HALL OF FAME
Athletes, Coaches and Community Heroes
Peter Schneider
Peter Schneider
PHS Class of 2001
Football, Baseball, Basketball. Lettered in 3 sports. Football wide receiver with Drew Olson as quarterback. Named East Bay Offensive Player of Year by Oakland Tribune; S.F. Chronicle AU-Metro Receiver. Had 84 receptions, 1485 yards, 18 touchdowns. League championship.
First high school player to win Biletnikoff Award as best receiver in Northern California; 3 year varsity starter in baseball as center fielder. Led team in hitting and stolen bases in junior and senior years. Varsity basketball as freshman and junior.
Jack Stack
Jack Stack
PHS Golf Coach 1956-1985
Created golf as sanctioned sport in North Coast Section; founded first NCS championship events. Developed numerous golfers who competed in college. Team won ACAL championship in 1955-1956. Successfully led drive for school board to rescind its decision to cancel golf as a sport at PHS in 1978.
Joe Stuart
Joe Stuart
PHS Class of 1943
Football, Track, Basketball. Earned 11 Block P letters. Halfback on Coach Brick Johnson's All-Time PHS Team. Winner of Optimo Award as senior in both football and track. Named to All-County football team. First freshman to start as running back at Cal. Excelled in track in hurdles, sprints and relay. Considered best all-around athlete in school history by coach Johnson.
PHOTOS ABOVE: Joe Stuart at Cal (#69) Left and Piedmont (#37) Right.
In 2023 the family of Joe Stuart found his old Piedmont jersey at his home in Alaska and shipped it down to Piedmont High School. The beautiful original purple jersey is a prized acquisition for the Piedmont Football Archive.
Don Weeks
Don Weeks
PHS Class of January 1948
Football, Basketball. Halfback and quarterback under coach Jimmy Hole (1946) and Brick Johnson (1947). Played on 1946 ACAL championship team. Led league in scoring junior and senior year. Optimo Award winner as senior, All-ACAL in football 3 years. Also ran track and shared basketball Optimo Award with Tom Adams.
Jean C. Witter, Jr.
Jean C. Witter, Jr.
PHS Class of 1938
Jean graduated from PHS in June 1938. He was a stand-out quarterback for Piedmont's single and double wing system on coach Brick Johnson's All-Time team. Football Optimo winner for the 1937 season. He was also on the basketball team and member of Student Body government. He starred on Cal’s undefeated rugby team just before enlisting on the Navy during WWII. In 1942 Jean was killed in action on the Bridge of the USS San Francisco by a Japanese shell in the Battle of Guadalcanal. On October 17, 1943, the USS Witter (DE-636) Buckley-class destroyer escort was launched and named after Ensign Jean C. Witter.
https://www.ussslater.org/history/slaterhistory/history_sanfrancisco.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Witter_(DE-636)
Ted Connolly
Ted Connolly
PHS Class of 1950
Graduated February 1950. Won the track Optimo in 1949 for the shot-put and discus and set the ACAL record for the shot-put. Outstanding football player, named to the All-County Football Team. Was also on the basketball team. Ted had a ten-year NFL career, mostly with the 49ers from 1954-1962.
Read about Ted’s life here: Ted Connolly Obituary
Connolly ties up an opponent in basketball.
Harold D. Edelen
Harold D. Edelen
PHS Class of 1929
Another all-around athlete. Basketball Optimo winner in 1928 and 1929. Student Body President. Won Block P's in not only basketball, but also football, track and tennis.
Clinton Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood
PHS Class of 1924
Clint Eastwood was an all-around athlete at Piedmont High earning a Block P in football for three years, while also participating on the track, swimming and basketball teams. As Captain of the 1924 football team, he also won the Optimo award.
1940 Football Team
1940 Team Photo
1940 Football Team
Piedmont’s Greatest Team
Considered to be the greatest Piedmont football team ever, they were the 1940 ACAL Champions, outscoring their opponents 274 to 6; Jefferson from Daly City scored the 6, but they were beaten 50-6 that day. They beat Berkeley that year 46-0. Ten members of the starting 11 were named to the All-County Team. Many of the team members are deceased, but some are still with us.
Jim Helmer
Jim Helmer prepares to make a cut in Piedmont’s epic 1932 victory over Berkeley to break the “Berkeley Jinx”.
JAMES F. Helmer
PHS Class of 1934
Football and track. Track Optimo in 1934. Brick Johnson fondly remembered Jim Helmer as one of the best all-around athletes he had ever coached. He was a sprinter on the track team and a half-back on the football team.
Like the photo above? Read about the Piedmont vs Berkeley game of 1932 in the CAnewspaper archive.
Read more about Jim’s life on Legacy.com.
According to his son Jim Jr.:
”He ran a 10.00 flat time in the 100 yd. dash his Sr. year at Piedmont which led to a 4th place at the State meet in Los Angeles and a successful track career at Cal where his relay team (including Archie Williams, Olympic Champion) went on to break the 440 yd. relay record at Cal which stood for many years.”
Jimmy Hole
Jimmy Hole
Coach 1936-1948
Co-Head Coach with Brick Johnson on the great teams of 1940,1941 and 1942, all undefeated, Coach Hole was credited with running the offense of those teams. Coach Hole came from Berkeley High where in 1924 he was named High School Coach of the Year for football and basketball. He joined Brick as an assistant coach in 1936, and took over as head man in 1937 when Brick took a year to coach in Hawaii. Hole was appointed Co-Coach when Brick returned from Hawaii. He left Piedmont in 1948.