Hall Of Fame
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Class of 2005
John "Jay" Barrett
Jay Barrett is a Terre Haute Gerstmeyer graduate and went on to play football at Indiana State University where he was an All-Indiana player in 1955. He served as a head coach for 31 years at Schulte, Rockville and at West Vigo. He had an over-all record of 164-135-4 making him the winningest coach in history of the Wabash Valley. Two of his sons have followed him into the head coaching ranks, Chris at Terre Haute North High School and Greg at North Putnam High School.
Bob Clements
Bob Clements is a Terre Haute Wiley graduate where he was an All-State player. He went on to play at Indiana State University. He was a head coach for 19 years mostly at Terre Haute South. He had an overall record of 107-73-3. He had the only undefeated season in Terre Haute South history in 1973. He produced 10 City Championship teams and coached the South team in the 1978 Indiana All-Star game.
John Fallis
John Fallis is a graduate of Hagerstown High School where he quarterbacked them to an undefeated season in 1962. He has been a head coach at Jennings County, Eastside High School and the majority of his career at Greencastle High School. He was the head coach there from 1980-1998 and came out of retirement last season to coach them again. He has an overall record of 114-78 and produced undefeated teams in 1985,1991 and 1995. He has coached in the Indiana All-Star game and was selected as Head Coach for the South Division of this year’s All-Wabash Valley All-Star Game.
Paul "Spike" Kelly
Spike Kelly played football and graduated from Fayette High School in Fayette, Iowa. He coached at Clinton High School from 1924-1931 with a 50-11-4 record. He then moved to Sullivan High School from 1031-1943 where he had an 80-28-8 record. He finished his career at South Bend with an 84-43-8 record giving him an overall record of 214-82-16 making him one of the winningest coaches in Indian high school football. He had six Wabash Valley Championships and three Southern Conference championships. One of his greatest legacies is that 110 of his former players went into coaching.
Dick Martin
Dick Martin graduated from Sullivan High School where he was an All Wabash Valley quarterback. He went on to play quarterback at Indiana State University. He was head coach at Wiley High School for 16 years and at Bicknell for 2 years. He had an overall record of 113-49-9. He produced four undefeated teams and had 8 County Championship teams. He is also the namesake of the prestigious “Dick Martin Memorial Award” which is given periodically to a Vigo County coach that embodies the principles and qualities of Dick Martin. Some of the recipients of the award are Don Jennings, Willard Kehrt, Bob Clements and Woody Roloff.
Pete Varda
Pete Varda is a graduate of Garfield High School where he was an All-Conference player. He went to Notre Dame where an injury prevented him from playing. He graduated Cum Laude from there. He coached at Schulte from 1953-1960 with a 52-21-2 record. He then went to Brazil from 1960-1965 with a 28-11-1 record. He finished his career at Honey Creek with a 17-10-2 record. He never had a losing season at any school. His teams produced three County Championships. When he went to Schulte in 1953 he initiated the entire sports program there. He coached every sport at that school from 1953-1956.
Class of 2006
Max Kidd
Max Kidd graduated from Bloomfield High School in 1922. He was captain of his team and was a first team All-State fullback in 1922. He attended Indiana University and played football there. He competed against the famous “Four Horsemen” from Notre Dame while there. He coached high school football for 10 years at Bicknell, 15 years at Brazil High School, 6 years at Pawnee and then at Rose-Hulman for 5 more years. He won the mythical State Championship at Bicknell in 1934. He won numerous Wabash Valley and Western Indiana Championships. He had an overall record of 186-163-12. He was the first President of the Indiana Football Coaches Association.
Steward "Red" Faught
Red Faught graduated from Sullivan High School in 1942 where he was Co-Captain and team MVP in 1941. He was selected to the All-State 2nd team in 1941 as well. He went on to play quarterback at Indiana State University and was selected as the MVP in 1947. He went on to coach high school football at Linton Stockton from 1952-1954 and then Clinton High School from 1955-1956. He then spent the rest of his career at Franklin College where he developed a reputation as one of the game’s top quarterbacks coach. He was famous for his wide-open style of play and development of quarterbacks. In 15 of the last 17 years, the Franklin QB was ranked in the Top 10 passers in the nation.
