Coach Pat Collins stood in the middle of the Fant-Ewing Coliseum Saturday morning while a line formed as player after player waited for a chance to shake hands with their old mentor.

Collins helped lead his 1987 team to a Division 1-AA national championship. Though Collins was already a member, he attended a reception Saturday as the rest of the team joined him in the ULM Sports Hall of Fame.

Some players greeted him as an old friend, with one grabbing him around the neck to talk about squirrel hunting. Others brought their children so they could meet the man who helped mold their fathers.

Kendall Farrar, a walk on, hesitantly approached Collins, unsure if he’d remember someone so low on the depth chart.

“Oh, boy! Of course I remember you,” Collins told him. “I don’t consider anyone just a walk-on if they got out there and worked.”

To the players, that’s the spirit of the still-vibrant and charismatic Collins they knew as a coach.

“Leadership has everything to do with success, and I just want to thank you for what you’ve done for me,” Farrar told him.

The team tended to agree. Following Collins’ speech, the crowd gave the coach a standing ovation.

Collins received many accolades during the 1987 championship run. He won the Chevrolet and Football News National Coach of the Year as well as coach of the year for Louisiana and the Southland Conference.

He was also among the first coaches in the nation to go to a one-back offense and run a 4-2-5 defense.

But Collins downplayed his own success, lavishing heavy praise on a team he said carried him to victory.

“Head coaches get far, far too much credit for a successful football team,” Collins said.

As the players mingled and shared their own memories of the gridiron, many approached Collins to trade stories with their coach, too.

“It touches your heart,” Collins said. “They bring you anecdotes you’ve said through the years. You relive it, and it brings them back to life.”

Collins looked on with pride to see what had become of the boys he helped groom into men.

“I look forward to coming back to see the guys, their families and their kids. That’s the best part of this.”