngblood, who played for Hall at Monticello Jefferson County in the mid-1960s. "Come hell or high water, you had 10 other teammates beside you to help and play for. You are a team, and others are counting on you on every snap. You couldn't let them down, and none of us ever wanted to let him down."
And that thought process continued into adulthood for many of Hall's former players, four of whom — Youngblood, Trinity Catholic coach John Brantley, Forest principal Lamar Rembert and Belleview coach Brian Lane — took on professional leadership roles as adults and shared stories of Hall, who will be laid to rest following an 11 a.m. service Friday at the First Presbyterian Church of Ocala.
"People are always going to remember him," said author Richard Burton, one of the state's top football historians and author of "Seeds of Greatness".
"It's the same with Jim Haley. They were bigger than the score. People knew them," Burton said of Hall and FHSAA Hall of Fame former Vanguard basketball coach Haley. "Everybody knew Brent Hall. He's a coaching legend,"
Coach Brent Hall gives his speech after accepting the Forest High School Athletic Hall of Fame award on behalf of the FHS 1974 state championship team, on Dec. 5, 2015 in Ocala.
When the 1970s began Hall married Jean Needham and they would spend 52 years together, the first few of which saw him as the head football coach at Forest.
One of the initial moves he made in Marion County still resonates today.
Right around the same time Hall came to Ocala, so did John Brantley Jr. and his family. Brantley's sons, John III and younger brother Scot, had played youth football in South Carolina and their dad was looking for a place for them to suit up again.
But the state was cutting funding for middle school football, and Marion County had no other options available. So, Brantley Jr. met with Hall to discuss creating a youth program.
Always looking to expand the game, Hall joined with Brantley and a few local businessmen to start the Marion County Independent Football League, now known as the Marion County Youth Football League.
The venture began with seeds and many of its players grew into the stalwarts on FHS's 1974 and '75 FHSAA Class 3A state champions.
Among them were the Brantley brothers, John, a quarterback/safety, and Scot, a linebacker/tight end.
John said Hall was tough, but fair, and laughed when he was asked about two-a-days in the preseason.
"Two-a-days… we did three-a-days!" said Brantley, who added the team also would scrimmage on Mondays and Tuesdays during the season. "But that was all part of his plan. We were going to win games with talent or steal some in the fourth quarter by being better conditioned."
Brantley also said showing respect to the team leaders was important to Hall.
So, before each playoff game in 1974, Brantley said Hall would have the seniors line up to receive a handshake and appreciation from underclassmen. The end goal until their 46-6 title win against Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna was to have the younger players assure the veterans that this wouldn't be their last game.
Hall ensured the Brantley brothers had futures in football. They both became Florida Gators, like Jack Youngblood. Scot, a future Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL player, is generally regarded as the greatest defensive player Marion County has ever produced.
John said perhaps his most impactful conversation with Hall was a short one.
"I was playing football, basketball and baseball (as a freshman) for Forest," Brantley said. "It was during basketball season and was an off day, and the rest of the football players were lifting. I was in a truck and he walked over and said 'John, if you ever started dedicating yourself to being a football player, you can be a great player' and then, he just walked off."
Brantley stopped playing basketball soon after, sticking to football and baseball, both of which he played at UF.
As the years went by, John, who would later coach Trinity Catholic to the 2010 Class 2B championship, gained Hall's trust. This would bring about Brantley's first foray into play calling.
"If a teammate would come to me in the huddle and tell me he saw something that would work, I'd look to Coach Hall on the sidelines and pat my chest," Brantley said. "He would point back to me, and we would run that play. Probably 90 percent of the time, he'd point back."
Those were part of many memorable games, whether they were against fellow unbeaten Leesburg (and the thousands of fans the Yellow Jackets brought to Booster Stadium), Vanguard at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving or the playoffs.
John said there is one thing he knows for certain about the state champs his senior season and Scot's a year later.
"Mine was better," Brantley said. "We went undefeated (13-0) and they lost a game (finishing 13-1). We were more well-rounded and had a ton of seniors. They brought back a good defense (led by Scot), and, as a sophomore, (future Gator) Tyrone Young got better and better as the season went on.
"But nobody beat us."
After leaving FHS following the 1977 season, Hall coached at Live Oak Suwannee and Port Orange Spruce Creek before moving to the Tallahassee area and retiring from coaching.
Then, in 1994 administrators at Belleview High School decided they wanted to start a football program. But who would lead it?
In a 2007 story in the Star-Banner, Jim Yancey (BHS principal from 1994-2000) recalled a conversation he had with selection committee member Steve Schaap, who brought up Hall's name.
They thought it was a long shot, but made the call, anyway. And Hall declined.
But after hanging up, Jean asked her husband if he was sure, questioning if he really wanted to walk away from "the chance to build a football program from the ground up."
He didn't, and resumed discussions with Belleview, which hired Hall over six other applicants.
The Rattlers fielded a freshman team in '94 before beginning varsity play a year later. The summer before that 1995 season is when a speedy freshman-to-be named Lamar Rembert met Hall.
"I was aware of him because the ninth-grade classes were still in portables near the middle school, so I would hear people talk about him," Rembert said. "My first personal impression of him was that he was a dynamic presence who owned any room. You'd walk in and hear the bass in his voice, and it was definitely intimidating to a young man."
Rembert played on the junior varsity most of the '95 season before being promoted to the varsity late. Three years later, he had clocked a 10.66 100-yard dash, helped BHS make the first two playoff appearances in school history and graduated with a then-county-record 4,319 rushing yards.
"He made sure to feed me," Rembert said with a laugh. "We ran 95 percent of the time, and we had a great offensive line."
But to Rembert, Hall was much more than the man calling dives and sweeps.
"Outside of my immediate family, he is the most influential person I've had in my life," Rembert said.
In the spring of his sophomore season. Rembert's grandfather was very ill.
Young Lamar felt he was doing the right thing by participating in all Rattlers' practices. He was worried he wouldn't get to say goodbye to his grandfather, but it had been instilled in him by Hall that everyone should be at all workouts because that's how you built a winner.
After all, one thing Hall often told his players was "Don't let yourself down, don't let the man next to you down, don't let the program down."
Worried, Rembert's mother, Daisy, called Hall and explained Lamar's conundrum.
