Former NFF Vice Chairman John Toner Honored by UConn
John Toner, namesake of the NFF’s John L. Toner Award for athletics director of the year, has been honored with induction into the “Huskies of Honor” last week. The three-year-old program began in 2006 and pays tribute the top student-athletes, coaches and administrators at Connecticut.
Toner served as UConn’s Director of Athletics from 1969-87 and originally came to the school as the head football coach from 1966-70. He helped UConn become a charter member of the Big East Conference in 1979. He also served as president of the NCAA from 1983-85 and was president of NACDA 1980-81.
NFF News
NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell was invited by the Super Bowl XLV Organizing Committee to attend last week’s private luncheon to promote the upcoming North Texas Super Bowl.
Spearheading the Super Bowl initiative are NFF Board Member and Dallas Cowboys Owner, President & GM Jerry Jones, and College Football Hall of Famers Roger Staubach (Navy) and Troy Aikman (UCLA). Also in attendance were Arlington, Texas, Mayor Bob Cluck; NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas board members Scott Murray and Bob Sambol; NFF COO Matthew Sign; and numerous former Dallas Cowboys.
The NFF has formed a partnership with Collegiate Images to preserve, promote and protect its valuable library of college football content. Through CI's digitization solutions, millions of fans around the world will have access to an unprecedented level of interactive football content that, until now, has only been available to those who make the trip to the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
2004 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Bob Anderson of Army has been inducted into the Florida High School Sports Hall of Fame after starring in four sports at Cocoa HS.
2000 College Football Hall of Fame inductee and Georgia standout Terry Hoage was inducted into the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame last Saturday in Macon.
The College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend has hosted several salutes to African-American college football student-athletes and traditions during February’s Black History Month, including special exhibitions for Hall of Famers Ernie Davis (first African-American Heisman Trophy recipient), coach Eddie Robinson, Earl Banks, and Paul Robeson. For additional information, please go to www.collegefootball.org.
NFF Information
Become a fan of the National Football Foundation on Facebook – Upload your gameday photos, check out pictures of the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, and chat with other college football fans.
If you are a former NFF National Scholar-Athlete (collegiate) and would like to become a member of the National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, please contact NFF Director of Special Projects Hillary Jeffries at 800-486-1865 or via email at hjeffries@footballfoundation.com.
To become an NFF member, please contact NFF Director of Membership Ron Dilatush at 800-486-1865 or via email at rdilatush@footballfoundation.com. Worldwide membership now is at 12,000-plus in 119 chapters.
Many professionals with football backgrounds have included the NFF Scholarship Programs in their 2008 tax-deductible contributions or have extended their returns to include charitable donations to these programs.
For more information on the NFF and college football, including announcements from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and NCAA Football, please visit www.footballfoundation.com.
NFF Chapter Briefs
The NFF S.M. McNaughton Chapter in Shreveport, La., honored seven high school scholar-athletes and several sports dignitaries at its annual banquet last Thursday at East Ridge Country Club. Northwestern State sports information/media relations director Doug Ireland received the chapter’s Distinguished American Award. New Northwestern State head coach Bradley Dale Peveto introduced Ireland and gave remarks to the banquet’s attendees.
New Wyoming Head Coach Dave Christensen will be the keynote speaker at the NFF Wyoming Chapter annual awards banquet on March 21.
The NFF Commonwealth Chapter’s 2009 Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet will be held on March 22 in Glen Allen, Va. The keynote speaker will be Virginia Tech strong safety/OLBs/recruiting coordinator Jim Cavanaugh.
