1994 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE | ROBERT LYNN GODDARD
Robert Lynn Goddard of Elizabethton has been named to the Milligan College Athletics Hall of Fame. The Athletics Hall of Fame exists to honor outstanding athletes, coaches and other significant participants in the athletics program of Milligan College.
Goddard, a native of Elizabethton, enrolled in Milligan in 1946 after spending over two years in the Air Force during World War II. As a member of the Milligan football team, Goddard led the Buffs in rushing yardage for three years until a knee injury sidelined his senior season.
After that, Goddard made history as the team's kicker. In 1947, he led the nation in punting with a 47.5-yard average and had the longest punt in the nation that season. He kicked one over 98 yards in a game against Western Carolina but had it returned nine yards for an official punt of 89 yards. His second longest punt, 80 yards, was against Appalachian State. Against Stetson University in Florida, Goddard kicked nine times for a total of 600 yards, a 66 yard average.
As a member of the Milligan baseball team, Goddard pitched two seasons for a win-loss record of 14-4.
Goddard played one year of semipro baseball for Coeburn, Virginia, before finishing his professional career in St. Paul, Virginia, with a win-loss record of 17-1.
In August 1949, Goddard became the head coach at Unaka High School. He immediately organized the Watauga Conference in the spring of 1949-50 and was elected as its first president. His 1949 team won the first game in the history of Unaka football.
During the next 10 years, his football team won six championships and finished second four times with only one losing season. In 1963, Unaka named its field the Lynn Goddard Field in his honor. While at Unaka, Goddard also coached boys’ and girls’ basketball, track and baseball. During his tenure with the teams, the girls’ basketball team was district champions, the track team was district runner-up, and the baseball team won three Watauga Championships. Goddard was named Coach of the Year four times by the Watauga Conference.
After 12 years at Unaka, Goddard returned to his alma mater, Elizabethton High School, where he had been a freshman in 1938 when they won the state championship in football. In 1941 when Goddard was a junior, Elizabethton was conference champions and co-champions in 1942, his senior year.
Goddard was named head football coach and athletic director of Elizabethton High School in 1965. By 1968, Goddard had turned Elizabethton's 10-year losing streak around and won victories over Johnson City, Kingsport and Oak Ridge. With an 8-2 record in 1969, Elizabethton was co-champion of the conference with Morristown. Goddard's total overall record while coaching the Elizabethton football team was 52-33-2.
While at Elizabethton, Goddard also began the tennis program that still exists today. Several of his Elizabethton High School players received scholarships. He also started a summer tennis program through Parks and Recreation and had four players win state championships, defeating Oak Ridge, Chattanooga, Baylor, Nashville and several other large cities. When he retired from the program, over 165 players were involved in the summer program.
Goddard continued to receive significant honors while coaching at Elizabethton. In 1965, he was honored as Upper East Tennessee Coach of the Year and was named Conference Coach of the Year in 1968. Goddard served as vice president of the Big 7 Conference in 1970-71.
Last spring, Goddard received national recognition when the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame presented him an award for his contributions to football. He was also honored by the Big Ten Conference for the time he devoted to making it one of the best in the state in the 1960s and ‘70s.
Goddard and his wife, Patricia, a 1945 graduate of Milligan, still reside in Elizabethton and have five children, seven grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.