John "Maggie" Magnabosco
Maggie Mgnabosco graduated from Clinton High School in 1925 where he was a star athlete in both baseball and football. He went on to Indiana University where he earned All-American and All-Big 10 honors as a football player. He coached high school football at Clinton High School where he won two mythical State Championships. He then went on to coach at Ball State University from 1936-1952. He led them to their only unbeaten and untied season in 1949 when they posted a 8-0-0 mark.
Mark Wildman
Wildman, a former player at Martinsville (Ind.) High School and an ISU graduate, became an assistant coach at South Putnam in 1977 and has been there ever since, compiling his 140 wins starting with the 1985 season. He led the Eagles to their only State Championship in 1986. His teams won three West Central Conference championships — ironically, none of them coming in the years the Eagles reached the state finals — plus eight sectional championships, six regional championships and two semi-state championships. He was twice named as an assistant coach for the Indiana North-South All-Star game.
Class of 2007
Frank Ciolli
Frank was a player at Indiana University under Bo McMillan and a member of their undefeated 1945 team. He then was a long time assistant at Schulte under Hall of Famer Jay Barrett. He developed a great reputation as a teacher and motivator. He was also considered a premier wrestling coach. When Schulte closed in 1978 he went to Rosedale as an Assistant Principal. He was instrumental in starting the football program at Riverton-Parke High School
Bill Evans
Bill is a Wiley graduate as well as an Indiana State University graduate in 1973. He started his coaching career at Clinton Central as an assistant coach from 1973-1978. He then took his first head coaching job at Wyanet, Illinois where he served as head coach until 1982. He moved to Red Hill in 1982 and has been there since. His overall record there is 111-112. He had two undefeated regular season teams in 2001 and in 2006 that also where the Little Illini conference champions. He is serving as this year’s South All-Star team head coach.
John Hasten
John is a 1974 graduate of Eastern Illinois University. He is currently serving as Superintendent of the Palestine Community School District #3. He served as head coach at Marshall High School from 1980 to 2002 where he compiled an overall record of 129-80. He had 11 teams qualify for post-season play. He was inducted in to the Illinois High School Hall of Fame in 2002. He also served as athletic director as well as coaching track, baseball, softball and basketball in his career.
Charlie Karazsia
Charlie is a 1973 graduate of Indiana State University where he also played football. Charlie was an assistant coach at West Terre Haute in 1973 and went on to become assistant coach at East Gary from 1973-1974. He later became coach of the freshmen in 1974 and was promoted to junior varsity position in 1975. Charlie took a position as offensive coach at Linton Stockton HS in 1976 and in 1980 became head coach until 1991. Charlie as Head Coach from 1980-1991 had a record of 84-36. He won 2 sectionals in1984 and 1986 and a Regional title in 1986. He had an undefeated season in 1987 and 1989 with Tri-County Conference Champs in 1986, 1987, and 1989. He was inducted into the Indiana High School Hall of Fame in 2006.
Tom Miller
Tom played football at Brazil and then at the University of Illinois. He then returned to Terre Haute in 1958 and coached football at Garfield High School. He also assisted legendary Wlliard Kehrt in basketball. He returned to Brazil in 1968 where he was the offensive line coach for 21 years. He retired in 1995 with the consolidation to Northview High School. He enjoys his Friday nights now watching his grandson, Broc Miller who is a North All-Star, play football for Northview.
