Jim O'Hora, whom Joe Paterno refers to as "one of the
great people in Penn State athletic history," retires tomor
row from a coaching career at Penn State that began in
1946.
New pilot pleases Leafs' brass
TORONTO (AP) Roger Neilson never played professional
hockey but his years of coaching successes have paid off in a
contract to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National
Hockey League.
"When you look at players Neilson coached in junior hockey
who are in the NHL now, you see that they're excellent
technical players," Leafs captain Darryl Sittler said
yesterday after the club announced the appointment of
Neilson to replace Red Kelley, who was dismissed earlier this
month.
"Neilson has been one of the leading candidates for the job
all along," said club owner Harold Ballard. "We were very
impressed with the development of our young players under
his coaching last season in Dallas.
"Neilson has been a coach who has demanded discipline
from his players and he's been a teacher, both professionally
and in hockey. His reports on players in Dallas were the best
I've ever seen."
Neilson, a 43-year-old Toronto native who spends his
summers at a cottage near Peterborough, managed and
coached minor hockey and baseball teams since he was a
teenager.
He started as coach of the Peterborough club in the Ontario
Hockey Association major junior A series during the 1967-68
season and under his guidance the team never finished worse
I han third and once won the Ontario championship.
Some of the excellent technical players developed by
Neilson at Peterborough included Bob Gainey and Doug
Jarvis, now with the NHL Montreal Canadiens and Craig
Ramsay of the Buffalo Sabres.
Last season, Neilson coached the Dallas Black Hawks in the
Tickets remain for
3 home grid tilts
- Hark! There are a limited athletic business manager
number of tickets remaining 'Vilnala Meredith 'said.
for three, count 'em, three If you are interested in the
Penn State HOME football tickets, you should in great
games. haste send a check to the
Four of the seven scheduled Penn State Ticket Office, 237
home affairs have been of- Recreation Building,
ficially sold out, but tickets University Park, Pa. 16802.
are still available for Tickets are $8 each. Add a
Houston, Sept. 17, Utah State, buck on each ticket for
Oct. 8 and Miami, Oct. 29. mailing and handling charges
and make those checks
A lottery system was used payable to "The Penn
to determine who got tickets sylvania State University."
for the other home games but Tickets also remain for
since Houston, Miami and road games with Rutgers,
Utah State did not require as Sept. 2, Syracuse, Oct. 15,
many for their fans, some North Carolina State, Nov. 5,
tickets still are remaining, and Pittsburgh, Nov. 19.
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Looks back on 31 years of grid duty
O'Hora bids adieu to Lion coaching
By JOYCE TOMANA
Collegian Sports Writer
After 31 years, Jim O'Hora will retire
tomorrow from the Nittany Lion coaching
staff, his alma mater.
Since he joined the Penn State staff in 1946,
it has been the players that have made his
fondest memories. He has coached Lion All-
Americans Steve Suhey, Glenn Ressler, Mike
Reid, Randy Crowder and Mike Hartenstine.
Such talents as Rosey Grier, David Rowe,
Stew Barber, Charley Janerette, Andy
Stynchuka, John Nolan, Frank Ahrenhold
and Steve Smear were also under his
direction.
"I think that's what made coaching for me
the association with the great young
people," O'Hora says. "You enjoy the
associations with coaches and other people,
but the real joy for me was being around the
enthusiasm of the players. I couldn't wait to
get to work."
Central Hockey League, the farm team shared by Toronto and
the Chicago Black Hawks.
Neilson is a student of the game after the style of
Philadelphia Flyers Coach Fred Shero,.whom he admires.
"Roger read every available article about hockey," said Ed
Redmond, owner of the Peterborough junior club. "He was
devoted to a study about everything to do with the game. He
was a systematic student always alert for progressive
methods. His is the basic up-and-down hockey with emphasis
on top physical training."
"Look, if we hadn't hired him, you can bet some other NHL
team would have snapped him up," said Ballard, who
wrapped up contract talks with Neilson via a long-distance
telephone call to South Africa where the hew coach is on
vacation.
pt. Want
ado_
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iv"
Grades?
sue_
The Learning Center offers programs to help you
improve your study skills. Through the use of a
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those skills which help you do the following:
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o develop your own study system
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There is no cost to you for this service. For more in
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Telephone: 863-0271
O'Hora first arrived at Penn State as a
freshman in 1932. He played center under
coach Bob Higgins and earned three varsity
letters in 1933,1934, and 1935.
While studying for his master's degree in
physical education he joined Higgins on the
gridiron as a line coach in 1936. Eventually,
O'Hora would serve under three more Penn
State head coaches: Joe Bedenk, Rip Engle
and Joe Paterno. He was appointed assistant
head coach by Paterno in 1974.
"Jim has been a great football coach in
every sense," says Paterno. "He has been an
outstanding teacher, strategist and an
example for young people. On a personal
note,- he has been a confidante, a great
personal friend and a man whose opinion I
respect very much."
"It is hard to imagine that any man has
made a greater contribution to Penn State
athletics.
The Lions
have come a long way since the
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for Campanis Shoe Stare I have created this
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p the hope that you will let us cover your feet
and your toes.
We have been dyelpg to say this for just a short
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And decided this is the best way --- with real
Class and Style! - More exciting verses to
be continued in July kith issue. f
early seasons, and O'Hora has played a large
part in the program's growth.
"I never played or coached on a losing
team at Penn State," he said. "We had a
losing record when I came here as a fresh
man, but we didn't have any )osing seasons
the three years I played under Higgins and
we haven't had one since I've been
coaching."
The 1938 record of 3-4-1 was the last time
the Lions had a losing season. O'Hora recalls
how difficult those early years were.
"It was a down time for us," he reflects.
"Scholarships had been abolished in 1929 and
there was a feeling that the bottom had fallen
out of the football program. The coaches
were discouraged because there weren't any
blue chip athletes around."
He gives a great deal of credit for Penn
State's building of a consistantly highly
ranked squad to the increased alumni in
terest during his undergraduate days.
FRENCH
75
r THE INCREDIBLE SPECTACLE
rs OF MEN AND WAR!
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The Daily Collegian Wednesday, June 29,1977
"Bill Griffiths, Casey Jones and some
the other alumni got interested in bringi
football back to where it had been, he s.l:
"That was the start and each year it goi
little better."
Looking back, O'Hora has quite a list
unforgettable moments: the undefeated It
team which marked the return of sor
outstanding athletes to Penn State; the it
season when the Lions snapped back to
their final five games after a 1-4 start; a
the top-ranked teams of Paterno.
"That 1964 season really stands out .
O'Hora remembers. "We had some peor
who knew adversity, but came back to be,
good a team as there was in the country.
was thrilling and satisfying to be part of it.
"I know I'll miss something that
natural but the physical demands of LI
game today are great," he says. "It's
different game today. It takes more out of
individual to coach."