Morristown, NJ - Each year, from its national network of chapters, The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame selects four individuals to receive outstanding leadership awards. Today, National Football Foundation Chairman Jon F. Hanson announced the recipients for 2001, which were selected from the Foundation's current 118 chapters and over 11,000 members.
They are:
Bill Dooley - Southern Region - Triangle/NC Chapter
Gery Gehrmann - Western Region - Clark County (WA) Chapter
Eric Hamilton - Eastern Region - Delaware Valley Chapter (NJ)
Irv Veitzer - Mid-West Region - Nebraska Chapter
"The strength of the Foundation lies in its chapters," commented Hanson. "We are indebted to our outstanding chapter members and congratulate Bill, Gery, Eric, and Irv for their dedication and efforts in fulfilling the goals and ideals of our organization."
Committed to promoting amateur football and youth development through sport, The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame's chapters annually recognize over 3,000 high school scholar-athletes with scholarships totaling more than $450,000.
NFF & CHF President Bob Casciola stated, "Through scholar-athlete award programs, youth football initiatives, clinics, and educational programs, our chapters emphasize the values developed through participation in the game and look to inspire participation in their local communities. We look forward to honoring these four individuals for all they have accomplished for the student-athlete and the Foundation."
The four honorees will be honored December 11, 2001, at the Annual Awards Luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Tickets are available by calling (800) 486-1865.
Bill Dooley - Southern Region - Triangle/NC Chapter
Recognized as the coach who revitalized North Carolina and Atlantic Coast Conference football, Bill Dooley utilized his strong organizational and leadership skills to form the Triangle/NC Chapter in 1995.
The North Carolina counties of Durham, Orange, and Wake make up the territory of the Triangle Chapter, which annually honors the area's top football-playing scholar-athletes. Dooley's leadership and influence in the football community has garnered strong representation and support from Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Central University and North Carolina State University. Among several chapter functions, a highly successful golf tournament raises thousands of dollars for the chapter's scholarship fund.
A 1956 graduate of Mississippi State University, where he played football for the Bulldogs, Dooley's life has remained dedicated to the game of football. He was the head football coach at North Carolina from 1967-1977 and head coach and athletics director at Virginia Tech from 1978-1986. He served as head coach at Wake Forest from 1987-1992, where he was named ACC Coach of the Year twice and led the Demon Deacons to their first bowl appearance in 14 years. He guided the Virginia Tech Hokies to seven consecutive winning seasons and three postseason appearances and the Tar Heels to six postseason births and three ACC Championships. He was named ACC Coach of the Year a total of three times.
As Director of the North Carolina Sports Development Office, a position he acquired in 1993, Dooley was responsible for promoting North Carolina as a sports destination, seeking corporate sponsorships for sporting events and assisting communities that recruit sports events.
Dooley has been inducted into seven Sports Hall's of Fames, including the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame to which he was inducted in 1995. An active leader in Special Olympics, he has served on several state committees, and currently serves as the Director of Recruitment (for players and coaches) for the Blue/Gray All-Star Football Game held annually on Christmas Day in Montgomery, Alabama.
Bill is married to the former Nancy Marie Nance, and he has four sons.
Gery Gehrmann - Western Region - Clark County (WA) Chapter
Founding president of the Clark County (WA) Chapter in 1991, Gery Gehrmann continues to play the lead role in establishing the chapter as one of the most productive in the nation.
The Clark County Chapter annually stages the largest one-day pro-am golf tournament in the Northwest and awards an impressive $10,000 purse to the top finishing professional as more than 215 golfers participate. The event has helped the chapter provide over $105,000 in scholarship money in their ten-year history. In addition to their annual scholar-athlete banquet and golf tournament, the chapter has held two highly successful NFL/NFF Coaching Academies - in 2000 and 2001. Gehrmann and his dedicated board of directors arranged for three area radio stations to hold their respective local shows live on-site at the academies. These shows generated a great deal of publicity for the chapter and area youth coaches. In addition to operating academies through his chapter, Gerhmann, a former linebacker at Washington State under coach Jim Sutherland, assists with the facilitation of coaching academies all over the Western Region.
Gehrmann earned his bachelor's degree in the spring of 1964 from Washington State University and later a master's in education from Western Washington State University. He spent 34 years as a teacher and coach in the Evergreen School District, coaching football, baseball, track, and golf on the high school level. His passion for football carried him to greater coaching heights, coaching at a community college, at an NAIA college, and in the World Football League.
