(WXYZ) — Black History Month is the perfect time to remember a titan. Legendary high school football coach Herman Boone, who was played by Denzel Washington in "Remember the Titans," taught black and white players to celebrate their differences during a painful period of racial tension in America.
One of Boone's three daughters, Monica Merritt, is the superintendent of the Plymouth-Canton School District and tells us how her father was larger than life.
"My dad is like my heart outside my chest," she told our producer, Barry Cutler. "He means everything to me. He's in me, he's inspired me."
Boone made headlines in 1971 when he integrated the Titans football team at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia and enjoyed returning to the school talking to students about it.
"I said to them many times, I don't care if you like each other. Heck, I don't like half of y'all," he said in 2014. "But you will respect each other to where respect becomes trust."
"When I think about the issues of race, for my father, at the core of his being, he fought for social justice, and making sure that every person is valued for what they bring to the table," Merritt said.
"I believe that a team is a group of people with one vision, one objective, and you must have one heartbeat," Boone said speaking to students.
Coach Boone didn't score big with everybody right off the back, and he fought to insulate his family from racial hatred.
"There was an incident, I think it was portrayed in the movie with a brick being thrown through the window, but there was actually a toilet bowl that was left with feces in our yard," Merritt said. "As a young child, I didn't understand why."
Even in the face of adversity, Coach Boone continued teaching, there is no "I" in team.
"these young men taught the world how you can overcome your fear of diversity."
Monica is now on a mission to honor that titan.
"Being the first African American female superintendent of Plymouth-Canton Community Schools, once again, I think I've learned from my father that it's not about the position, but about the platform to make a difference in the lives of others," she said. "I think about our female students, our students of color that have an opportunity to see me in this seat and they can look and say, this is possible for you as well.
"One heartbeat, without exception," she said.
That movie led to Coach Boone and Washington becoming long-time friends.
Sadly, the coach passed away last December at 84 years old following a battle with cancer.
Monica is thrilled the movie is keeping her father's memory alive. It came out 20 years ago, and she says today, we're still talking about how one team changed attitudes toward race across the nation.