Dennis Raetz
Dennis Raetz is the winningest coach in the history of Indiana State University. Dennis was a graduate of the University of Nebraska where he played football. He came to Indiana State as an assistant under Dick Jamison and then elevated to the head coach position in 1980. He served as head coach through 1997 and then moved on to an athletic administration role at ISU. He had two teams, 1983 and 1984, reach the NCAA I-AA play-offs. He was the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 1984. He coached a number of athletes that went on to play professional football. He also gave current New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton his first coaching job. He has influenced a number of former athletes that have entered the coaching ranks including his son, Mark, who is the new head coach at Terre Haute South.
Class of 2008
Terry Roche
Terry is currently serving as the Athletic Director at Robinson High School where he served as Head Coach for 20 years. Prior to Robinson he served as Head Coach at Springfield High School and Seneca High School. He started his career as an assistant coach at Danville Schlarman High School, Western Illinois University and Rock Island Alleman High School. He has an over-all coaching record of 132-105. His career record at Robinson High School was 122-87 with five Apollo Conference Championships and ten IHSA playoff appearances. Included in these appearances was 2nd place finish in 1992. He lead Robinson to their first playoff appearance in 1989. He is a graduate of Eureka College and Western Illinois University.
Claud Elwood "Woody" Roloff
Woody Roloff made his mark as Head Coach of Gerstmeyer High School in Terre Haute from 1960-1968. He compiled a remarkable record of 54-18-5 winning four Western Indiana Conference titles and Vigo County titles. He left coaching in 1968 only to return to Terre Haute North for 10 years as an assistant there. He also served as Athletic Director at Terre Haute North and Gerstmeyer. He was a 1951 graduate of Indiana State Teachers College.
Wayne Stahley
Wayne Stahley retired as Terre Haute North High School’s winningest coach in 2001. He came out of retirement in 2006 to help one of his former players and the current head coach at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Steve Englehart. Wayne Stahley is entering his third year on the Engineer coaching staff in 2008 after spending 25 years on the sidelines at Monrovia and Terre Haute North High Schools.Stahley compiled a career record of 142-121 at the two schools, with a 39-13 mark at Monrovia and a 103-108 ledger at Terre Haute North. He is the all-time winningest coach at Terre Haute North and coached several future collegiate players as well as former NFL players Anthony Thompson, Ernie Thompson and Steve Weatherford. During his playing days, Stahley attended Butler University as a four-year football player and began his career as a three-sport athlete at Indianapolis Roncalli High School.
Class of 2009
Al Werneke
You need a football coach; Al Werneke was your guy. This future Indiana State Sycamore put the blue and white on for Paul Selge and Bill Jones in 1955 and 1956 after a stellar career at Garfield High. He led Garfield in scoring and also played basketball and baseball. Al was the only athletes in his class to letter in each of the four major sports. Following his playing career, Al spent 10 seasons coaching high schools in Dugger, Oblong Illinois, Flora Illinois and Brazil Indiana, leaving those four schools with a combined 70-24-3 record. Then it was off to Florida. Al became the first coach to win multiple state football titles at different schools, two at Gladis Central in 1971 and 1972 and then at Titusville in 1982 and 1983. His Titusville team reached the state finals in 1980.
Gene Shike
Passionate about kids may be the best way to describe Gene Shike. His career as an educator, coach and school administrator spanned nearly four decades. Gene graduated from Hammond Tech High School and obtained his bachelors and post graduate degrees from Indiana State University. Gene coached everything, football, wrestling, track, baseball but it was his love of football that was grand. He coached and taught at Hart High School in Michigan (1957-1963), Jimtown High School in Elkhart (1963-1968) and his tenure in Vigo County had him guiding Garfield and Terre Haute North from 1968 through 1994. At Terre Haute he began nearly three decade tenure in football and administration. Whether it was on the field, the classroom, the guidance office or on the street, Gene was always about the kids. Gene passed away on March 13, 2009. He is survived by his wife of 53 years Charlotte and his four children and 12 grandchildren. In April, the Vigo County School Board, which Gene served four terms on, agreed to name the North Football Field after Gene.