While Gehrmann committed a great deal of his life to coaching, he also found time to serve as a high school wrestling official. He officiated for more than 30 years and was inducted into the State of Washington Wrestling Hall of Fame and was once named National Federation of Wrestling Officials Official of the Year. He is also the state clinician for high school wrestling rules.
Retired from the school system, Gery is currently the National Director of Youth Fitness Program for the Nautilus Company. He and his wife, Bobbie, have two children and three granddaughters.
Eric Hamilton - Eastern Region - Delaware Valley Chapter
Eric Hamilton has devotedly served the game of football in the Delaware Valley and in particular The College of New Jersey (formally Trenton State College) for almost three decades.
Currently in his 25th season as head coach of The College of New Jersey Lions, Hamilton has served as president of the highly successful Delaware Valley Chapter since 1995. In the 39-year history of the chapter they have awarded over a quarter of a million dollars in scholarships to local scholar-athletes and continue to operate as one of the most productive chapters in the country. The $37,000 awarded annually is the most by any NFF&CHF chapter in the country.
The scholarship money is raised throughout the year, but primarily at the popular William Pearce Memorial Golf Tournament. Headed by Hamilton and a strong board of directors, The Delaware Valley Chapter also administers the Sunshine Football Classic game that helps grant the dreams and wishes of terminally ill, chronically ill, and handicapped children whose parents are under financial strain due to the child's illness.
A 1971 graduate of Bordentown Regional High School, Hamilton attended Trenton State College, where as a senior center, he was selected to All-America teams by Kodak, Associated Press, and United Press International. He was honored as a Delaware Valley Chapter collegiate scholar-athlete following his senior campaign. In 1975, he graduated from TSC with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial arts. The following fall, he joined coach Carmen Piccone's football staff as a graduate assistant and progressed his way to assistant coach in 1976 and head coach in 1977 at the age of 23.
The most successful football coach in school history, Hamilton has directed his squads to seven New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championships. He was tapped as the NJAC Coach of the Year in 1990, 1997, and 1998, after the Lions collected their seventh league championship title, all under his guidance. His teams secured postseason appearances on five occasions in both the ECAC and the NCAA Division III Tournaments. Coach Hamilton enters the 2001 season as the eighth all-time winningest active NCAA Division III Coach with a record of 147-89-6.
Eric and his wife, Kathleen, have four sons and one daughter.
Irv Veitzer - Mid-West Region - Nebraska Chapter
Irv Veizter's dedication and support of Nebraska football is surpassed only by his desire to recognize and honor the individuals who have not only succeeded on the football field but also succeeded in their endeavors off the field.
A longtime member of the Nebraska Chapter, Veitzer has served as president for the past 11 years. Under his leadership, the Nebraska Chapter annually ranks as one of the largest in the nation at times exceeding 1,000 members. The chapter's great success with membership can be attributed to the strong support of the athletics department at the University of Nebraska. In addition to providing postgraduate scholarships to football playing scholar-athletes from throughout the state, the chapter also honors former great players and coaches from each college and university in Nebraska.
A 1950 graduate of the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Science Degree in mechanical engineering, Veitzer served in the United States Army from 1951-1953. In 1955, he became president of the Omaha Bedding Company, a position he still holds today. Veitzer has served his industry by working on several national boards of directors, including the National Association Bedding Manufacturers Board of Trustees, the Better Sleep Council Board of Directors, and as President of the National Association of Bedding Manufacturers. He has been recognized for his excellence with the National Association of Bedding Manufacturers Mac Morran Memorial Award and the International Sleep Products Exceptional Service Award.
In addition to his dedication to his profession, Veitzer finds time to give back to his community and his alma mater. For the past 30 years he has served on the Mid-America Boy Scout Council and is currently a member of The Children's Memorial Hospital Board of Directors. Among numerous appointments, he is a member of the University of Nebraska Touchdown Club Board of Directors, serving as president in 1987, and serves on the University of Nebraska Kearny Chancellors Advisory Council, the University of Nebraska Foundation Advisory Council, and is currently vice president of the University of Nebraska Athletic Fund Board of Directors.
Irv and his wife, Gail, have a daughter and a son.
The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit educational organization comprised of more than 11,000 members in 118 chapters nationwide, dedicated to the promotion of amateur football, scholarship, citizenship, and superior athletic performance. Through various programs and initiatives, the Foundation endeavors to promote the positive values learned through participation in sport. The College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana serves as the shrine where those who exemplify the Foundation's ideal of excellence both on and off the field are immortalized.
