During the summers between his college years, Restic was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Playing for a farm team in Salina, Ks., a medium-sized city about 15 miles from Ike Eisenhower's hometown, he had the experience of striking out Mickey Mantle, then a player for the Yankees' Joplin, Mo. farm team. Unbeknownst to him, however, his pro play was illegal given his school-year activities at Villanova, an infringement he paid for by forfeiting two years of eligibility at the college.

After graduation, he decided to give professional football a try. He made the 33-man Philadelphia Eagles roster and became a solid receiver for the team--when a teammate stepped on his hand during a pileup, breaking his fingers. It was then, after getting married, that he decided to give coaching a try.

In 1954, he began coaching on the high school level. That year he signed on at Wicomico High School in Salisbury, Md, before making the transfer the next year to Neptune High School in Neptune, N.J.

Impressed by his performance at those schools, Brown Coach Alva Kelley hired him as an end coach and as head scout for the Bears in 1956. There, he helped Brown to three consecutive winning seasons (5-4-0, 5-4-0 and 6-3-0), no small feat considering that the Bears had gone 2-7-0 in 1955 and have traditionally been an Ivy League doormat.

After the 1958 season, Restic followed Kelley to Colgate where he served as the coach's first assistant and defensive coordinator. There he served through the 1961 season in his only stint as a defensive coach (he has since dealt mainly with the offense and, in particular, the offensive backfield).

As if Hamilton, N.Y., was not exciting enough, Restic made the jump to Canadian professional football and the Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger Cats in 1962. That year, he served as a backfield coach under Jim Trimble. In 1963, after Trimble left, Restic stayed at Hamilton under Ralph Sazio as first assistant and offensive coordinator. There, in 1968, he got his first head coaching opportunity with the Tiger Cats.

Restic's head coaching career in Hamilton lasted only three years, but it was nonetheless impressionable. Engineering a highly-explosive Tiger Cat offense, he compiled a 22-17-3 record--excellent by Hamilton standards--and captured an CFL Eastern Division Championship with an 8-5-1 mark in 1970.

Then, in the spring of 1971, a position atHarvard opened up.

O.K. It seems that I've gained some controlover the situation now.

After listening to Restic enthusiasticallydiscuss in brief his love of the game, theimportance of people in making coachingworthwhile, and the number of ways that moderncollege sports--in their desperate pursuit of winsand money--have reneged on their obligations todevelop young athletes as human beings, I'vefinally managed to drive him into talking abouthis war years.

"What the service did for me was it made melearn to survive," Restic says. "I spent most ofmy time with myself behind the lines. It was toughbut I got through it.

"The game will teach you how to survive," hesays, again eluding discussion of himself. "Itwill give you lessons. The fact that youparticipated, the fact that you allowed it totouch you, the fact that you took the challenge,you were tested, and you survived, that means alot."

Not being able to restrain myself, I ask himabout something that has been pestering me allday.

"You know the head coaching offer thePhiladelphia Eagles gave you in 1976?"

He nods.