"Coach Hall pulled me aside and told me football was going to be there for me, but that I needed to be spending my time with my grandfather and the rest of my family," Rembert said. "He said that was what was most important."
Two years later, Rembert had scholarship offers from Kentucky and Duke and was prepared to choose between those programs. Then, both schools fired their coaches, leaving Rembert to wonder what to do.
The Blue Devils hired Carl Franks, who met with Rembert to tell him the scholarship was still there for him, but as a defensive back and not a running back.
Disappointed, but still respectful, Rembert thanked Franks for seeing him and then went home. Hall called Franks to try to change his mind, but it was to no avail.
Soon after, Furman came around.
Having had offers from Division I programs in major conferences, Rembert wasn't sure about considering a lower-level program.
"Coach Hall told me not to worry about Furman being 1-AA, that they'll probably win a lot more games than Duke," said Rembert, who had 36 carries for 357 yards and three touchdowns in a 1997 playoff victory at Tarpon Springs. "He told me the offer stood with Furman to be a running back and said I needed to go where I felt like I was wanted, where I fit and where I felt most comfortable."
So, he picked the Paladins, where he became a teammate and friends with a young quarterback named Billy Napier, who is now UF's first-year football coach. At Furman, Rembert ran for 1,085 yards and six touchdowns on 192 carries and was the recipient of the 2003 Robert B. King award, named after the Paladins coach from 1958-72.
He graduated with a degree in political science and coached defensive backs briefly at North Marion while pursuing his master's. He then spent 13 years as a teacher and administrator on the elementary school level before being named the principal at Howard Middle School in 2018.
In May, Rembert was named the principal at Forest.
"I talked with (Hall) about it the last time I saw him" a week before he passed, Rembert said. "He was just beaming with pride. He let me know in so many ways how proud he was of me and also started grilling me about what I was going to do. He always looked out for me."
In the summer of 2000, just before his sophomore year of high school, Brian Lane lived in Macon, Ga., but was visiting his father in Marion County.
His dad's girlfriend had a son on the Belleview football team, so Lane tagged along to some workouts.
"Coach Hall ... was defensive-oriented and made everybody work hard. I remember from day one how serious it was. Upperclassmen mentored younger players, and it seemed like the program had been established for a long time, but it was just in the early years," Lane said.
"I could tell he was a leader, and I called my Mom to ask if I could stay and play for him."
Lane liked the structure and that there were requirements to join the varsity (a 315-pound bench press being one). He played mostly JV that year before being moved up late in what would become Hall's final, and most successful, season with the Rattlers.
The Rattlers finished 11-3, reaching the 4A state semifinals, where they fell 41-14 to eventual champ, Pensacola Pine Forest, in Hall's final game as a head coach (he served as linebackers coach, alongside running backs Coach Brantley, for Trinity Catholic's 2B runner-up in 2006).
BHS honored that team as the greatest in school history last year. Hall, inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame in 2001 and the FACA Hall of Fame in 2002, was there with many of his former players.
Lane only played part of one season for Hall, but he said he took in a lot and will pull from that when he walks into "Brent Hall Field at the Strike Zone" for his first home game as Belleview's head coach on Sept. 2 against Crystal River.
"Coach Hall was a blue-collar guy with so much passion who took no days off," Lane said. "There was always intensity. He made practices hard so the games would be easy. The weight room and working hard together to a common goal were important to him, and I definitely see a lot of the things I'm doing (as coach) are things I learned as a kid.
"It's an honor being in the position I'm in, and we will honor him with our effort and style of play."
As a Coach, Brent compiled 149 wins, 98, loses and 3 ties in 22 years as head football coach at Jefferson County (Monticello), Forest (Ocala), Suwannee High (Live Oak), Spruce Creek (Port Orange and Belleview High School. Hall coached three state championship teams – Jefferson County in1966 and the back-to-back championship teams at Forest in 1974 and 1975. He led various teams to 6 Conference Championships, 7 District Championships and 7 Regional Championships. As an Athletic Director, Brent had 3 Conference All Sports Championships. As the Conference Commissioner (3 years), Brent implemented Title IX athletics for female students. Brent held several administrative positions including Dean of Boys, Assistant Athletic Director, Athletic Director, Assistant Principal, and Dean of Students. As the Conference Commissioner (3 years). Although coaching was his first love after his love of country, he also enjoyed his position as a teacher. He was proud to teach American History, Civics, Physical Education, American Government, Psychology, Driver Education and World History.
Brent's personal achievements include 1 Big Bend Area Coach of the Year Award, 6 Coach of the Year Awards, 1 North Florida All Star Coach Award, and he received the Big Sun Conference Special Award from the Athletic Directors and Coaches for integrity and service to athletics. Brent was a Co-Founder of the Big Sun Conference and was FACA State Football Chairman for 1 year. While in Ocala and Live Oak, Brent started the Marion County and Suwannee County Independent Football Leagues respectively. Brent had the honor of coaching the Florida All Star team in the Florida-Georgia All Star game two times over the years.
Brent has been inducted into the Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA), 2001, Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) Hall of Fame 2003 and the Forest Athletic Hall of Fame
Brent was voted Honorary Life Member of the FACA. This award is based on leadership and is presented to two people each year. He was a proud member of the Republican Party and the NRA. Brent was an avid reader and enjoyed cooking.
Brent is survived by his loving wife, Jean; children, Tina Hall, Kyle Hall, Brent S. Hall, Kimberly Wooldridge (Dean), William "Billy" Campbell (Greta), Melissa Mosher (Brad); grandchildren, William Hall, Dodie Hamrick (Daniel), Dean Wooldridge (Betsy), Sean Campbell (Lauren), David Paddock, and 11 great grandchildren; siblings, Royal "Coke" Hall; nieces and nephews, Kathy Miller, Lisa Dilts, Brent Hall, David Hall.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother Gary Hall, daughter Lori Paddock, Grandson Benjamin Paddock, and niece Beth Hall.
A memorial service for Brent will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Ocala on July 1, 2022 at 11:00 am. Gathering will be held from 10:00 am until the time of the service. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Marion County Youth Football Program, Forest High School Football Booster Club, or Belleview High School Football Booster Club in Brent's name. Online condolences may be sent to hiers-baxley.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Former football players share their memories, stories of FHSAA coaching great Brent Hall
John Patton, Special to the Star-Banner
The numbers will always tell part of Brent Hall's story.
After all, when you were a 22-year high school football coach with a 149-98-3 record, three FHSAA championships, two statewide Hall of Fame selections and your name on the field of a program you started, it's tough to count all of the ways you impacted others.
But talk to some of those who met him as nervous teenagers, committed to his goal of having the most fit team in Florida and absorbed his advice like a T-shirt to sweat on the seventh post-practice 50-yard sprint, and you'll get a better understanding why Hall's death from prostate cancer at age 83 on June 18 stirred a lot of memories and tears.
"He was the beginning of any intensity I had to play the game," said NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Jack Youngblood, who played for Hall at Monticello Jefferson County in the mid-1960s. "Come hell or high water, you had 10 other teammates beside you to help and play for. You are a team, and others are counting on you on every snap. You couldn't let them down, and none of us ever wanted to let him down."
And that thought process continued into adulthood for many of Hall's former players, four of whom — Youngblood, Trinity Catholic coach John Brantley, Forest principal Lamar Rembert and Belleview coach Brian Lane — took on professional leadership roles as adults and shared stories of Hall, who will be laid to rest following an 11 a.m. service Friday at the First Presbyterian Church of Ocala.
"People are always going to remember him," said author Richard Burton, one of the state's top football historians and author of "Seeds of Greatness".
"It's the same with Jim Haley. They were bigger than the score. People knew them," Burton said of Hall and FHSAA Hall of Fame former Vanguard basketball coach Haley. "Everybody knew Brent Hall. He's a coaching legend,"
Coach Brent Hall gives his speech after accepting the Forest High School Athletic Hall of Fame award on behalf of the FHS 1974 state championship team, on Dec. 5, 2015 in Ocala.
When the 1970s began Hall married Jean Needham and they would spend 52 years together, the first few of which saw him as the head football coach at Forest.
One of the initial moves he made in Marion County still resonates today.
Right around the same time Hall came to Ocala, so did John Brantley Jr. and his family. Brantley's sons, John III and younger brother Scot, had played youth football in South Carolina and their dad was looking for a place for them to suit up again.
But the state was cutting funding for middle school football, and Marion County had no other options available. So, Brantley Jr. met with Hall to discuss creating a youth program.
Always looking to expand the game, Hall joined with Brantley and a few local businessmen to start the Marion County Independent Football League, now known as the Marion County Youth Football League.
The venture began with seeds and many of its players grew into the stalwarts on FHS's 1974 and '75 FHSAA Class 3A state champions.
Among them were the Brantley brothers, John, a quarterback/safety, and Scot, a linebacker/tight end.
John said Hall was tough, but fair, and laughed when he was asked about two-a-days in the preseason.
"Two-a-days… we did three-a-days!" said Brantley, who added the team also would scrimmage on Mondays and Tuesdays during the season. "But that was all part of his plan. We were going to win games with talent or steal some in the fourth quarter by being better conditioned."
Brantley also said showing respect to the team leaders was important to Hall.
So, before each playoff game in 1974, Brantley said Hall would have the seniors line up to receive a handshake and appreciation from underclassmen. The end goal until their 46-6 title win against Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna was to have the younger players assure the veterans that this wouldn't be their last game.
Hall ensured the Brantley brothers had futures in football. They both became Florida Gators, like Jack Youngblood. Scot, a future Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL player, is generally regarded as the greatest defensive player Marion County has ever produced.
John said perhaps his most impactful conversation with Hall was a short one.
"I was playing football, basketball and baseball (as a freshman) for Forest," Brantley said. "It was during basketball season and was an off day, and the rest of the football players were lifting. I was in a truck and he walked over and said 'John, if you ever started dedicating yourself to being a football player, you can be a great player' and then, he just walked off."
Brantley stopped playing basketball soon after, sticking to football and baseball, both of which he played at UF.
As the years went by, John, who would later coach Trinity Catholic to the 2010 Class 2B championship, gained Hall's trust. This would bring about Brantley's first foray into play calling.
"If a teammate would come to me in the huddle and tell me he saw something that would work, I'd look to Coach Hall on the sidelines and pat my chest," Brantley said. "He would point back to me, and we would run that play. Probably 90 percent of the time, he'd point back."
Those were part of many memorable games, whether they were against fellow unbeaten Leesburg (and the thousands of fans the Yellow Jackets brought to Booster Stadium), Vanguard at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving or the playoffs.
John said there is one thing he knows for certain about the state champs his senior season and Scot's a year later.
"Mine was better," Brantley said. "We went undefeated (13-0) and they lost a game (finishing 13-1). We were more well-rounded and had a ton of seniors. They brought back a good defense (led by Scot), and, as a sophomore, (future Gator) Tyrone Young got better and better as the season went on.
"But nobody beat us."
After leaving FHS following the 1977 season, Hall coached at Live Oak Suwannee and Port Orange Spruce Creek before moving to the Tallahassee area and retiring from coaching.
Then, in 1994 administrators at Belleview High School decided they wanted to start a football program. But who would lead it?
In a 2007 story in the Star-Banner, Jim Yancey (BHS principal from 1994-2000) recalled a conversation he had with selection committee member Steve Schaap, who brought up Hall's name.
They thought it was a long shot, but made the call, anyway. And Hall declined.
But after hanging up, Jean asked her husband if he was sure, questioning if he really wanted to walk away from "the chance to build a football program from the ground up."
He didn't, and resumed discussions with Belleview, which hired Hall over six other applicants.
The Rattlers fielded a freshman team in '94 before beginning varsity play a year later. The summer before that 1995 season is when a speedy freshman-to-be named Lamar Rembert met Hall.
"I was aware of him because the ninth-grade classes were still in portables near the middle school, so I would hear people talk about him," Rembert said. "My first personal impression of him was that he was a dynamic presence who owned any room. You'd walk in and hear the bass in his voice, and it was definitely intimidating to a young man."
Rembert played on the junior varsity most of the '95 season before being promoted to the varsity late. Three years later, he had clocked a 10.66 100-yard dash, helped BHS make the first two playoff appearances in school history and graduated with a then-county-record 4,319 rushing yards.
"He made sure to feed me," Rembert said with a laugh. "We ran 95 percent of the time, and we had a great offensive line."