Jerry Anderson
For nearly three decades, Jerry Anderson poured his life into athletics at Brazil and Northview High School. This 1957 graduate of Brazil High School was the cornerstone of community leadership for 26 years. Jerry excelled on the gridiron, earning three varsity letters from 1954 thru 1956, was named captain of the ’56 team, was an All-Valley performer twice and named to the Western Indiana Conference all-conference team. Upon graduation, he played at Indiana University from 1957-62 as a guard. In 1961, Jerry began his coaching career at Marion High School, then moved back to Brazil in 1966, where he coached freshman football before taking over as Brazil’s head coach. After a short stint at Rose-Hulman, he returned to Brazil in 1971 and led them to three 9-1 seasons in the 1970’s. Anderson held onto the head coaching position until 1995, that included the consolidation to Northview High School in 1985. All told, Jerry Anderson finished his 26 year career on the gridiron with a career record of 135-117-3.
Jim Hartman
When it comes to Sullivan High School, or to the Sullivan community, no name means more than Jim Hartman. A long-time coach and counselor at Sullivan, Jim guided the Golden Arrows from 1960 to 1964 with a mark of 24-21-5. Jim also served two terms as an assistant coach from 1954 to 1959, helping the Arrows go 10-0 in 1955 and winning the Wabash Valley Championship and the WIC crown. After stepping down as head coach in 1964, Jim stepped away, but football and Sullivan was in his blood. He made the comeback as an assistant coach, beginning in 1974. Jim served under four different head coaches during his nine years as an assistant, helping right the ship and return Sullivan to his power in the WIC. Jim stepped away after the 1983 season. In his 21 seasons at Sullivan, Jim was a part of 105 victories.
Class of 2010
Brent Anderson
Graduated from Schulte High School in 1959 and played for Hall of Fame Inductee Pete Varda. Went on to Indiana State University where he played. After graduation tried out with the San Diego Chargers and then played one year of semi-pro football with the Indianapolis Warriors. He hurt his leg that year and retired from football and went into coaching. His first job was at Fort Wayne Central Catholic. He returned home and coached at Clinton High School from 1972-1977. He then became the first football coach at South Vermillion where he ended his head coaching career in 1984. He taught at Sarah Scott for the last 18 years and coached the freshmen team there as well as helping out at Terre Haute South. He resides in Terre Haute today with his wife Judy.
Otto Clements
Otto was a 1982 graduate of Center Grove High School and then went on to the University of Indianapolis. He came to Sullivan after graduating and was the assistant football coach from 1993-2006. He then went on to become their head coach for 13 years until 2006. He produced an undefeated season in 1993 and also became the Tri-County champs that year. His team won the WIC conference championship in 2003. Otto also served as baseball coach from 1990-1993. He currently serves as Athletic Director at Sullivan High School today. He resides today in Sullivan with his wife Susan.
Greg Barrett
Greg is the founder of the current Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association. He has worked tirelessly to develop the organization and grow the interest in football in the Wabash Valley. He has served on the staffs at West Vigo, Terre Haute North and at Indiana State University where he also played for the Sycamores. He was an assistant in Iowa at a high school that claimed their state championship as well. He is the son of inaugural Hall of Fame Inductee, Jay Barrett. He is currently the Head Coach of North Putnam High School.
Class of 2011
Mike Kennedy
Mike was a teacher and coach for 34 years at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Terre Haute. He also served as Athletic Director for 28 years leading the entire “Warrior” athletic program. He coached baseball, basketball, track and football. He was also actively involved in the Vigo County Youth Football Association where he won countless county championships. His impact over his career at Wilson reached thousands of young men and women. He was the face of football at Woodrow Wilson where countless numbers of his athletes went on to play at the collegiate level. Among those include current ISU Head Coach Trent Miles. He loved kids and he was a champion for kids. He gave some kids a chance when he realized that athletics might be their key to success in school, but he was still a strict disciplinarian. He expected them to do the right thing and play by the rules. Mike Kennedy is survived by his wife Diane and daughters Amy, Lindsey and Emily.
