Denny Douds, East Stroudsburg University's record-setting football coach who retired in 2018, has been selected for induction for the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, October 29 in Reading, Pa.
Douds will be inducted alongside Laila Brock, Jim Cunningham, Albert Jacks, Stu Jackson, Dee Kanter, Dick LeBeau, Jerry Marks, Kelly Mazzante James Roth, Bobby Del Greco and Marty Schottenheimer this fall.
Douds, the all-time winningest coach in the history of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, posted a 264-204-3 record from 1974 to 2018.
He led the Warriors to nine PSAC championships, winning the State Game in 1975, 1978 and 1982, tying for the state championship in 1976, and adding PSAC East division titles in 1980, 1983, 1991, 2002 and 2003. ESU made four NCAA Division II Playoff appearances, coming in 1991, 2004, 2005 and 2009. The 2005 team won the school's only Northeast Regional championship.
The Indiana, Pa. native currently sits 21st in wins among college football coaches across all NCAA levels and ranks 10th in wins at a single institution. Douds reached numerous milestones for coaching success and longevity, and spent 56 seasons in the coaching profession – including 53 at ESU, 45 as head coach and eight as an assistant. He is one of 15 men to reach 40 seasons as head coach in college football history, the ninth to coach 40 years at one school, and the fifth to spend all of his 40-plus year career at the same institution.
Douds coached 471 career games, seventh-most in college football history behind only John Gagliardi, Eddie Robinson, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden and Pop Warner. He set the DII record for most games coached in 2011, surpassing Jim Malosky of Minnesota-Duluth (393 games).
He set the PSAC record for career wins in 2008 with a 44-41 (OT) victory over Shippensburg, his 213th career victory, surpassing Gene Carpenter of Millersville, and extended his record over the ensuing decade.
Douds' coaching career at ESU spanned 53 years and six decades since he took over as head coach in 1974 following eight years as an assistant coach. He has been part of 310 of the 492 wins in program history in his 53 seasons. As head coach, he mentored 24 Associated Press Little All-Americans, six AFCA All-Americans and six finalists for the Harlon Hill Award, including quarterback and his successor as ESU's head coach, Jimmy Terwilliger, who won the award in 2005.
After retiring from coaching, Douds has continued to serve as an assistant professor of sport management at ESU, and is also the athletics liaison for the ESU Foundation.
He was previously inducted into ESU's (1998), Slippery Rock University, Indiana County and Northeast Pennsylvania's Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Reading.About the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame
The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame was chartered in 1962. It is the only community-based Hall of Fame in the country and its present 30 Chartered Chapters serve more than 300 communities throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Each year the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame inducts area greats of yesteryear and endeavors to include athletes, administrators, coaches, officials, sports medicine and the sports media. The Chapters of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame also honors the scholastic, collegiate, community service and courageous athlete awards within those communities.
For more information on the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, visit their website at pasportshof.org.ABOUT THE PSAC
Headquartered in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference comprised of 18 institutions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The member institutions are Bloomsburg, California (Pa.), Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Gannon, Indiana (Pa.), Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Mercyhurst, Millersville, Pitt-Johnstown, Seton Hill, Shepherd, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester.
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