But to Rembert, Hall was much more than the man calling dives and sweeps.
"Outside of my immediate family, he is the most influential person I've had in my life," Rembert said.
In the spring of his sophomore season. Rembert's grandfather was very ill.
Young Lamar felt he was doing the right thing by participating in all Rattlers' practices. He was worried he wouldn't get to say goodbye to his grandfather, but it had been instilled in him by Hall that everyone should be at all workouts because that's how you built a winner.
After all, one thing Hall often told his players was "Don't let yourself down, don't let the man next to you down, don't let the program down."
Worried, Rembert's mother, Daisy, called Hall and explained Lamar's conundrum.
"Coach Hall pulled me aside and told me football was going to be there for me, but that I needed to be spending my time with my grandfather and the rest of my family," Rembert said. "He said that was what was most important."
Two years later, Rembert had scholarship offers from Kentucky and Duke and was prepared to choose between those programs. Then, both schools fired their coaches, leaving Rembert to wonder what to do.
The Blue Devils hired Carl Franks, who met with Rembert to tell him the scholarship was still there for him, but as a defensive back and not a running back.
Disappointed, but still respectful, Rembert thanked Franks for seeing him and then went home. Hall called Franks to try to change his mind, but it was to no avail.
Soon after, Furman came around.
Having had offers from Division I programs in major conferences, Rembert wasn't sure about considering a lower-level program.
"Coach Hall told me not to worry about Furman being 1-AA, that they'll probably win a lot more games than Duke," said Rembert, who had 36 carries for 357 yards and three touchdowns in a 1997 playoff victory at Tarpon Springs. "He told me the offer stood with Furman to be a running back and said I needed to go where I felt like I was wanted, where I fit and where I felt most comfortable."
So, he picked the Paladins, where he became a teammate and friends with a young quarterback named Billy Napier, who is now UF's first-year football coach. At Furman, Rembert ran for 1,085 yards and six touchdowns on 192 carries and was the recipient of the 2003 Robert B. King award, named after the Paladins coach from 1958-72.
He graduated with a degree in political science and coached defensive backs briefly at North Marion while pursuing his master's. He then spent 13 years as a teacher and administrator on the elementary school level before being named the principal at Howard Middle School in 2018.
In May, Rembert was named the principal at Forest.
"I talked with (Hall) about it the last time I saw him" a week before he passed, Rembert said. "He was just beaming with pride. He let me know in so many ways how proud he was of me and also started grilling me about what I was going to do. He always looked out for me."
In the summer of 2000, just before his sophomore year of high school, Brian Lane lived in Macon, Ga., but was visiting his father in Marion County.
His dad's girlfriend had a son on the Belleview football team, so Lane tagged along to some workouts.
"Coach Hall ... was defensive-oriented and made everybody work hard. I remember from day one how serious it was. Upperclassmen mentored younger players, and it seemed like the program had been established for a long time, but it was just in the early years," Lane said.
"I could tell he was a leader, and I called my Mom to ask if I could stay and play for him."
Lane liked the structure and that there were requirements to join the varsity (a 315-pound bench press being one). He played mostly JV that year before being moved up late in what would become Hall's final, and most successful, season with the Rattlers.
The Rattlers finished 11-3, reaching the 4A state semifinals, where they fell 41-14 to eventual champ, Pensacola Pine Forest, in Hall's final game as a head coach (he served as linebackers coach, alongside running backs Coach Brantley, for Trinity Catholic's 2B runner-up in 2006).
BHS honored that team as the greatest in school history last year. Hall, inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame in 2001 and the FACA Hall of Fame in 2002, was there with many of his former players.
Lane only played part of one season for Hall, but he said he took in a lot and will pull from that when he walks into "Brent Hall Field at the Strike Zone" for his first home game as Belleview's head coach on Sept. 2 against Crystal River.
"Coach Hall was a blue-collar guy with so much passion who took no days off," Lane said. "There was always intensity. He made practices hard so the games would be easy. The weight room and working hard together to a common goal were important to him, and I definitely see a lot of the things I'm doing (as coach) are things I learned as a kid.
"It's an honor being in the position I'm in, and we will honor him with our effort and style of play."
Brent Hall, 83, of Ocala, Florida passed away at The Bridge of Ocala on June 18, 2022. He was born January 3, 1939, the son of the late Joseph Irvin and Wauneta (Williams) Hall. Brent was a native of Morgan County, Ohio, and moved to the Ocala area after his college career at George Peabody for a master's degree following receiving his bachelor's degree at Marietta College (1960). Brent indulged his interest in acting by becoming a Thespian in college, performing in multiple productions, including 2 leading roles. In 1970, he married his loving wife Jean Needham, and together the two shared many years of love and happiness. He was a beloved History teacher in Marion County as well as other schools in Florida but was better known as Coach Hall for his dedication to programs at multiple Florida schools especially Marion County's football program.
As a Coach, Brent compiled 149 wins, 98, loses and 3 ties in 22 years as head football coach at Jefferson County (Monticello), Forest (Ocala), Suwannee High (Live Oak), Spruce Creek (Port Orange and Belleview High School. Hall coached three state championship teams – Jefferson County in1966 and the back-to-back championship teams at Forest in 1974 and 1975. He led various teams to 6 Conference Championships, 7 District Championships and 7 Regional Championships. As an Athletic Director, Brent had 3 Conference All Sports Championships. As the Conference Commissioner (3 years), Brent implemented Title IX athletics for female students. Brent held several administrative positions including Dean of Boys, Assistant Athletic Director, Athletic Director, Assistant Principal, and Dean of Students. As the Conference Commissioner (3 years). Although coaching was his first love after his love of country, he also enjoyed his position as a teacher. He was proud to teach American History, Civics, Physical Education, American Government, Psychology, Driver Education and World History.
Brent's personal achievements include 1 Big Bend Area Coach of the Year Award, 6 Coach of the Year Awards, 1 North Florida All Star Coach Award, and he received the Big Sun Conference Special Award from the Athletic Directors and Coaches for integrity and service to athletics. Brent was a Co-Founder of the Big Sun Conference and was FACA State Football Chairman for 1 year. While in Ocala and Live Oak, Brent started the Marion County and Suwannee County Independent Football Leagues respectively. Brent had the honor of coaching the Florida All Star team in the Florida-Georgia All Star game two times over the years.
