ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Jerry Tolley – two-time national champion football coach at Elon – has been selected to the 2009-10 class of the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame as announced by Commissioner Patrick Britz on Wednesday.
Tolley is one of four inductees and will be joined by former Tusculum College standout football player Ricardo Colclough; former Wingate University men's basketball player Lorinza "Junior" Harrington and former Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball player Daniel Willis.
They will be inducted into the SAC Hall of Fame as part of the South Atlantic Conference Annual Meeting in Asheville, N.C., on June 3. The banquet will be at the Biltmore Doubletree Hotel with a reception at 6:15 p.m. with dinner and inductions at 7 p.m.
Tolley becomes the fourth representative of Elon to earn induction into the SAC Hall of fame. He was preceded by former Director of Athletics Dr. Alan White (Class of 1999-2000), golf and cross country coach Bill Morningstar (Class of 2001-02), tennis coach Tom Parham (Class of 2001-02) and men's tennis player Danny Colangelo (Class of 2004-05).
Tolley began his college football coaching career at Elon in 1967 as the defensive coordinator and later as assistant head coach under Shirley “Red” Wilson. While serving under Wilson, the Elon football program achieved unprecedented success, claiming a 72-34-2 record (.675). The Wilson-led team reached a high water mark in 1973, advancing to the NAIA Division I playoffs for the first time in the program’s history – culminating in a national runner-up finish.
When Wilson departed Elon in 1977, Tolley was elevated to head football coach. Under his guidance, Elon amassed a sizzling 49-11-2 record (.806) with four South Atlantic Conference championships and three district titles over five years. Tolley’s teams also advanced to the NAIA Division I playoffs on three occasions, claiming back-to-back national titles in 1980 and 1981. His 1978 squad earned national runner-up recognition. His 1977 team fell shy of a national playoff berth, but forged a 9-2 record and finished No. 6 in the national rankings. Tolley retired from coaching at the top of his game following the 1981 season.
For his efforts, Tolley collected many accolades including South Atlantic Conference, district, state, regional, area and national coach of the year honors. He also received the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Dwight D. Eisenhower Award and the Eastman Kodak National Collegiate Football Championship Award. During Tolley’s entire football career as a high school and college player and as an assistant and head coach, teams he was a part of complied an overall record of 201-63-6 (.756).
While leading the Elon football program, Tolley coached 53 All-South Atlantic Conference performers – four who achieved South Atlantic Conference MVP status – to go along with 30 all-district honorees, 12 all-state selections and 18 All-Americans. Also, 18 of his players have been inducted into the Elon Sports Hall of Fame. Tolley himself was inducted into the Elon Sports Hall Fame in 1988 by Dr. J. Fred Young, Elon’s President at the time, in a special Centennial Year Hall of Fame Celebration induction ceremony.
Tolley continues to receive honors for his coaching accomplishments. In a private ceremony held in the Governor’s office in 2002, Governor Mike Easley, presented him with the Laurel Wreath Award, the highest award given for athletic excellence by the State of North Carolina. In a ceremony held in New Orleans in 2003, the AFCA honored Tolley with its Lifetime Membership Award. At a banquet held in New York City in 2004, The All-American Football Foundation honored him for his long and outstanding contribution to the game of football with its coveted Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Service in Sports Award presented by the Alamance County Area Chamber of Commerce. Tolley was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame as part of that group's 2008-09 class.
Since the conclusion of his coaching career, Tolley has gone on to author five football drill books and currently serves as the Mayor of the Town of Elon.
-- ELON --
