WFL to Gain Harvard Coach

A former Harvard gridiron coaching assistant has been named the first black head coach of a professional football team.

Ralph Goldston, who served under Joe Restic for two years in Cambridge, will coach the Portland, Ore. franchise in the newly-formed World Football League.

"I'll tell you, I think it's a great opportunity for him," Restic said last night and added he felt Goldston would do a good job.

"What he does out there will be watched by many people," Restic continued. He said Goldston's coaching could open the door for other blacks in the field.

After the 1972 football season, Goldston left Harvard to take a job with the University of Colorado. Restic originally hired Goldston three years ago when the 44-year-old former pro was coaching high school basketball in Burlington, Ontario.

Restic and Goldston were teammates on the Philadelphia Eagles, where Goldston was the first black on the team. Both men ended up in Canada where Goldston became a six-time All-Star defensive back with the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian League, which Restic later coached.

The end of Goldston's playing career came with the Montreal Alouettes, and he stayed on with that team as an assistant coach for four years.