Feb. 8, 2007
OXFORD, Ohio -- Throughout the sports world, Miami University is recognized as "The Cradle of Coaches" because of the number of coaching legends who began their careers on the Oxford campus. On February 10, at halftime of the Miami vs. Ball State men's basketball game, Miami will honor six people who, by virtue of their accomplishments, have been integral parts of this unique phenomenon in American sports history.
The 2006-07 class includes George Dales, Danny Hall, Bob Kappes, Dr. Stephen R. Strome, Randall Whitehead and, George Gwozdecky, who was inducted this past October as part of the Steve Cady Arena Dedication festivities.
Dales (`42) retired as Western Michigan's head track and cross country coach in 1970, after an impressive career. Dales guided the Broncos to NCAA Cross Country Championships in 1964 and 1965 and accumulated 12 Mid-American Conference titles in track and field and another eight in cross country. In his career at WMU, he produced 25 all-Americans -- 11 in track and 14 in cross country. His most notable athlete was Ira Murchison, a member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic Gold Medal winning 400-meter relay team. Murchison also captured the NCAA 100-yard dash title in 1958. Since his retirement, Dales has gone on to become the commissioner of the Central Collegiate Conference and served as the President of the International Track and Field Coaches Association.
Since graduating from Miami in 1977, Hall has been associated with winning; both as an assistant coach at Michigan and the head coach at Kent State and now Georgia Tech. In his first 13 years at Georgia Tech, Hall has posted a school-record 579 victories and a .700 winning percentage (579-248), leading the Yellow Jackets to 12 NCAA Regional appearances in 13 years, three College World Series appearances (1994, 2002, and 2006) and a combined seven Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament championships. Not only does Hall develop great teams, some of his players have gone on to impressive individual success as 22 players have earned all-American honors, 11 have been named Academic All-Americans, and another 10 have gone on to careers in the Major Leagues.
Kappes lettered in football from 1946-49 and learned from some of the best in Oxford. During his football career, he had the honor of playing for college coaching legends Sid Gillman, George Blackburn and Woody Hayes and helped the Red and White to their first MAC Championship in 1948. Following his time at Miami, Kappes followed his love of football by becoming an assistant coach at Western Hills High School in 1950. In 1958, Kappes moved on to Ohio University where he spent the remainder of his career, helping the Bobcats to a share of three MAC titles (1960, 1963, and 1968) and two bowl game appearances (Sun Bowl - 1962; Tangerine Bowl - 1968). He served as Ohio's interim head coach in 1978.
A former Miami basketball standout under Dick Shrider and later an assistant basketball coach for Tates Locke, Strome made his biggest contribution to the Red and White as it's head men's tennis coach from 1969-79. In his 11 years in Oxford, Strome guided the then-Redskins to seven MAC Championships and overall record of 167-64, a winning percentage of .723. At one point during the stretch, Miami ran off a 46-match conference winning streak. The five-time MAC Coach of the Year, Strome had 27 singles and 14 doubles champions. After Miami, Strome went on to head coaching stints at Louisiana State University (1979-82) and Duke (1982-91) before becoming the Director of Athletics for Capital University. From there he spent 10 years at the United State Military Academy coaching their men's team to a record of 178-97 and five Patriot League Championships.
Whitehead was an accomplished wrestler for Miami from 1963-66, earning three letters for the Red and White. Following his collegiate career, he spent the next 30 years giving back to the sport of wrestling. As a wrestling coach he coached nine individual state champions in Massachusetts, six New England Champions and one all-American. For his efforts he was named the Massachusetts Interscholastic Wrestling Coaches Association and Boston Globe Coach of the Year and was later inducted into the Massachusetts Wrestling Coach Hall of Fame.
Former Miami University and current University of Denver head ice hockey coach George Gwozdecky was inducted into the Cradle of Coaches Association over Homecoming weekend last October when his University of Denver hockey team visited Oxford for the 2006 Ice Breaker Invitational. Gwozdecky, who served as Miami's head coach for five seasons from 1989-94, was the first hockey coach to be enshrined into the group. He inherited a team that went 11-27-0 in 1988-89, the year prior to his arrival in Oxford, and in just four seasons he brought Miami its first Central Collegiate Hockey Association crown and took the Red and White to its first NCAA Tournament in 1992-93. For his efforts during that storied season, the 1978 graduate of the University of Wisconsin became the first Miami hockey coach to win the Spencer Penrose National Coach of the Year Award. In 20 seasons as a head coach, `Gwoz', as he is affectionately known in college hockey circles, has been behind the bench for 426 victories, 83 of which came with Miami. Since departing Miami for Denver at the beginning of the 1994-95 season, he has posted a 276-176-36 record over 12 seasons, including back-to-back National Championships in 2004 and 2005 and a second Spencer Penrose Award in 2005.
