Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Legend Bob Odell Part of Inaugural MAC Hall of Fame Class
5/2/2012 8:00:00 AM | Football
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