Bob Wasson
Bob was a long time assistant coach at South Putnam High School. He served as an Assistant Coach from 1981-2005 during which time South Putnam won a state championship, two semi-state championships, six regional and eight sectional championships. He also served as defensive coordinator from 1985-2005. During his tenure at South Putnam Bob coached the following defensive players that were selected to the North – South All Star Game: Brian Bridgewater, Bruce Bridgewater, Tege Lewis, Todd Weddle, Kole Ames and Matt Hicks. Bob played football at Turkey Run High School.
Tom Jones
Tom was the founder of the Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association All-Star Game. He has served as the Game Director since its inception and has seen the participation in the game grow from the original 22 schools to 34 schools today. He has been instrumental in the growth and popularity of the game and oversees all the administrative jobs associated with the game. He is a 1974 graduate of Indiana State University. He served as a head coach for six years in the Vigo County Youth Football league and served one year as President. He also was the Freshmen football coach at Terre Haute North for four years.
Class of 2012
Dick Parker
Dick is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University where he earned three letters in football. He was an assistant coach at EIU upon his graduation with Coach Ralph Kohl. He started his high school career at Mohamet-Seymour High School where he coached football, basketball and served as Athletic Director. He then went on to the University of Illinois where he pursued his doctorate degree and helped coach the Uof I football team. He then became the head coach at North Central College for two years. He returned to high school football in 1972 as head coach of Marshall High School. During his 8 seasons at Marshall his teams won conference championships 5 times and his 1979 team went 11-1 losing their only game to the eventual state champions. Coach Parker also is credited with writing several articles that were published by the Athletic Journal.
Keith Sinclair
Keith recently retired from Casey-Westfield where he has served as football coach for 27 seasons. During this time his teams have won 236 games and appeared in the state championship game 4 times, winning the 1985 Illinois State Championship. Nine times during the regular season his teams have gone undefeated and recently has a 46 game win streak halted. He has also coached basketball and track for over 20 years. The football field at Casey-Westfield is named the “ Sinclair-Vidoni Field” after him and his long-time assistant Gene Vidoni. Hundreds of his players over the years have gone on to play college football with several going to Rose-Hulman including current quarterback Mitch Snyder who is an alum of WVFCA All-Star game. He is a 2007 inductee into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
Dan Vukovits
Dan is a graduate of Butler University and currently teaching in the Rockville School Corporation where he has been for over 30 years. He started his coaching career at Rockville as an assistant coach. As an assistant his teams were 25-17 and had a perfect 10-0 season in 1984 where they were also Conference Champions. He then became head coach in 1986 and his teams produced 85 victories. They won 2 sectional championships and 4 conference championships during this time. They were the Covered Bridge Champions 9 times during this period. He then moved on to Terre Haute North where he served as an assistant coach to Chris Barrett and then finally on to North Putnam as an assistant to Greg Barrett where their team finished State runner-ups in 2010. He has the distinction of working with two generations of the Barrett family, Jay Barrett and then his two sons.
Class of 2013
David "Pudge" Bennett
A native of Vermillion County, Indiana, “Pudge” as he is known to all his friends grew up playing football starting at Sacred Heart in 6th grade. He then went on to play at Clinton High School. There he played for two future WVFCA Hall of Fame coaches, Woody Rolloff and Red Faught. He went on to play college football and baseball and continued playing baseball until the age of 63. Early on in his baseball career he was chosen to play on a Southern Indiana/Illinois team that played against some “colored” league teams including the Kansas Monarchs that featured Satchel Paige. He started his coaching career at Schulte High School in 1962. He then went to Lowell High School but returned to Schulte in 1966. His first head coaching job was at Edinburgh High School where they defeated 5A schools Floyd Center and Center Grove. He returned to Terre Haute where he started as an assistant before becoming the head coach in 1979. His squad won the 1985 Sectional Championship. In 1986 he retired, for the first time. In 1993 he got back into coaching at Boonville as offensive coordinator. He then retired again, for the second time. In 2000 he moved to Corydon and helped develop the youth program there. He again unretired and helped coach the varsity until the end of the 2002 season. He retired, again. In 2010 he made his last appearance as coach with Corydon where they won the sectional, Regional and lost in the Semi-State. He says he’s retired again!