Brent has been inducted into the Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA), 2001, Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) Hall of Fame 2003 and the Forest Athletic Hall of Fame
Brent was voted Honorary Life Member of the FACA. This award is based on leadership and is presented to two people each year. He was a proud member of the Republican Party and the NRA. Brent was an avid reader and enjoyed cooking.
Brent is survived by his loving wife, Jean; children, Tina Hall, Kyle Hall, Brent S. Hall, Kimberly Wooldridge (Dean), William "Billy" Campbell (Greta), Melissa Mosher (Brad); grandchildren, William Hall, Dodie Hamrick (Daniel), Dean Wooldridge (Betsy), Sean Campbell (Lauren), David Paddock, and 11 great grandchildren; siblings, Royal "Coke" Hall; nieces and nephews, Kathy Miller, Lisa Dilts, Brent Hall, David Hall.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother Gary Hall, daughter Lori Paddock, Grandson Benjamin Paddock, and niece Beth Hall.
A memorial service for Brent will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Ocala on July 1, 2022 at 11:00 am. Gathering will be held from 10:00 am until the time of the service. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Marion County Youth Football Program, Forest High School Football Booster Club, or Belleview High School Football Booster Club in Brent's name. Online condolences may be sent to hiers-baxley.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Former football players share their memories, stories of FHSAA coaching great Brent Hall
John Patton, Special to the Star-Banner
The numbers will always tell part of Brent Hall's story.
After all, when you were a 22-year high school football coach with a 149-98-3 record, three FHSAA championships, two statewide Hall of Fame selections and your name on the field of a program you started, it's tough to count all of the ways you impacted others.
But talk to some of those who met him as nervous teenagers, committed to his goal of having the most fit team in Florida and absorbed his advice like a T-shirt to sweat on the seventh post-practice 50-yard sprint, and you'll get a better understanding why Hall's death from prostate cancer at age 83 on June 18 stirred a lot of memories and tears.
"He was the beginning of any intensity I had to play the game," said NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Jack Youngblood, who played for Hall at Monticello Jefferson County in the mid-1960s. "Come hell or high water, you had 10 other teammates beside you to help and play for. You are a team, and others are counting on you on every snap. You couldn't let them down, and none of us ever wanted to let him down."
And that thought process continued into adulthood for many of Hall's former players, four of whom — Youngblood, Trinity Catholic coach John Brantley, Forest principal Lamar Rembert and Belleview coach Brian Lane — took on professional leadership roles as adults and shared stories of Hall, who will be laid to rest following an 11 a.m. service Friday at the First Presbyterian Church of Ocala.
"People are always going to remember him," said author Richard Burton, one of the state's top football historians and author of "Seeds of Greatness".
"It's the same with Jim Haley. They were bigger than the score. People knew them," Burton said of Hall and FHSAA Hall of Fame former Vanguard basketball coach Haley. "Everybody knew Brent Hall. He's a coaching legend,"
Coach Brent Hall gives his speech after accepting the Forest High School Athletic Hall of Fame award on behalf of the FHS 1974 state championship team, on Dec. 5, 2015 in Ocala.
When the 1970s began Hall married Jean Needham and they would spend 52 years together, the first few of which saw him as the head football coach at Forest.
One of the initial moves he made in Marion County still resonates today.
Right around the same time Hall came to Ocala, so did John Brantley Jr. and his family. Brantley's sons, John III and younger brother Scot, had played youth football in South Carolina and their dad was looking for a place for them to suit up again.
But the state was cutting funding for middle school football, and Marion County had no other options available. So, Brantley Jr. met with Hall to discuss creating a youth program.
Always looking to expand the game, Hall joined with Brantley and a few local businessmen to start the Marion County Independent Football League, now known as the Marion County Youth Football League.
The venture began with seeds and many of its players grew into the stalwarts on FHS's 1974 and '75 FHSAA Class 3A state champions.
Among them were the Brantley brothers, John, a quarterback/safety, and Scot, a linebacker/tight end.
John said Hall was tough, but fair, and laughed when he was asked about two-a-days in the preseason.
"Two-a-days… we did three-a-days!" said Brantley, who added the team also would scrimmage on Mondays and Tuesdays during the season. "But that was all part of his plan. We were going to win games with talent or steal some in the fourth quarter by being better conditioned."
Brantley also said showing respect to the team leaders was important to Hall.
So, before each playoff game in 1974, Brantley said Hall would have the seniors line up to receive a handshake and appreciation from underclassmen. The end goal until their 46-6 title win against Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna was to have the younger players assure the veterans that this wouldn't be their last game.
Hall ensured the Brantley brothers had futures in football. They both became Florida Gators, like Jack Youngblood. Scot, a future Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL player, is generally regarded as the greatest defensive player Marion County has ever produced.
John said perhaps his most impactful conversation with Hall was a short one.
"I was playing football, basketball and baseball (as a freshman) for Forest," Brantley said. "It was during basketball season and was an off day, and the rest of the football players were lifting. I was in a truck and he walked over and said 'John, if you ever started dedicating yourself to being a football player, you can be a great player' and then, he just walked off."
Brantley stopped playing basketball soon after, sticking to football and baseball, both of which he played at UF.
As the years went by, John, who would later coach Trinity Catholic to the 2010 Class 2B championship, gained Hall's trust. This would bring about Brantley's first foray into play calling.
"If a teammate would come to me in the huddle and tell me he saw something that would work, I'd look to Coach Hall on the sidelines and pat my chest," Brantley said. "He would point back to me, and we would run that play. Probably 90 percent of the time, he'd point back."
Those were part of many memorable games, whether they were against fellow unbeaten Leesburg (and the thousands of fans the Yellow Jackets brought to Booster Stadium), Vanguard at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving or the playoffs.
John said there is one thing he knows for certain about the state champs his senior season and Scot's a year later.
"Mine was better," Brantley said. "We went undefeated (13-0) and they lost a game (finishing 13-1). We were more well-rounded and had a ton of seniors. They brought back a good defense (led by Scot), and, as a sophomore, (future Gator) Tyrone Young got better and better as the season went on.
"But nobody beat us."
