David Poirier says he remembers some thought he might have it easy being the coach's son.
They obviously didn't know Clifford Poirier all that well.
 

Had they they would have known that the tough-as-nails Waltham High football coach from 1973 to 1977 was just as tough on his own son as he was on all the Hawks as he tried to squeeze every ounce of ability he could out of those squads. They would also have known that as hard-nosed as Poirier was on the sideline and as a disciplinarian at the school he was equally as generous off the field when it came to going the extra mile for his players.
 

It was that mix of no-nonsense competitiveness and care for his players that made him such a successful varsity coach. It was that spirit that was remembered this weekend during visiting hours and funeral services following Poirier's death on Tuesday after a long bout with cancer. He was 77.
 

``Playing for him being his son it was not as easy as everyone thought it was going to be'' David Poirier said. ``What I did see living with him at home that not everyone saw was the extra work he did when football was over.
 

``He spent countless hours on the phone sending letters and trying to get kids into better schools. My senior year there were six or seven of us who went on to Division I schools. It was all because of what he did for us. He made the phone calls and he pushed the films for us. It was never about himself.''
 

It was Poirier's brand of tough-love coaching that many credit with bringing Waltham High football back to prominence after a few years of struggles. He played for the Hawks during one of their heyday periods before his graduation in 1952 and then went on to both play for and coach at Boston College.
 

After a short stint with the Canadian Football League Poirier returned to Waltham as a teacher and eventually as a varsity football coach.
 

``He took us in the weight room and had us doing things with balance training and strength that no one had ever done before'' said Bill Creonte Cliff Poirier's nephew who played for him during his senior season. ``He was ahead of his time. I remember my father telling me about when he was at Boston College and they sent him to scout a game. Alabama sent four coaches to scout the same game and BC just sent Cliffy because of how he understood the game and could break down film.''
 

Poirier took over for legendary coach Hal Kopp at the end of Kopp's career on the sidelines and was faced with rebuilding the program from scratch for one of the only times in its history. But it didn't take him long to put the Hawks back on the path to being a powerhouse as one mediocre season was followed by a pair of one-loss campaigns.
 

``He just started the whole thing'' Creonte said. ``He stayed on five years and had great great seasons. Then it never went down after that. He brought in coaches like Bobby Connors and Buster McGovern and that led to Dan Keohane all Waltham guys. They had a run of 30 years after th78bat and it was derived from him.''
 

Of course he didn't do it with the softest touch. If Waltham football wasn't ready to pull itself back to prosperity he was prepared to drag the players back there by their ears and noses.
``If you got out of line you had to go one-on-one with him'' David Poirier said. ``I've seen him break a few facemasks. I mentioned in the eulogy that little punch in shoulder that knocked you back in the locker room the pinch on the back of the arm that really hurt the slap on the back to get you to go to class that was him.
 

``He had a passion for Waltham and he showed it through coaching. He really brought Waltham football back.''
 

Among the players Poirier coached with the Hawks were future Boston College and NFL star Fred Smerlas and future state treasurer Joe Malone as well as more than a dozen future Division I or I-AA players.
 

``I think the big thing with him was that it was always about something more for the kids'' David Poirier said. ``It was never about him. It was always about what he could do for someone else to get them somewhere.
 

``He was always doing things for kids outside of the program. If they came from a single-parent home and they were struggling he'd help them out. What he did transcended football.''
 

Clifford Poirier is survived by his wife Anita and his children Barbara Susan Ronnie Joyce and David. Among his 15 grandchildren are David's sons Luke and Brad who both played college football games in their grandfather's honor on Saturday.
 

David Poirier said he is certain that's the way his father would have wanted it.

(Scott Souza is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@cnc.com.)