Two-Minute Drill
LSU and West Virginia agreed to a two-year football series, with the first game to be held in Baton Rouge on Sept. 25, 2010... Missouri has picked up its 12th opponent for 2009 in Furman on Sept. 19. The Tigers also had their game at Nevada moved back to Friday, Sept. 25, for an ESPN national telecast… Wisconsin completed its 2011 schedule by adding South Dakota… Delaware State University and the University of Delaware announced a formal agreement that will result in the scheduling of four future football contests, starting in 2009. The three remaining games will take place from 2012-14, and all contests will be played at the University of Delaware's Delaware Stadium… Tennessee’s Spring Coaches’ Clinic will feature Super Bowl XLIII winning coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as Vols’ head coach Lane Kiffin and his staff… Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach was featured speaker at the 27th annual West Texas Football Clinic held in Lubbock… Maryland football student-athletes competed off the field in Uplifting Athletes’ Global Rare Disease Day last Saturday in video games to help raise money for cystic fibrosis research… Notre Dame’s Golden Tate has been a guest student-athlete blogger for The Journal Gazette in Ft. Wayne, Ind…. 2008 Wuerffel Trophy winner Tim Tebow (Florida) and NFF Draddy Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel (Florida) visited the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field as part of the 40th Annual All Sports Association Awards Banquet Week in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
Joe Trainer was promoted to head coach at Rhode Island… Rick Fowler has been promoted to assistance head coach at Vanderbilt… South Florida promoted Mike Canales to offensive coordinator… Fresno State named Randy Stewart defensive coordinator and Derek Frazier co-offensive coordinator… Scotty Conley was named director of football operations at North Texas… Vince Okruch was named linebackers coach at Akron… Rutgers named Tim Pernetti director of athletics… Cheryl Levick has been selected as AD at Georgia State… Bob Ceplikas has been tabbed acting director of athletics at Dartmouth… Fred Washington’s interim tag was removed, as he was recently named athletics director at Prairie View A&M.
Luther Elliss, standout Utah football student-athlete, has been chosen for the Utah Crimson Club Hall of Fame… Oregon State AD Bob De Carolis and Rhode Island AD Thorr Bjorn have been named co-recipients of the Harold J. VanderZwaag Distinguished Alumnus Award, presented annually by the UMass Sport Management Program… Dick Inman was named to the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Board of Directors… Former NFF National Scholar-Athletes Eli and Peyton Manning will serve as honorary coaches for the Gatorade Replay game at Lafayette College's Fisher Stadium on April 26.
CBS College Sports Network, through a deal with DIRECTV, has expanded its overall household reach to more than 30 million subscribers. The Network has been elevated to DIRECTV’s CHOICE XTRA package. In the last three months, CBS College Sports Network has added approximately seven million subscribers through a variety of deals with cable and video providers.
The Valero Alamo Bowl is serving as chief promotions agency and facilitator for the Notre Dame-Washington State football game in San Antonio, Texas, at the Alamodome on Oct. 31… Collegiate Images has denoted a long-term partnership renewal with the Orange Bowl Committee to manage, license, distribute and protect the committee's images’ content.
Michael Merola, captain of the 1950 Georgia football team, passed away Monday following a long illness… Marty Pierson, 87, who played at Delaware in the 1940s and later worked as an assistant coach for the Blue Hens, has died… Fred Graham, 74, longtime sports information director at North Texas, died last week in Denton, Texas… Dick Price, retired director of athletics at Norfolk State, died… Marcus Manny, 23, kicker for Tabor (Kan.), died in an auto accident… Ed Cason, former Texas A&M-Commerce football player, passed away on Feb. 22.
2009 Key NFF Dates
April 30: 2009 College Football Hall of Fame Class Announcement – New York, N.Y.
July 17-18: College Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival – South Bend, Ind.
July 28-Aug. 2: Annual Play It Smart National Conference – Houston, Texas
Dec. 8: NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria – New York, N.Y.
2010 BCS Schedule
Jan. 1: Rose Bowl presented by Citi – Pasadena, Calif., ABC
Jan. 1: Allstate Sugar Bowl – New Orleans, La., FOX
Jan. 4: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – Glendale, Ariz., FOX
Jan. 5: FedEx Orange Bowl – Miami Gardens, Fla., FOX
Jan. 7: BCS National Championship – Pasadena, Calif., ABC
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