After leaving FHS following the 1977 season, Hall coached at Live Oak Suwannee and Port Orange Spruce Creek before moving to the Tallahassee area and retiring from coaching.
Then, in 1994 administrators at Belleview High School decided they wanted to start a football program. But who would lead it?
In a 2007 story in the Star-Banner, Jim Yancey (BHS principal from 1994-2000) recalled a conversation he had with selection committee member Steve Schaap, who brought up Hall's name.
They thought it was a long shot, but made the call, anyway. And Hall declined.
But after hanging up, Jean asked her husband if he was sure, questioning if he really wanted to walk away from "the chance to build a football program from the ground up."
He didn't, and resumed discussions with Belleview, which hired Hall over six other applicants.
The Rattlers fielded a freshman team in '94 before beginning varsity play a year later. The summer before that 1995 season is when a speedy freshman-to-be named Lamar Rembert met Hall.
"I was aware of him because the ninth-grade classes were still in portables near the middle school, so I would hear people talk about him," Rembert said. "My first personal impression of him was that he was a dynamic presence who owned any room. You'd walk in and hear the bass in his voice, and it was definitely intimidating to a young man."
Rembert played on the junior varsity most of the '95 season before being promoted to the varsity late. Three years later, he had clocked a 10.66 100-yard dash, helped BHS make the first two playoff appearances in school history and graduated with a then-county-record 4,319 rushing yards.
"He made sure to feed me," Rembert said with a laugh. "We ran 95 percent of the time, and we had a great offensive line."
But to Rembert, Hall was much more than the man calling dives and sweeps.
"Outside of my immediate family, he is the most influential person I've had in my life," Rembert said.
In the spring of his sophomore season. Rembert's grandfather was very ill.
Young Lamar felt he was doing the right thing by participating in all Rattlers' practices. He was worried he wouldn't get to say goodbye to his grandfather, but it had been instilled in him by Hall that everyone should be at all workouts because that's how you built a winner.
After all, one thing Hall often told his players was "Don't let yourself down, don't let the man next to you down, don't let the program down."
Worried, Rembert's mother, Daisy, called Hall and explained Lamar's conundrum.
"Coach Hall pulled me aside and told me football was going to be there for me, but that I needed to be spending my time with my grandfather and the rest of my family," Rembert said. "He said that was what was most important."
Two years later, Rembert had scholarship offers from Kentucky and Duke and was prepared to choose between those programs. Then, both schools fired their coaches, leaving Rembert to wonder what to do.
The Blue Devils hired Carl Franks, who met with Rembert to tell him the scholarship was still there for him, but as a defensive back and not a running back.
Disappointed, but still respectful, Rembert thanked Franks for seeing him and then went home. Hall called Franks to try to change his mind, but it was to no avail.
Soon after, Furman came around.
Having had offers from Division I programs in major conferences, Rembert wasn't sure about considering a lower-level program.
"Coach Hall told me not to worry about Furman being 1-AA, that they'll probably win a lot more games than Duke," said Rembert, who had 36 carries for 357 yards and three touchdowns in a 1997 playoff victory at Tarpon Springs. "He told me the offer stood with Furman to be a running back and said I needed to go where I felt like I was wanted, where I fit and where I felt most comfortable."
So, he picked the Paladins, where he became a teammate and friends with a young quarterback named Billy Napier, who is now UF's first-year football coach. At Furman, Rembert ran for 1,085 yards and six touchdowns on 192 carries and was the recipient of the 2003 Robert B. King award, named after the Paladins coach from 1958-72.
He graduated with a degree in political science and coached defensive backs briefly at North Marion while pursuing his master's. He then spent 13 years as a teacher and administrator on the elementary school level before being named the principal at Howard Middle School in 2018.
In May, Rembert was named the principal at Forest.
"I talked with (Hall) about it the last time I saw him" a week before he passed, Rembert said. "He was just beaming with pride. He let me know in so many ways how proud he was of me and also started grilling me about what I was going to do. He always looked out for me."
In the summer of 2000, just before his sophomore year of high school, Brian Lane lived in Macon, Ga., but was visiting his father in Marion County.
His dad's girlfriend had a son on the Belleview football team, so Lane tagged along to some workouts.
"Coach Hall ... was defensive-oriented and made everybody work hard. I remember from day one how serious it was. Upperclassmen mentored younger players, and it seemed like the program had been established for a long time, but it was just in the early years," Lane said.
"I could tell he was a leader, and I called my Mom to ask if I could stay and play for him."
Lane liked the structure and that there were requirements to join the varsity (a 315-pound bench press being one). He played mostly JV that year before being moved up late in what would become Hall's final, and most successful, season with the Rattlers.
The Rattlers finished 11-3, reaching the 4A state semifinals, where they fell 41-14 to eventual champ, Pensacola Pine Forest, in Hall's final game as a head coach (he served as linebackers coach, alongside running backs Coach Brantley, for Trinity Catholic's 2B runner-up in 2006).
BHS honored that team as the greatest in school history last year. Hall, inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame in 2001 and the FACA Hall of Fame in 2002, was there with many of his former players.
Lane only played part of one season for Hall, but he said he took in a lot and will pull from that when he walks into "Brent Hall Field at the Strike Zone" for his first home game as Belleview's head coach on Sept. 2 against Crystal River.
"Coach Hall was a blue-collar guy with so much passion who took no days off," Lane said. "There was always intensity. He made practices hard so the games would be easy. The weight room and working hard together to a common goal were important to him, and I definitely see a lot of the things I'm doing (as coach) are things I learned as a kid.
"It's an honor being in the position I'm in, and we will honor him with our effort and style of play."
As a Coach, Brent compiled 149 wins, 98, loses and 3 ties in 22 years as head football coach at Jefferson County (Monticello), Forest (Ocala), Suwannee High (Live Oak), Spruce Creek (Port Orange and Belleview High School. Hall coached three state championship teams – Jefferson County in1966 and the back-to-back championship teams at Forest in 1974 and 1975. He led various teams to 6 Conference Championships, 7 District Championships and 7 Regional Championships. As an Athletic Director, Brent had 3 Conference All Sports Championships. As the Conference Commissioner (3 years), Brent implemented Title IX athletics for female students. Brent held several administrative positions including Dean of Boys, Assistant Athletic Director, Athletic Director, Assistant Principal, and Dean of Students. As the Conference Commissioner (3 years). Although coaching was his first love after his love of country, he also enjoyed his position as a teacher. He was proud to teach American History, Civics, Physical Education, American Government, Psychology, Driver Education and World History.
