Hall of Fame
Position: Coach
Years: 1979-1983, 1985-2016
Place of Birth: Bryn Mawr, PA
Date of Birth: April 6, 1943
Record: 258-155-2 (62.4%)
Villanova's all-time winningest coach, Andy Talley's name became synonymous with Wildcat football while leading them to unprecedented success and a national championship. After winning a remarkable 258 games during his 37-year career at St. Lawrence (NY) and Villanova, he becomes the first player or coach from either university to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Talley started his head-coaching career at St. Lawrence, where he posted a 28-18-1 record over five seasons from 1979-83. His best season with the Saints came in 1982 when he led them to an undefeated regular season, their first of back-to-back conference titles and a trip to the NCAA Division III semifinals. The squad was named the 1982 ECAC Division III Football Team of the Year.
After his success at St. Lawrence, Villanova chose Talley to rebuild its football program after a four-year hiatus. He accomplished that task and more, winning 230 games during 32 seasons on the Main Line from 1985-2016. Talley became the program's all-time winningest head coach in just his 11th year, and he was just the 37th coach across all divisions of college football to win 200 games at one school. The highlight of his career came in 2009 when he was named AFCA National Coach of the Year after leading the Wildcats to a 14-1 record and the FCS National Championship after knocking off No. 1 seed Montana, 23-21, in the title game. The winningest coach in Colonial Athletic Association history (142 victories), Talley guided Villanova to six conference titles and 11 other FCS Playoff appearances, including trips to the semifinals in 2002 and 2010.
In 1997, Talley was named AFCA National Coach of the Year and received the Eddie Robinson Award as the top coach in the FCS after leading the Wildcats to a 12-1 record and a trip to the FCS quarterfinals. A three-time conference coach of the year (1997, 2009, 2012), he mentored 16 First Team All-Americans, 84 first team all-conference selections and 16 Academic All-Americans. Three of Talley's Villanova players would win the Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player in the FCS: wide receiver Brian Finneran (1997), running back Brian Westbrook (2001) and quarterback John Robertson (2014).
Talley earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees at Southern Connecticut State where he played defensive back for College Football Hall of Fame Coach Jess Dow. The Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, native began his coaching career as an assistant at Simsbury High School in Connecticut before stints at Springfield (MA), Middlebury (VT) and Brown. Talley is a member of the Villanova Varsity Club, Southern Connecticut State University and Haverford High School (PA) halls of fame, among others. Villanova dedicated the Andrew J. Talley Athletic Center during his final season in 2016.
Active in the community, Talley officially partnered with Be The Match in 2008 to start the "Get in the Game and Save a Life" bone marrow donor registry campaign, and he has enlisted 80 college football programs from all divisions to take part. Since that time, the program has been responsible for more than 300 potentially lifesaving stem cell/marrow transplants as well as over 71,000 new potential donors added to the worldwide registry. Talley has received numerous awards and accolades for his efforts with the bone marrow program, including the Rod Carew Leadership Award and the March of Dimes' Shining Star Lifetime Achievement Award. The president of the NFF Philadelphia Chapter for 30 years, he was honored with a national NFF Chapter Leadership Award in 2000.
