Don Drinkhahn remembered for South Dade football legacy
It was never just about football for Don Drinkhahn.
Whether he was navigating the flooded, debris-littered streets of Homestead in the days after Hurricane Andrew to check on players, driving all the way to Key West to bail one out after an arrest, or even helping athletes from rival schools earn college opportunities, Drinkhahn’s commitment to service rarely ended when practice did.
“I never met a coach that cared more about his players,” former South Dade High School athletic director Joel Furnari said. “He would always go so far out of his way for his kids. It was unbelievable. He sent kids to college in ways that you wouldn’t believe.”
On Thursday, July 3, the longtime South Dade High School football coach died at the age of 85.
The Michigan native first became the Buccaneers’ head coach in 1970, before returning in 1986 for the tenure that transformed South Dade into one of South Florida’s premier football programs.
Through more than four decades as a coach, Drinkhahn won 10 district championships and helped hundreds of athletes continue their football careers at the collegiate level.
For those who knew him best, however, football was just the avenue that he chose to serve others.
In fact, Drinkhahn nearly pursued a career as a Lutheran minister before ultimately deciding to become a football coach.
Instead, he dedicated his life to mentoring young people while emphasizing lifelong values like discipline, grit and compassion.
He packed as many players as he could into his car during his famous “shuttle runs” through Naranja, Florida City and the surrounding communities, making sure they got to school and practice. At one point, he even obtained legal guardianship of a player to help him leave an unstable home
His son Ryan, who later served on Drinkhahn’s coaching staff, recalled one afternoon when his father noticed a student leaning against a hallway wall.
He asked him when he had last eaten.
“Tuesday morning,” the student replied.
It was Thursday afternoon.
Because the student’s parents hadn’t signed the paperwork required for free lunch, Drinkhahn took him to a buffet and told him to eat until he was full.
“I always told him, ‘I think you touched more lives between the sidelines than you ever would’ve from a pulpit,’” Ryan said. “And he agreed.”
Once Drinkhahn returned for his second stint with the Buccaneers, he inherited a program still trying to close the gap with cross-town rival Homestead High, which had quickly emerged as the area’s dominant program after opening in 1979.
For years, Ryan said, South Dade players would come home encouraged by simply keeping games close against Homestead
Some of Drinkhahn’s methods for changing the culture were unconventional.
He brought in world champion kickboxer Tony Palmore to work with players before and after practice, teaching positive thinking, confidence and mental toughness. Drinkhahn believed changing the program’s mentality was just as important as changing its playbook.
Over time, that mind-set transformed South Dade into one of the area’s premier programs, a culture that has continued long after his retirement.
The lessons Drinkhahn instilled reached future NFL players such as former All-Pro and Super Bowl champion Antrel Rolle, and continue to spread today through former players such as Anton Graham, who went on to play at FIU and now serves as head coach at Miami Southwest.
“Not only did he teach me about hard work, dedication and trusting the process, but he also taught me how to care for people,” Graham said. “I can vividly remember coach driving all over South Dade to make sure everybody made it to school. He was the foundation of what it means to be a Buccaneer.”
In Ryan’s case, growing up with Drinkhahn meant missing out on some traditional father-son moments, like fishing trips and ballgames. Looking back, though, he wouldn’t have traded his experience as a coach’s son for anything.
“How many people do you know that have 1,000 brothers? We have that one thing in common, and that’s Coach,” Drinkhahn said. All they’ve done is give back to the community the way my dad gave back to them. They’ve carried that example into the next generation.”
Drinkhahn’s mentorship didn’t end once players wrapped up their time at South Dade.
If a player couldn’t afford transportation to college, Drinkhahn paid for a bus or plane ticket.
If a player was on a partial scholarship or walking on and needed help paying tuition, he found a way to make it happen.
While Drinkhahn’s impact is obvious in the district title banners that greet visitors inside South Dade, his true legacy can be seen in the people who continue to carry his lessons forward.
This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 1:27 PM.