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LSU's Cannon, Ohio State's Cooper among Hall selections
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John Cooper, who attended Powell High School, was among the 15 former players and coaches elected Thursday to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Cooper went 192-84-6 with Tulsa, Arizona State and Ohio State.
Cooper is the second most successful coach in Ohio State history, trailing only Woody Hayes, who won 205 games during his 28 years with the Buckeyes. Cooper also has the third-longest coaching tenure at Ohio State behind Hayes and John W. Wilce (16).
Cooper's teams fared exceptionally well in conference play. The Buckeyes were 70-30-4 in the Big Ten, including a 47-16-1 mark the last eight years. His three Arizona State teams were 13-6-2 in the Pac-10 Conference and his eight Tulsa teams were 33-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference, giving him an all-time mark of 116-42-6 in league play.
Cooper coached nine teams to conference titles (including the 1993, ‘96 and ‘98 Ohio State teams) and another five to second-place finishes.
Also elected were Troy Aikman, Billy Cannon and Lou Holtz.
Aikman started his college career at Oklahoma, then transferred to UCLA. After two stellar seasons (1987-88) with the Bruins, he was drafted first overall by the Dallas Cowboys.
Holtz coached six schools to 249 victories in a career that spanned more than 30 years. He won a national title with Notre Dame in 1988.
Cannon played tailback for LSU from 1957-59, winning the Heisman Trophy his senior year.
The other 11 players chosen by the National Football Foundation's selection committee are Virginia offensive tackle Jim Dombrowski; Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald; Florida linebacker Wilber Marshall; Washington State running back Ruben Mayes; Arizona State guard Randall McDaniel; Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson; Wyoming tight end Jay Novacek; Texas Tech split end Dave Parks; Florida State nose guard Ron Simmons; Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas, and Army quarterback Arnold Tucker.
The latest class will be inducted at the NFF banquet in New York in December and enshrined in the summer of 2009 at the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
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Posted by ETorange on May 1, 2008 at 3:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Congratulations to Billy Cannon and Coach Cooper,but Billy will always be in Tennessee Vol football history for NOT scoring. CLASSIC !!!!!
Posted by murrayvol on May 1, 2008 at 3:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That's a good memory ETorange.
Posted by volaboard on May 1, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Billy Cannon became an orthodontist in Baton Rouge. In 1983 he was convicted of counterfeiting $100 bills. What a piece of work!
Posted by TommyJack on May 2, 2008 at 9:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
volaboard: true. Just think. If he had gone to Bama, he would've been convicted of counterfeiting $90 bills.
Posted by txsvol on May 2, 2008 at 2:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My first game to watch UT football was the 14-13 victory over Cannon and the LSU Tigers, who were coming off the 1958 National Championship. They had Pepsodent Paul Dietzel as coach, the Chinese Bandits, and the left side of our defense allowed Cannon's helmet to cross the goal line, but the ball, clutched against his chest, fell six inches short, right in front of me in Section XX. Nowadays, players are coached to extend the ball in short yardage situations, so I'm glad that Billy didn't know enough to do that. I'm also glad that "LSU had its Cannon, but the Cannon wasn't loaded!" (as was the drunk outside a Sweetwater gas station on the long but wonderful drive back to Chattanooga.) BTW, Cannon attended our dental school in Memphis while playing tight end for Houston and Oakland in the AFL. Wonder where he learned how to counterfeit--making false teeth? Go Vols! SAVol
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