2013: Services Set for Football Legend Birt Slater

A memorial service for William (Birt) Slater, legendary Kearny High football coach, will be held in the Kearny gymnasium on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013, at 1 p.m.

Slater, 89, passed away recently after a long illness.

Slater was head coach at Kearny from 1959-76, posting a record of 134 victories, 41 losses, and 9 ties for a .753 winning percentage.  His teams made 15 playoff appearances, were in the San Diego Section finals five times, and won 3 championships.

Slater was an assistant football coach at San Diego High from 1953-57, a period in which the Cavers posted a 45-8-1 record.  He also was coach of the 1957 San Diego track team that upset favored Compton Centennial to win the Southern California championship.

San Diego High’s 1955 team posted an 11-0-1 record, won the Southern California championship, and was declared national champion.

A more detailed account of Slater’s career can found in the article  “1959: “Birt, Are You Crazy?”