Jack Lengyel understands Hollywood’s tendency to sensationalize whatever story is being told. But he hopes all of that will be kept to a minimum when “We Are ... Marshall” is released in December.

Lengyel, who was at The Resort at Glade Springs Monday for the M Club Golf Classic fund-raiser, is an authority on the events after the tragic Marshall plane crash that killed 75 players, coaches and supporters on Nov. 14, 1970. He became the new head coach when Marshall decided to carry on with the football program the following season.

So who better to critique the progress of the anticipated movie starring Matthew McConaughey?

“I think, by and large, they are doing what they said they were going to do, which is be true to the story,” Lengyel said while sitting outside the Cobb Course pro shop. “Oh, they’ve added some Hollywood driftings in there, and I understand what they have to do. They have made some composite people and they have changed some storylines a bit.

“I’m hoping by the end when we see the total movie that they stay true to the story and do what is right by the people who perished in the crash.”

Lengyel was the head coach at the College of Wooster when the crash occurred. He came to Marshall in March 1971 and coached a team made up of players who did not make the ill-fated trip to East Carolina, walk-ons and members of the 1970 freshman team.

He began to hear numbing stories of close calls and tragic twists of fate. He recalled one story Monday that will not be told in the movie.

“Eddie Carter was a player whose father died on a Monday or a Sunday, and he went back (home) for the funeral,” Lengyel said. “On Wednesday, he’s getting ready to come back and his mother became very hysterical. She said, ‘Son, don’t go back. The plane’s going to crash.’ She was so hysterical that he didn’t go back. And, of course, the plane crashed.”

Eventually, the Dallas Cowboys wanted to sign Carter, Lengyel said. He and Carter drove to Kentucky to meet with a Cowboys vice president and recruiter, and it was there that Lengyel discovered how deeply the tragedy had touched Carter.

“We were sitting there talking about 20 minutes, and Eddie said, ‘Coach, I’ve made my mind up. I’m going to give my life to Jesus Christ,’” Lengyel said. “We all shook hands and Eddie today is one of the leading world evangelists (with the Death Unto Life Ministries in Chattanooga, Tenn.).

“He came back when our captain, Nate Ruffin, passed about three years ago and was part of the eulogy,” Lengyel said. “I said, ‘Eddie, tell me about your mother.’ She said that she had never had a vision before, and she has never had a vision after. But she had that vision about the crash.”

Lengyel also spoke about a team manager who refused to fly that November weekend to Greenville, N.C., because it was Friday the 13th.

There were parents of players who tried to talk their children into having dinner with them after the game and driving back the next day. But the players decided to fly back with the team after the loss to ECU.

A father of one of the players who flew into the wrong city rented a car and got to the game just after it ended. So he decided to fly back with his son and was among the victims.

“There’s enough stories in there that they didn’t have to fictionalize anything,” Lengyel said of the movie.

One of the biggest pieces of fiction just might be McConaughey’s portrayal of Lengyel, the former coach says with a laugh.

“I think he captured the essence of it, although I did see him when he was (filming) and he had a real wild plaid jacket and paisley tie,” Lengyel said. “I said, ‘Matthew, let me say something to you. In my wildest days I never wore a jacket like that and I sure as heck never would have worn a paisley tie.’ And he said, ‘Well, yeah, Sandy (Lengyel’s wife) didn’t pick this out.’ I can guarantee you she didn’t pick that out.”

“And another thing,” he continued. “My sideburns were never that long. I think they have taken some liberties with the ’70s dress and made some innovations they thought were proper with regards to making it look so realistic.”

Today, the Lengyels live just outside of Phoenix. He has a full plate, including being on the board of the All-American Football League. It’s a league of teams to be composed of college graduates who want to continue playing while in graduate school. If the board can find six owners, the league will begin in April 2007.

In the meantime, Lengyel will wait to see how the movie turns out.

“All of our concerns through all these years have been, whatever somebody does do to this, let’s hope they do it with the pure respect of those who perished in the crash, and certainly keep the storyline and not Hollywood-ize it,” he said. “So the test will be when we see the film. They have drifted and put some Hollywood things in there, but I hope not enough to deter the final product so that we all can say that they did it in a tasteful manner.”

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