CLYDE BAXTER GILLISPIE

Clyde Baxter Gillispie, 79, of 1922 Bloomfield Rd., died Thursday, Dec. 16, 1993, at the St. Francis Medical Center.

He was born March 14, 1914, at Vienna, Mo., the son of Fred V. and Cora M. Curtis Gillispie.

He married Rachel E. Rhodes, July 31, 1943, at Cape Girardeau.

Gillispie was a factory worker with Superior Electric and Davis Electric Company of Cape Girardeau.

He was a member of the Bethany Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau.

Survivors include his wife; a son, Richard C. Gillispie of Wichita, Kan.; a brother, Chester C. Gillispie of Vienna, Mo.; three sisters, May King of Vienna, Mo., Ruby Davis of Vienna, Blanche deBruler of St. Louis; and three grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a son and two sisters.

Friends may call from 4:30-8 p.m. at the Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel in Cape Girardeau.

Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Saturday at the Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel, with the Rev. Donnie Ford officiating.

Burial will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Smith: `I'm coming in here to win now'

FLMDNMCOLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - If new Missouri football coach Larry Smith has his way, a lot of Big Eight coaches will be very happy.

Mere hours after Smith agreed to terms on a five-year contract Thursday, he was already complaining about the school's much maligned slippery, rock-hard Omniturf. The turf comes out after next season and that won't be soon enough for Smith, a natural grass enthusiast who threatened to rip it out himself.

"I know the players hate it," Smith said at a news conference. "I walked on it and I didn't like it very much. Maybe I'm speaking out of place, but does anybody have some tractors or backhoes so we can go out and dig that baby up?"

Missouri introduced Smith, 54, to the media a day after breaking the news of his hiring due to widespread speculation. It was the second big piece of news at the school in as many days, coming on the heels of Joe Castiglione's appointment as athletic director, succeeding Dan Devine.

Smith wore a black and gold tie, Missouri's school colors, at the news conference. Other than the turf, he said he thought he and Missouri would make a perfect fit.

He also promised immediate results for the school, which hasn't had a winning season since 1983. He replaces Bob Stull, who was 15-38-2 in five seasons and was forced to resign Nov. 29 after going 3-7-1 in his final year.

Smith isn't accustomed to such failure. He's 110-80-6 in 17 seasons at Tulane, Arizona and Southern California and has taken seven of his last eight teams to bowl games.

"We're not ready for a national championship yet, but I don't think the cupboard is bare," Smith said. "I'm not coming in here to build for 2-3 years down the road, I'm coming in here to win now."

Smith has revived all three previous programs where he's coached and he didn't think Missouri would be his toughest challenge.

"I don't think it's as difficult as it was at Tulane, when I went in there," Smith. "I think it's in a lot better shape than my first year at Arizona.

"It's always a lot tougher than you think it is, but 10 years of losing seasons is not that much to overcome."

He said a big factor was the university's commitment to football.

"People really want to win," Smith said. "There is no question there is a hunger, there is a starvation, to win. They wanted to do it the right way but were prepared to make the adjustments to win."

On the other hand, the honeymoon is already over. Missouri lost a lot of recruiting time during the search for Stull's successor and the first night on the job for Smith's staff was going to be decidedly unglamorous.

Skip Hall, a holdover from Stull's staff who was named associate head coach, said the new staff would telephone about 30 recruits Thursday night, then watch reams of videotape on prospects on Friday.

"We're going to move fast and furiously," Hall said.

Smith said one of his top recruiting priorities was to reclaim the state for the university, which has lost several top players to the Big 10 and the rest of the Big Eight.

"We've got to win the state of Missouri," Smith said. "There's a heck of a lot of very fine players here and we've got to get out and make sure these young people know we have the best program."

Another holdover from Stull's staff is Curtis Jones, who coached tight ends last season. Smith said he wasn't certain about Jones' role, but they weren't being retained just for the sake of continuity.

"Curtis and Skip are around here because they belong here," Smith said. "If I had to go to Timbuktu to put a staff together, I'd be talking to these two guys."

Also on the staff are former NFL linebacker Ricky Hunley and Moe Ankney, who'll be defensive coordinator. Ankney resigned from the same position at Purdue after a 59-56 midseason loss to Minnesota.