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| Photo by National Football Foundation/Ben Solomon |
Former Mount Union head coach and current athletic director Larry Kehres was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at the National Football Foundation awards banquet in New York City on Tuesday night.
Kehres, who coached the Purple Raiders to 332 wins and 11 Division III football national titles in 27 years, stepped down from the post following the 2012 season with a .929 winning percentage, highest among qualifying coaches at all levels of college football.
He spent his small amount of spotlight in the Tuesday morning news conference talking about anyone but himself, speaking instead about who he learned from.
"I think I had a good foundation in learning from a good coach (Ken Wable) who's in the audience today," said Kehres. "He taught us to plan and prepare thoroughly, and I served as an assistant for him for 11 years. And I think that foundation that makes you a good teacher in the clasroom also makes you a good coach."
He also spoke about Matt Campbell, and other former Purple Raiders currently coaching in NCAA Division I.
Kehres grew up just a few minutes north of Mount Union's campus in Diamond, Ohio, and graduated from Ravenna Southeast High School. He came to Mount Union, played quarterback on the football team and earned a business administration degree in 1971.
He served as a graduate assistant coach at Bowling Green State in 1971-72, earning a master's degree in health and physical education. In 1973, Kehres got his first head coaching job as the football coach at Johnstown Monroe High School in Johnstown, Ohio.
He returned to Mount Union the following year, spending the next 11 seasons as an assistant coach, serving mainly as the offensive coordinator before taking over as head coach prior to the 1986 season.
In 1985, he was named athletic director at Mount Union and held both positions from 1986 until stepping down as head football coach in 2012.
He and his wife, Linda, have three grown children -- Vince, Faith and Jan -- and seven grandchildren.
Larry Kehres as head football coach at Mount Union
- Overall Record: 332-24-3 (.929)
- OAC Record: 228-8-3
- Overall Home Record: 188-9-3
- Overall Road Record: 131-10
- Neutral Site: 11-5
- Playoff Record: 77-12
- 220 All-OAC First Team selections
- 260 All-American selections
- 23 Academic All-Americans
- 5 winners of the Gagliardi Trophy given to the top all-around football player in NCAA Division III
- 2 Academic All-Americans of the Year for Division III Football