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Bucknell Legend Bob Odell Part of Inaugural MAC Hall of Fame Class
May 2, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. --As part of the kickoff to its 100th anniversary celebration, the Middle Atlantic Conference announced its inaugural Hall of Fame class on Tuesday. One of the 36 initial inductees is Bob Odell, already a Bucknell Athletics and College Football Hall of Famer who coached the Bison through one of its greatest eras in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As head football coach at Bucknell from 1958-64, Bob Odell had a 37-26 record and led the 1960 and 1964 teams to Lambert Cup championships as the top college football team in the East. After two losing seasons in 1958 and 1959, his Bison teams went 32-13 over the next five seasons. A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Odell was an All-America halfback at Pennsylvania, won the Maxwell Trophy and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1943, and he is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Following service as a communications officer in the U.S. Navy in World War II, he was an assistant coach at Yale, Temple and Wisconsin before coming to Bucknell. While at Wisconsin, he recruited and coached the great Alan Ameche, the 1954 Heisman Trophy winner. After leaving Bucknell, Odell was head coach at Penn (1965-70) and Williams (1971-86). In 1987 he was honored by the New England Football Writers Association with the George C. Carens Award for outstanding contributions to New England football. A second-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1944, the position of Bucknell head football coach is now named in his honor. Bucknell participated in the Middle Atlantic Conference in most sports from 1947-1974. The football team won the MAC title in 1965, the year after Odell left for Penn. The MAC Hall of Fame, an initiative of the MAC 100, recognizes student-athletes, coaches, administration, faculty and staff from the Middle Atlantic Conferences who have demonstrated success in athletics, academics, and in the community. Thirty-six individuals (22 athletes and 17 staff/administrators) are part of the first class, representing 25 schools and 13 different sports.
Inaugural MAC Hall of Fame Class Name, School, Sport/Position, Year(s) Richard (Dick) Riffle, Albright, Football/Baseball/Basketball/Track & Field, 1938 Ted Cottrell, Delaware Valley, Football/Track & Field, 1969 Yvonne Kauffman, Elizabethtown, Basketball/Field Hockey/Tennis Coach, 1966-Present Robert Shields, FDU, Athletic Director, 1976-1989 Mary Beth Bowler, King's, Basketball, 1983 Lou Sorrentino, Lebanon Valley, Basketball/Baseball/Football SA, Basketball/Football/Baseball/Golf Coach, Athletic Director Budd Whitehill, Lycoming, Wrestling/Football/Baseball Coach, 1956-93 David Brandt, Messiah, Soccer Coach, 1996-2008 Bill Manlove, Widener, Football Coach/Athletic Director, 1969-1991 John Reese, Wilkes, Wrestling Coach, Athletic Director, 1953-1995 Grant Krow, Albright, Track & Field, 1963 Robert Odell, Bucknell, Football Coach, 1958-1964 David Freysinger, Dickinson, Basketball, 1982 Denise Shotwell Hubley, Dickinson, Field Hockey/Track & Field, 1989 Simone Edwards, FDU, Basketball, 1993 William Marshall, Frankling & Marshall, Squash Coach, Athletic Director, 1974-1991, 1971-1998 Arif Husain, Gettysburg, Track & Field, 1993 Robert Kenworthy, Gettysburg, SID, 1959-1999 Dick Voith, Haverford, Basketball, 1977 Bill Milne, Johns Hopkins, Swimming, 1974 William (Bill) Stromberg, Johns Hopkins, Football, 1982 Larry Bock, Juniata, Volleyball Coach, 1977-2010 Al Cantello, La Salle, Track & Field, 1955 Tom Gola, La Salle, Basketball, 1955 Frank Girardi, Lycoming, Football Coach/Athletic Director, 1972-2007 Carol Fritz, McDaniel, Basketball/Volleyball/Softball Coach, Associate Athletic Director, 1967-2007 Rebecca Martin, McDaniel, Basketball/Volleyball/Track & Field/Softball SA, Basketball Coach, 1980, 1981-Present Rocco Calvo, Moravian, Football/Basketball/Baseball Coach, Athletic Director, 1955-1992 Harold "Gil" Gillespie, Moravian, Baseball Coach, Basketball Coach, Athletic Director, 1937-1974, 1939-1957, 1937-1975 Bobby Smith, Rider, Soccer, 1972 Bob Bessoir, Scranton, Basketball Coach, 1951-1955 Cory Mabry, Susquehanna, Football/Track & Field, 1991 Guy Rodgers, Temple, Basketball, 1958 Edward Athey, Washington, Football/Basketball/Baseball SA, Coach, Athletic Director, 1947, 1948-1997 Billy Johnson, Widener, Football, 1975 Joseph Wiendl, Wilkes, Football/Wrestling/Baseball, 1969 |
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