Coach Hawkins Remains Hospitalized, to Receive Pacemaker

Former Texas A&M University-Commerce football coach Ernest Hawkins is said to be in good spirits as he undergoes treatment for the West Nile virus.

Commerce ISD Superintendent Blake Cooper, who works with Hawkins’ daughter, told KETR Sunday the former coach was "preparing for a pacemaker tomorrow." He was diagnosed with the illness last weekend but said to be doing fine until complications arose Wednesday night, prompting a visit to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

Hawkins earned a bachelor’s degree from East Texas State University in 1956. He is best known for coaching the Lions football team to a National Championship in 1972 and is the winningest coach in the program’s history.