Hall of Fame History
The Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame opened officially on April 16, 1982. The Hall of Fame became a reality because of the planning and effort of a committee headed by Ron Holland, Tom Fagan, Chuck Ritter and many of the MHSFCA past presidents.
The Hall of Fame was then located in the lobby of the University of Michigan’s indoor football practice facility. At that time, Coach of the Year Recipients, Hall of Fame Inductees, East/West All Star Game Footballs and Pictures, Scholarship Recipients, Jim Crowley Award Recipients, “Gold Brick” schools and many other significant and historical items associated with the MHSFCA and High School Football in the State of Michigan were displayed. At the present time, those items and all new significant accomplishments and recognition are being added to this Hall of Fame website.
The first inductees to the Hall of Fame, in 1982, were the original Board of Directors. They were inducted at the 1982 clinic. The legendary Bo Schembechler, suggested to then Hall of Fame Chair, Tom Fagan, that we needed to do a “first class” induction ceremony and offered to host the event and secure noteworthy guest speakers. Since then, Michigan hosted the induction ceremonies and guest speakers have included the likes of, Woody Hayes, Duffy Daugherty, Ara Parsegian, Gary Moeller, Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez. In 1992, the inaugural class was officially re-inducted with a banquet and induction ceremony. The inaugural class consisted of: Roy Allen, Paul Baldwin, Jim Bates, John Blackstock, Bud Breed, Dick Comar, Jerry Cvengros, Dave Driscoll, Elmer Engle, Ken Foust, Art Gillespie, Ron Holland, Rich Jeric, Wayne Melchiori, Ike Muhlenkamp, Jim Ooley, Fred Rademacher, Dutch Schroetenboer, Tom Seroczynski, Jeff Smith, Steve Sonaga, and Jack VerDuin.
The Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony is held in the spring in Ann Arbor.
Criteria
In 2010, the MHSFCA opened the Wall of Fame. Located on the inside wall of the south-east tower of the renovated University of Michigan Stadium (nearest to Crisler Arena). The Wall of Fame displays each class of Hall of Fame inductees, our school members (Gold Brick members) and individual plaques of the current year’s inductees. The current class of inductees will be presented their plaques in April replaced by the new inductees’ plaques .
The criteria for nomination to the Hall of Fame, established by the Hall of Fame Committee (comprised of the Past Presidents of the Association) is: 100 victories and/or a minimum of 20 years coaching high school related football in the State of Michigan.
Additionally, the Hall of Fame Committee considers: the date the nomination was received, the age, and the health of the nominee.
The committee encourages anyone, who knows of potential candidates, meeting the above criteria, to please submit those names to:
JACK CARLSON
Historian
2195 Lakeridge Drive
Holland, MI 49424
Or, you can complete the nomination form online.