Brent's personal achievements include 1 Big Bend Area Coach of the Year Award, 6 Coach of the Year Awards, 1 North Florida All Star Coach Award, and he received the Big Sun Conference Special Award from the Athletic Directors and Coaches for integrity and service to athletics. Brent was a Co-Founder of the Big Sun Conference and was FACA State Football Chairman for 1 year. While in Ocala and Live Oak, Brent started the Marion County and Suwannee County Independent Football Leagues respectively. Brent had the honor of coaching the Florida All Star team in the Florida-Georgia All Star game two times over the years.
Brent has been inducted into the Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA), 2001, Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) Hall of Fame 2003 and the Forest Athletic Hall of Fame
Brent was voted Honorary Life Member of the FACA. This award is based on leadership and is presented to two people each year. He was a proud member of the Republican Party and the NRA. Brent was an avid reader and enjoyed cooking.
Brent is survived by his loving wife, Jean; children, Tina Hall, Kyle Hall, Brent S. Hall, Kimberly Wooldridge (Dean), William "Billy" Campbell (Greta), Melissa Mosher (Brad); grandchildren, William Hall, Dodie Hamrick (Daniel), Dean Wooldridge (Betsy), Sean Campbell (Lauren), David Paddock, and 11 great grandchildren; siblings, Royal "Coke" Hall; nieces and nephews, Kathy Miller, Lisa Dilts, Brent Hall, David Hall.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother Gary Hall, daughter Lori Paddock, Grandson Benjamin Paddock, and niece Beth Hall.
A memorial service for Brent will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Ocala on July 1, 2022 at 11:00 am. Gathering will be held from 10:00 am until the time of the service. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Marion County Youth Football Program, Forest High School Football Booster Club, or Belleview High School Football Booster Club in Brent's name. Online condolences may be sent to hiers-baxley.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Former football players share their memories, stories of FHSAA coaching great Brent Hall
John Patton, Special to the Star-Banner
The numbers will always tell part of Brent Hall's story.
After all, when you were a 22-year high school football coach with a 149-98-3 record, three FHSAA championships, two statewide Hall of Fame selections and your name on the field of a program you started, it's tough to count all of the ways you impacted others.
But talk to some of those who met him as nervous teenagers, committed to his goal of having the most fit team in Florida and absorbed his advice like a T-shirt to sweat on the seventh post-practice 50-yard sprint, and you'll get a better understanding why Hall's death from prostate cancer at age 83 on June 18 stirred a lot of memories and tears.
"He was the beginning of any intensity I had to play the game," said NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Jack Youngblood, who played for Hall at Monticello Jefferson County in the mid-1960s. "Come hell or high water, you had 10 other teammates beside you to help and play for. You are a team, and others are counting on you on every snap. You couldn't let them down, and none of us ever wanted to let him down."
And that thought process continued into adulthood for many of Hall's former players, four of whom — Youngblood, Trinity Catholic coach John Brantley, Forest principal Lamar Rembert and Belleview coach Brian Lane — took on professional leadership roles as adults and shared stories of Hall, who will be laid to rest following an 11 a.m. service Friday at the First Presbyterian Church of Ocala.
"People are always going to remember him," said author Richard Burton, one of the state's top football historians and author of "Seeds of Greatness".
"It's the same with Jim Haley. They were bigger than the score. People knew them," Burton said of Hall and FHSAA Hall of Fame former Vanguard basketball coach Haley. "Everybody knew Brent Hall. He's a coaching legend,"
Coach Brent Hall gives his speech after accepting the Forest High School Athletic Hall of Fame award on behalf of the FHS 1974 state championship team, on Dec. 5, 2015 in Ocala.
When the 1970s began Hall married Jean Needham and they would spend 52 years together, the first few of which saw him as the head football coach at Forest.
One of the initial moves he made in Marion County still resonates today.
Right around the same time Hall came to Ocala, so did John Brantley Jr. and his family. Brantley's sons, John III and younger brother Scot, had played youth football in South Carolina and their dad was looking for a place for them to suit up again.
But the state was cutting funding for middle school football, and Marion County had no other options available. So, Brantley Jr. met with Hall to discuss creating a youth program.
Always looking to expand the game, Hall joined with Brantley and a few local businessmen to start the Marion County Independent Football League, now known as the Marion County Youth Football League.
The venture began with seeds and many of its players grew into the stalwarts on FHS's 1974 and '75 FHSAA Class 3A state champions.
Among them were the Brantley brothers, John, a quarterback/safety, and Scot, a linebacker/tight end.
John said Hall was tough, but fair, and laughed when he was asked about two-a-days in the preseason.
"Two-a-days… we did three-a-days!" said Brantley, who added the team also would scrimmage on Mondays and Tuesdays during the season. "But that was all part of his plan. We were going to win games with talent or steal some in the fourth quarter by being better conditioned."
Brantley also said showing respect to the team leaders was important to Hall.
So, before each playoff game in 1974, Brantley said Hall would have the seniors line up to receive a handshake and appreciation from underclassmen. The end goal until their 46-6 title win against Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna was to have the younger players assure the veterans that this wouldn't be their last game.
Hall ensured the Brantley brothers had futures in football. They both became Florida Gators, like Jack Youngblood. Scot, a future Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL player, is generally regarded as the greatest defensive player Marion County has ever produced.
John said perhaps his most impactful conversation with Hall was a short one.
"I was playing football, basketball and baseball (as a freshman) for Forest," Brantley said. "It was during basketball season and was an off day, and the rest of the football players were lifting. I was in a truck and he walked over and said 'John, if you ever started dedicating yourself to being a football player, you can be a great player' and then, he just walked off."
Brantley stopped playing basketball soon after, sticking to football and baseball, both of which he played at UF.
As the years went by, John, who would later coach Trinity Catholic to the 2010 Class 2B championship, gained Hall's trust. This would bring about Brantley's first foray into play calling.
"If a teammate would come to me in the huddle and tell me he saw something that would work, I'd look to Coach Hall on the sidelines and pat my chest," Brantley said. "He would point back to me, and we would run that play. Probably 90 percent of the time, he'd point back."
