Team News - Girardi, Killinger Nominated to HOF

West Chester alumnus Frank Girardi and legendary Golden Ram head coach Dr. W. Glenn Killinger appear on the 2016 ballot of the College Football Hall of Fame as divisional (non-FBS) coaches.

After graduating from West Chester in 1961, Girardi went on to coach at Jersey Shore High School from 1961-1968. In 1969, he started coaching at Lycoming College where he became head coach three years later. In 36 years as head coach at Lycoming, Girardi compiled a record of 257-97-4 and racked up 13 Middle Atlantic Conference titles and qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs 11 times, reaching the championship game in 1990 and 1997. At the time that he retired in 2007, he was the fifth winningest college football coach. Girardi has been inducted into the Killinger Hall of Fame, Lycoming Athletics Hall of Fame, West Branch Valley Hall of Fame, and the Pennsylvania State Sports Hall of Fame.

Dr. Killinger is already a member of the College Football Hall of Fame as a player at Penn State where he was a three sport star, winning nine varsity letters. As a halfback/quarterback, he led the Nittany Lions to undefeated seasons in 1920 and 1921, serving as captain his senior year and named a consensus All-American. He also captained the basketball team his senior year and won 30 games as a pitcher for the baseball team. He is West Chester's all-time winningest head coach with a record of 147-41-12 (.765) over 23 seasons from 1934-1959. Killinger served in the United States Navy from 1942-1945. During his tenure at the helm of the Golden Rams, he never suffered a losing season and led the team to three bowl victories: Burley Bowl in 1947 and 1948 and the Pretzel Bowl in 1951. West Chester also participated in the Cigar Bowl in 1947. In addition to West Chester, Killinger was the head football coach at Dickinson (1922), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1927-1931), and Moravian (1933), compiling a career record of 176-72-16. He served as an assistant coach at Penn State from 1923-1926. He also served as the head coach of West Chester's men's basketball team from 1935-1940 and 1945-1946 and the baseball team from 1967-1970.

The 2016 Class will be announced on January 8, 2016, three days prior to the College Football Playoff National Championship game, in Scottsdale, AZ.

2016 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot Released

Centre Daily Times - Nittany Lion duo on Hall of Fame ballot