Larry Bales (born August 29, 1947) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

college coach. He played college football at

Emory and Henry College Emory & Henry College (E&H or Emory) is a private liberal arts college in Emory, Virginia. The campus comprises of Washington County, which is part of the Appalachian highlands of Southwest Virginia. Founded in 1836, Emory & Henry College is ...

Early years

Bales attended Marion Senior High School. As a senior in 1964, he was the starter at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, leading the state of Virginia high school quarterbacks in

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

passes and receiving All-state honors. He accepted a football scholarship from

. As a freshman, he was named the starter at

in the fourth game of the season. As a sophomore, he was converted into a halfback and played in 6 games until suffering a season-ending injury. As a junior, he was moved to flanker, making 48 receptions, while averaging 70.7 receiving yards per game. As a senior, he registered 96 carries for 684 yards (7.13-yard avg.) and 61 receptions for 1,202 yards (school record). He scored 12 receiving

s, 4 rushing

s and one

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

, totalling 98 points. He finished his college career with school records in: career receiving yards (2,037), single-season receiving yards (1,202), single-season touchdowns (16) and single-game receiving yards (195). He also practiced

. In 1974, he was inducted into the Emory and Henry Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Bales was selected by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

in the seventh round (180th overall) of the

1969 NFL Draft The 1969 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and American Football League (AFL) held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969. The draft be ...

. He also was tried at

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

during

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

. He was waived on August 15.

Coaching career

In 1970, Bales began his career as the offensive backs and receivers assistant football coach at Patrick Henry High School. In 1972, he was named the football head coach at Abingdon High School. He served as the football head football coach at

from 1979 to 1981, compiling a record of 7–22–1. After coaching he worked as an insurance agent for State Farm Insurance.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bales, Larry 1947 births Living people American football wide receivers Emory and Henry Wasps baseball coaches Emory and Henry Wasps baseball players Emory and Henry Wasps football coaches Emory and Henry Wasps football players High school football coaches in Virginia People from Marion, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia