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Coach Ernest Hawkins passed away Sunday night. He was the Lions’ head coach from 1964-85 and is the winningest coach in the program’s history with a record of 132-92-6. He led East Texas State to the NAIA National Championship in 1972 and won four Lone Star Conference championships in 1966, 1969, 1972, and 1983, earning LSC Coach of the Year honors in each of those seasons. Hawkins was inducted into the Lion Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Lone Star Conference Hall of Honor in 2004. The football field at Memorial Stadium was named Ernest Hawkins Field in 2017. The naming announced at Homecoming was officially unveiled on November 2 against UT Permian Basin. Daughters LuAnne Bourland and Kathy Campbell, and son Ray Hawkins, a former Lion Football letter winner, and their families survive Coach Hawkins. Coach Hawkins was 91.
Arrangements
| Visitation | Friday, February 2 | 5:30-7:30 p.m. | First Baptist Church of Commerce, Fellowship Hall |
| Service | Saturday, February 3 | 10 a.m. | First Baptist Church of Commerce, Sanctuary |
| Celebration of Light and Life Lunch for ALL GUESTS |
Saturday, February 3 | 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. | First Baptist Church of Commerce, Fellowship Hall |
| Military Burial | Saturday, February 3 | 2 p.m. | Rosemound Cemetery, Commerce |