Nick Mourozis
Nick retired in 2003 after 23 seasons at DePauw University as the winningest coach in DePauw football history. It was also his 45th year coaching football. Coach Nick as he is affectionately called played college football at Miami of Ohio where he played quarterback. There he played for future Indiana Coach John Pont. He began his coaching career at Ohio University from 1959-1961 where the Bobcats won the small college national championship in 1960. He made a brief stop at Kettering Fairmont High School and then moved back into college coaching where he served as an assistant coach at Ball State (62-63), Ohio University (63-65), Indiana University (65-73) and then Northwestern (73-81). He then went to DePauw where he has served as head coach for 23 years. His teams have gone 133-82-4 ranking him at that time as one of the top ten winningest coaches in NCAA III history. He is a well published coach as well with several articles being published in the American Football Quarterly. He has been honored with the Distinguished American Award from the central Indiana chapter of the National Football Foundation and has been inducted into Miami’s Cradle of Coaches in 2003, which includes the likes of Paul Brown, Ara Parseghian, Woody Hayes and Weeb Ewbank.
Dick Ranard
Dick is a graduate of Union High School in Dugger, Indiana. He then served four years in the United States Marine Corps. He graduated from Purdue in 1972 and then started his coaching career under WVFCA Hall of Fame coach Brent Anderson at Clinton high school. In 1976 he started his head coaching career at Edgewood high school where he served until 1983. He then moved on to Bloomington North high school where he coached until 1988 when he moved back to the Wabash Valley as Head Coach at Own Valley high school. He retired from Owen Valley in 1994. His over-all coaching record was 123 wins, 65 losses and 1 tie. Probably the last tie game in the state of Indiana in 1988 when Bloomington North was playing Perry Meridian and the game was called at halftime 7-7 due to a terrible thunder storm. He is a recipient of four district coach of the year awards. His teams won several conference championships and one sectional championship. Dick was honored to have been selected to coach in the 1980 and 1993 Indiana North-South All-Star high school football game.
Class of 2014
Mick Roberts
A graduate of Paris High School and Indiana State University, Roberts has a record of 112-71, including a stellar 73-18 record at Casey-Westfield. Roberts, who was head coach at four schools — Palestine, Litchfield, Casey-Westfield, and Paris At Casey-Westfield, Roberts’ Warrior teams reached the state quarterfinals three years, were Sweet 16 six times, Final Four one time, and Elite Eight four times. His 1998 team finished the season 12-1 and lost to the eventual state champion Aledo. His Warrior teams lost three times to the eventual state champions including Central A&M. Roberts’ teams were known for their defense. His Apache defense played by the 1996 Casey Westfield team led the state in fewest points allowed. In fact, the Warriors allowed only three points all season. Casey-Westfield won the Little Illini Conference seven of the eight years he coached at Casey. Roberts credits his long time assistant at Casey-Westfield, Tom Monken, for playing an integral part of his success. “You don’t get an award like this without players willing to work and coaches who put out that extra preparation,” he said.
