National Football Foundation

A football man through and through, Tom Ferguson continues to leverage his experience in every facet of the game as a player and coach to make a positive and lasting impact on young people in Northwest Ohio, installing the same values in the next generation that have allowed him to succeed as a leader in the community.
 
Created in 1964, the Tom Wistert/Toledo Chapter has bettered the local community for nearly half a century. This year, the chapter honored three dozen student-athletes and more than 550 people attended its annual banquet. As part of its community service outreach, the chapter continued its special tradition of taking its scholar-athletes to visit a local children's hospital each year before the banquet.
 
"The hospital visitation by the athletes has been a rewarding experience for both the patients and the athletes," said Ferguson. "The athletes are quite moved by the whole experience."
 
After earning three letters at Rossford High School in Rossford, Ohio, Ferguson became a four-year starter at Findlay College, while earning a bachelor's degree in health and physical education in 1972. After graduation, Ferguson launched his coaching career at Edison High School in Milan, Ohio, where he stayed for seven years. In 1979, he returned to his alma mater as the head coach of the Rossford Bulldogs. Ferguson remained at that position until his retirement in 2003.
 
"Without football, I do not believe I would have had the positive influences growing up to lead me in the right direction," said Ferguson. "Football was the foundation of who I am today."
 
Ferguson joined the National Football Foundation in 2003. He served as vice president in 2006 and 2007, and he has been the chapter's president since 2008. Inducted into the University of Findlay Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Rossford High School Hall of Fame in 2003, he has earned six Coach of the Year awards. The Wistert Chapter has honored him twice in 1990 and 2002 for his coaching accomplishments. Ferguson served in the U.S. Air Force from 1966 to 1970.
 
Ferguson is now retired and lives in Rossford with his wife, Susan. They have two children.