LD Bains

Coach L.D. Bains was born February 28th, 1935 in Chelsea, Oklahoma as the youngest of seven children to Jesse and Mattie Bains. He participated in football, basketball, baseball, and track during his school years. He graduated high school in 1953 and accepted a football scholarship to the University of Tulsa, while also being offered to play professional baseball with the farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals. L.D chose football over baseball and attended the University of Tulsa for two years. He then transferred to Northeastern State University for two years where he graduated in 1960 with his bachelor’s degree. He would later earn his master’s degree from NSU in education.

Coach Bains came to Miami in 1970 where he became the head coach for the Wardog Football team through 1981 where he helped change the culture of Miami Football. Bains led the Wardogs to 79 wins during his tenure. Bains’ teams won four conference championships (1971, 1973, 1976, 1980), reached the playoffs four times, was a semi-finalist in 1980, and was the state runner-up in 1973 which is the highest finish in the history of Miami Football. Bains coached two Wardog legends in Tinker Owens and Matt Monger, both of whom would go on to have fabulous careers at the division one level and later in the NFL. Owens and Monger are both members of the Miami Athletics Hall of Fame. 

Prior to his tenure at Miami, his coaching career began in 1961 at Ringling high school where he spent three seasons before accepting a job at Hugo where he would spend seven seasons. His team made the playoffs during his tenure at Hugo for the first time in many years and the town surprised Coach Bains and his wife Peggy with a new color television which they were thrilled with. Bains was named the Coach of the Year by the Ardmore Daily Ardmorite that season. Bains was selected to coach in the Oil Bowl in 1965 which took place in Wichita Falls, Texas. Bains would go on to finish his coaching career at Sand Springs High School from 1983 to 1996.

Coach Bains retired from coaching in 1996 after 36 years. He coached seventeen all-state players, two collegiate All-Americans, and two NFL players. Bains was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association (OCA) Hall of Fame in 1990 and was selected as the inaugural recipient for the Chelsea High School Outstanding Alumni Award in 1997 where former senator Clem McSpadden was the emcee.

L.D. has been married for over sixty years to his wife Peggy. Together they have two children, Vicki and Greg, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.