Last night, it was announced that Lute Olson, died at the age of 85.  He had been in poor health following a stroke last year.

Olson played his college ball at Augsburg, a liberal arts college in Minnesota, and he would coach at the high school level from 1956 to 1969 before taking over the reins at Long Beach Community College. After four years there, and a year at Long Beach State, Olson won the coaching job at Iowa, where he won the Big Ten regular season in 1979, and was also the Big Ten Coach of the Year.  In 1980, Olson took Iowa to the Final Four, and was named the NABC Coach of the Year.

In 1983, Olson would leave the Hawkeyes for the Arizona Wildcats, and it was there where he truly became a coaching legend.  With the Wildcats, Olson won 11 Pac-10 regular season titles, four Pac-10 Tournaments, went to four Final Fours, and won the National Championship in 1997.

Olson had a career coaching record of 781-280 and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the family and friends of Lute Olson at this time.

This is interesting.

Recently, Larry Michael, 62, the voice of the Washington Football Team and Senior Vice President for years stepping down in those capacities.  As abrupt as it was, it became evident that it was due to his participation in allegations of sexual harassment that ran rampant among Washington executives. Michael was also a member of the 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Committee, but the key word here is “was”.

It is not known whether he was asked to leave the Hall of Fame Committee or quit on his own, but nevertheless he is gone, and Tony Dungy is in.

This is about as good an addition as you can get. Dungy is a Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach with a career record of 148-79, split between Tampa Bay and Indianapolis, the latter who he took to a Super Bowl Championship.  Following his coaching career, Dungy took on a position as an analyst for NBC.

Dungy is the third new member of the committee this year, joining fellow Hall of Famer, Bill Polian, and Lisa Salters.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives. Eventually, we are going to get to that of the Division I schools.  As such, it is news to us that Central Michigan has announced their Athletic Class of 2020.

The Class of 2020 comprises six new members, and right now, the tentative plan is to have a ceremony in 2021.

The six members are:

Sue Guevara, Women’s Basketball Coach:  Guevara was Michigan’s Head Coach from 1996 to 2003, and she would take over as the Head Coach for the Chippewas in 2007 until she retired last July.  She took Central Michigan to the Sweet Sixteen in 2018, and had an overall record of 215-151.  Guevara also led this team to two MAC Tournament wins.

Margo Jonker, Softball Coach:  Jonker was the Chippewas’ Head Coach for 31 years and had an overall record of 1,246-780-8. She took the school to 10 MAC Regular Season Championships and 11 MAC Tournament Championships.

Dan LeFevour, Football:  LeFevour was thee MAC MVP in 2009, and was also a two-time MAC Offensive Player of the Year.  Playing at Quarterback, LeFevour threw for 12,905 Passing Yards with 102 Touchdowns, and he would play professionally for Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Jacksonville in the NFL, and also Hamilton, Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg of the CFL.

Katie Simon, Gymnastics:  Simon won seven MAC Individual Titles, and helped the Chippewas win the 2010 MAC Title.

Joe Staley, Football:  Playing at Offensive Tackle, Staley was the Central Michigan Captain when they won their first Bowl Game in 2006.  He would go on to have a productive career in the NFL, where he was a five-time Pro Bowl Selection and played in two Super Bowls.

Tyler Stovall, Baseball:  Stovall was a Third Team All-American and the MAC Player of the Year in 2007.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the six new members of the Central Michigan Athletic Hall of Fame.

As part of the new structure for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, at least one Coach, one Senior and one Contributor will be nominated and pushed through the final round.  This will go for at least four years.  

Days earlier, we learned that Tom Flores and Drew Pearson were named the Coach and Senior Finalist respectively.  Today, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that scout, Bill Nunn will be moving forward as the Contributor Finalist.

Originally a journalist in the Pittsburgh area, Nunn openly lobbied Steelers’ owner, Dan Rooney, to look at the History Black Colleges to accumulate talent.  This was not a common place where teams would look, but rather than dismiss Nunn’s idea, he hired him to do exactly that.  

The Steelers became a powerhouse in the 1970s, and Nunn helped Pittsburgh draft HBCU players like Mel Blount, L.C. Greenwood, Ernie Holmes, Donnie Shell and John Stallworth.

Nunn was an Assistant Personnel Director from 1970-1987, and a Scout from 1987 to 2014.  He has six Super Bowls and was elected as an inaugural member to the Black College Hall of Fame.

This is not a lock for Nunn to enter Canton, but it definitely bodes well.