Rod Shafer
Former Terre Haute South football coach Rod Shafer was recently named the new head football coach at Warner University in Lake Wales, Fla. He coached at Terre Haute South in the mid-1980s during one of the school’s most successful runs, directing teams led by future NFL great Tony McGee, Jason Orton and the late Shawn Stephens. Shafer has 34 years of college and high school coaching experience to bring to the Royals family, 24 of which have come in the state of Florida. Overall, Shafer has compiled a 271-86 record as a head coach. Most recently, Shafer served as the head football coach at Lake Wales High School, a position he held since 2006. He also served as the Highlanders head coach from 1991-2001. In 2013, Shafer led the Highlanders to a 5A District 10 championship as well as a regional championship and a spot in the FHSAA state football semifinals. Prior to that, Shafer was instrumental in bringing NAIA football to the Sunshine State when he led Webber International University into their first season as an intercollegiate program in 2002. After competing at the club level in 2003, Shafer coached the Warriors in their first two seasons in 2004 and 2005 posting a 9-9 combined record. During his time as a Florida high school head coach, Shafer has been named the 3A and 4A Coach of the Year three times, Florida Coach of the Year runner-up once and was named the Florida Coach of the Year in the 1994-95 school year. Shafer graduated from Taylor University with a bachelor’s degree in English and also holds a master’s degree from Eastern Illinois in education administration. He has been married to his wife Susan for 39 years. They have two children, Ashley and Justin, along with two grandchildren.
Class of 2015
Rene Foli
Foli graduated in 1963 from Terre Haute Schulte and from Indiana State in 1967, coaching one season at Ambridge Area High School in Pennsylvania before becoming a graduate assistant for the Sycamores. He coached Sullivan to eight Tri-River Conference titles from 1979-1992, and also served as head coach at Knox and Clinton high schools. He coached at Rose-Hulman from 1994-1999 and returned to Clinton to be head coach at South Vermillion from 1999-2003.
Dan McGrath
McGrath played for four years at Indiana State from 1962-1965 and started his coaching career at West Vigo under Hall of Fame coach Bobby Clements. He then went to Gerstmeyer as head coach from 1969-71, and when Terre Haute South opened the following year he moved there as offensive coordinator and defensive line coach. He was a member of the staff for the school’s undefeated 1973 team. In 1978, he moved to Rose-Hulman as an assistant defensive line coach for seven years before returning to South in 1986 as defensive coordinator. He was promoted to head coach in 1991 and held that position through 1996.
Class of 2016
Chris Lyles
Coach Lyles graduated from Robinson High School and Eastern Illinois. He joined the Red Hill staff in the fall of 1991 and has been at the school for over 25 years. He became the defensive coordinator in 1993. During his tenure Red Hill has had two undefeated season and his teams have made the play-offs 12 times. During this time he has coached 8 All-State players.
Jim Lewis
Jim Lewis graduated and played at Gerstmeyer Tech in Terre Haute. What makes this noteworthy is Jim is legally blind. He started coaching football at St. Maragaret Mary in Terre Haute and then went on to coach in the Vigo County Youth Football League. He won the first outright league championship in 1970. Jim then went on to serve as league President from 1986 -2002 and then again from 2004-2007. During his tenure literally thousands of kids played in the league including future NFL players Anthony Thompson and Tony McGee.
Jim Mann
Jim Mann was the Athletic Director for 30 years at West Vigo High School beginning in 1969 and ending in 1999. West Vigo had 6 boys' sports in 1969 and 19 sports for boys & girls in 1999. West Vigo enjoyed a large participation in athletics by its students in the 70's, 80's & 90's. The athletes and coaches worked very hard to make West Vigo as competitive as possible. The students took a lot of pride in the West Vigo Athletic Program. Jim was rewarded in 2011 by having the West Vigo Gym named the Jim Mann Green Dome.
Class of 2017
Don Smith
Don Smith is being inducted tonight in recognition of his initial support and belief in the WVFCA All-Star game. Don was the retired President of First Financial Bank and it was his, Norm Lowery’s and First Financial’s initial commitment to support the game that made tonight possible. They bought into an idea on paper and help make it come to life. He was always present at the early games and had a close friendship with many of the inaugural inductees to the Hall of Fame. His, and First Financials, presence is felt throughout the Wabash Valley in support of high school athletics. Don recently passed away and a boxed frame jersey to honor his induction will be hung in the Hall of Fame wing at the Springhill Branch of First Financial Bank.
