Southern Illinois lost a coaching icon late Friday night when Rich Herrin passed away at the age of 87. Herrin won 677 games at the high school level and 225 more at SIU, where he took over a fledgling Saluki program and turned into a Missouri Valley Conference champion.

Those who knew Coach Herrin the best will tell you the nearly 1000 wins he piled up through the years are just part of his story. We caught up with a few of his former players and friends, and they had plenty to say.

In part one, we’ll hear what made him so successful as a coach, and how his legacy will live on through all those that followed in his footsteps into coaching.