“I have the honor tonight of introducing you to a true Guilford legend,” Vice President for Enrollment Services Randy Doss said as he introduced Stuart “The Rock” Maynard at an all-athlete meeting last Sunday. Guilford cemented a post outside the entrance to Armfield Athletic Center. On that post is a good-luck rock in honor of the retired Maynard. The rock is there for athletes to rub as they enter the field prior to each game. Maynard was nicknamed “The Rock” throughout his long career at Guilford for his strength and athletic ability.

Maynard not only played football and baseball as a student at Guilford; he also coached both teams after graduation.

The college decided to commemorate Maynard and the hard work he put into the football and baseball programs over the past 67 years. The rock will give students a chance to remember him before every game.

“It’s kind of a neat thing when you can touch the rock and think of him. It makes you smile,” said head football coach Kevin Kiesel. “Coach Maynard is such a unique and friendly man, and to have a symbol of his life before we compete is wonderful. It reinforces our desire to do well.”

Maynard was named best senior athlete in 1942 and captained both the football and baseball teams.

A two-sport athlete, let alone, a two-sport athlete captain is not seen too often at Guilford, although there may be one in the making.

Junior Jordan Nelson, a football and baseball player at Guilford, as Maynard was, has already broken records in both sports. Nelson hopes to make an impact on Guilford athletics like Maynard has.

“I want to be all-conference and I want to captain the baseball and football teams my senior year,” Nelson said.

Being a two-sport athlete may have influenced Maynard to take on multiple positions in his career.

After graduating in 1942, Maynard joined the Navy and taught at Williamston High School until 1951 when he returned to Guilford as the athletic director, director of physical education and head baseball and football coach: not to mention that he became a role model to all Guilford athletes.

Maynard’s influence extends beyond superb athletic ability. The long-time coach was named the National Baseball Coach of the Year after leading the Quakers to a record 25 wins in 1966. That same year, he took the team to its first NAIA baseball championship. In his tenure at Guilford, Maynard coached his baseball teams to 436 wins, a school’s record.

Further accomplishments include earning Carolina’s Conference Coach of the Year prize in 1967, gaining four District 26 Coach of the Year prizes, and returning his team to the 1976 NAIA championship, which helped Maynard receive the Professional Baseball Scouting Association’s Coach of the Year Award. He coached 11 baseball players who signed with professional teams and had three All-Americans. Finally, in 1982 he won Guilford’s Alumni Excellence Award for outstanding achievement.

“(This man) embodies the mind, body and soul of Guilford College,” Doss said in his speech. “If you want to know why he is called the Rock, go shake his hand and see even today, at 91 years old, his forearms and grip are better than 98 percent of us.”

Maynard has embedded his influence in Guilford athletics and will be remembered for his many accomplishments; especially now that his rock sits outside Armfield for every great athlete at Guilford to rub.