Those were part of many memorable games, whether they were against fellow unbeaten Leesburg (and the thousands of fans the Yellow Jackets brought to Booster Stadium), Vanguard at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving or the playoffs.
John said there is one thing he knows for certain about the state champs his senior season and Scot's a year later.
"Mine was better," Brantley said. "We went undefeated (13-0) and they lost a game (finishing 13-1). We were more well-rounded and had a ton of seniors. They brought back a good defense (led by Scot), and, as a sophomore, (future Gator) Tyrone Young got better and better as the season went on.
"But nobody beat us."
After leaving FHS following the 1977 season, Hall coached at Live Oak Suwannee and Port Orange Spruce Creek before moving to the Tallahassee area and retiring from coaching.
Then, in 1994 administrators at Belleview High School decided they wanted to start a football program. But who would lead it?
In a 2007 story in the Star-Banner, Jim Yancey (BHS principal from 1994-2000) recalled a conversation he had with selection committee member Steve Schaap, who brought up Hall's name.
They thought it was a long shot, but made the call, anyway. And Hall declined.
But after hanging up, Jean asked her husband if he was sure, questioning if he really wanted to walk away from "the chance to build a football program from the ground up."
He didn't, and resumed discussions with Belleview, which hired Hall over six other applicants.
The Rattlers fielded a freshman team in '94 before beginning varsity play a year later. The summer before that 1995 season is when a speedy freshman-to-be named Lamar Rembert met Hall.
"I was aware of him because the ninth-grade classes were still in portables near the middle school, so I would hear people talk about him," Rembert said. "My first personal impression of him was that he was a dynamic presence who owned any room. You'd walk in and hear the bass in his voice, and it was definitely intimidating to a young man."
Rembert played on the junior varsity most of the '95 season before being promoted to the varsity late. Three years later, he had clocked a 10.66 100-yard dash, helped BHS make the first two playoff appearances in school history and graduated with a then-county-record 4,319 rushing yards.
"He made sure to feed me," Rembert said with a laugh. "We ran 95 percent of the time, and we had a great offensive line."
But to Rembert, Hall was much more than the man calling dives and sweeps.
"Outside of my immediate family, he is the most influential person I've had in my life," Rembert said.
In the spring of his sophomore season. Rembert's grandfather was very ill.
Young Lamar felt he was doing the right thing by participating in all Rattlers' practices. He was worried he wouldn't get to say goodbye to his grandfather, but it had been instilled in him by Hall that everyone should be at all workouts because that's how you built a winner.
After all, one thing Hall often told his players was "Don't let yourself down, don't let the man next to you down, don't let the program down."
Worried, Rembert's mother, Daisy, called Hall and explained Lamar's conundrum.
"Coach Hall pulled me aside and told me football was going to be there for me, but that I needed to be spending my time with my grandfather and the rest of my family," Rembert said. "He said that was what was most important."
Two years later, Rembert had scholarship offers from Kentucky and Duke and was prepared to choose between those programs. Then, both schools fired their coaches, leaving Rembert to wonder what to do.
The Blue Devils hired Carl Franks, who met with Rembert to tell him the scholarship was still there for him, but as a defensive back and not a running back.
Disappointed, but still respectful, Rembert thanked Franks for seeing him and then went home. Hall called Franks to try to change his mind, but it was to no avail.
Soon after, Furman came around.
Having had offers from Division I programs in major conferences, Rembert wasn't sure about considering a lower-level program.
"Coach Hall told me not to worry about Furman being 1-AA, that they'll probably win a lot more games than Duke," said Rembert, who had 36 carries for 357 yards and three touchdowns in a 1997 playoff victory at Tarpon Springs. "He told me the offer stood with Furman to be a running back and said I needed to go where I felt like I was wanted, where I fit and where I felt most comfortable."
So, he picked the Paladins, where he became a teammate and friends with a young quarterback named Billy Napier, who is now UF's first-year football coach. At Furman, Rembert ran for 1,085 yards and six touchdowns on 192 carries and was the recipient of the 2003 Robert B. King award, named after the Paladins coach from 1958-72.
He graduated with a degree in political science and coached defensive backs briefly at North Marion while pursuing his master's. He then spent 13 years as a teacher and administrator on the elementary school level before being named the principal at Howard Middle School in 2018.
In May, Rembert was named the principal at Forest.
"I talked with (Hall) about it the last time I saw him" a week before he passed, Rembert said. "He was just beaming with pride. He let me know in so many ways how proud he was of me and also started grilling me about what I was going to do. He always looked out for me."
In the summer of 2000, just before his sophomore year of high school, Brian Lane lived in Macon, Ga., but was visiting his father in Marion County.
His dad's girlfriend had a son on the Belleview football team, so Lane tagged along to some workouts.
"Coach Hall ... was defensive-oriented and made everybody work hard. I remember from day one how serious it was. Upperclassmen mentored younger players, and it seemed like the program had been established for a long time, but it was just in the early years," Lane said.
"I could tell he was a leader, and I called my Mom to ask if I could stay and play for him."
Lane liked the structure and that there were requirements to join the varsity (a 315-pound bench press being one). He played mostly JV that year before being moved up late in what would become Hall's final, and most successful, season with the Rattlers.
The Rattlers finished 11-3, reaching the 4A state semifinals, where they fell 41-14 to eventual champ, Pensacola Pine Forest, in Hall's final game as a head coach (he served as linebackers coach, alongside running backs Coach Brantley, for Trinity Catholic's 2B runner-up in 2006).
BHS honored that team as the greatest in school history last year. Hall, inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame in 2001 and the FACA Hall of Fame in 2002, was there with many of his former players.
Lane only played part of one season for Hall, but he said he took in a lot and will pull from that when he walks into "Brent Hall Field at the Strike Zone" for his first home game as Belleview's head coach on Sept. 2 against Crystal River.
"Coach Hall was a blue-collar guy with so much passion who took no days off," Lane said. "There was always intensity. He made practices hard so the games would be easy. The weight room and working hard together to a common goal were important to him, and I definitely see a lot of the things I'm doing (as coach) are things I learned as a kid.
"It's an honor being in the position I'm in, and we will honor him with our effort and style of play."
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