Jason Pensky
Jason Pensky was the long time Sports Director at WTWO. He started at the station in 1993 and left in 2015 to join his wife and two children in South Bend. Jason was the face of local high school sports for the years he was here. He was present at almost all of the Wabash Valley’s best moments including state championships and other great tournament wins. He had a special relationship with the young athletes that competed and not only reported wins and losses, but told the viewers great stories about the young men and women that competed. He is being inducted tonight not only because of his tenure at WTWO but also because he was vital to the initial success of the WVFCA All-Star game. He came on board day one with pro- motional ideas and in fact he helped set the boundaries of what now constitutes the WVFCA. He worked to get a couple of the early games broadcast live on WTWO. He and his wife Leanne live in South Bend with their two children.
Scott Duncan
Scott was head football coach at Rose-Hulman from 1986- 1998. Scott ranks second on Rose-Hulman’s career list for football wins (69) and a winning percentage of .531. His first three teams finished with a combined record of 25-5, the best three-year stretch in school history. He coached teams to CAC championships in 1986 and 1988. During his tenure he coached five players to All-American status. He then also assumed the role as Athletic Director in 1991 and as AD co-ordinated the addition of women’s sports at Rose-Hulman. He also oversaw the renovation of Cook Stadium, Rose-Hulman’s football field. Scott is a graduate of Northwestern University and received Masters degrees from DePauw University and Indiana Wesleyan University. Today Scott is at First Financial Ban and he and his wife Mary live in Terre Haute. They have three adult children: Patrick, Christopher and Christine.
Class of 2018
Tim Nolen
Wherever Tim Nolen coached, football success followed right behind. Over the course of his 40 years of coaching, he led Villa Grove, Mount Zion and Robinson to a conference championship. But after 10 seasons at Robinson, Nolen decided recently to resign from his position as football coach. A 1974 RHS graduate, Nolen has been a head coach at the high school level for 31 years, with short stints as an assistant at the collegiate level for a few years mixed in. Nolen began as a head coach in 1982 at Newton, where he went 8-10 over two seasons. He then moved on to Villa Grove, where his teams went 31-19 over five years and earned three playoff berths. He then moved on to being defensive coordinator at Wittenburg University in Ohio (1989-92) and was an assistant at Eastern Illinois University (1992-93), before returning to the high-school ranks when he took the head coaching position at Mt. Zion in 1994. Nolen’s teams saw tremendous success in his 14 years (1994- 2007) coaching the Braves, as they went 84-57, including eight playoff appearances and five Apollo Conference championships. His best season was 2001, when they went 10-2 and were undefeated in Apollo Conference play. With a chance to return to his alma mater, Nolen took over at RHS in 2008. The Maroons reached the playoff s in his second season, which was the first playoff berth for RHS since 2002. Robinson then went on a run of four straight playoff berths from 2011-14, including a 10-2 season in 2014 that included a trip to the IHSA Class 3A Quarterfinals. Overall, the Maroons went 46-52 and earned fi ve trips to the playoff s in Nolen’s 10 seasons as head coach, with five total playoff appearances.
Class of 2019
Norm Lowery
President and CEO of First Financial Bank. First Financial was the original corporate sponsor of the game and has continued to be our title sponsor for the past 16 years. He is part of a class of four this year being inducted as the key pieces that helped the game get started as well as continuing to grow for the past 16 year.
David Patterson
David is the head of the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau and like First Financial has been an important sponsor of the game since it's inception. David and the THCVB are not only a sponsor but a key partner with ideas and help in marketing and improving the game experience each year.
Brent Compton
Brent is the owner of Pacesetters Sports and came on board year one with a commitment to be a partner with the game. Brent and Pacesetters have provided game uniforms and supplies for the game and are a key reason for the success and growth of the game.
Andy Amey
Andy is a sports writer with the Terre Haute Tribune Star. He was instrumental in providing initial support through the newspaper to get the game started and has continued to support the game for 16 years. He is also being recognized for his years of dedicated sports coverage of high school football throughout the Wabash Valley