Rickey Dale Tolley (January 6, 1940 – November 14, 1970) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

during the 1969 and 1970 seasons. He died in the 1970 plane crash that killed all of the crew and passengers, including most of the Marshall football team and coaching staff and several team boosters.

Early life and playing career

Tolley played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, baseball and football at

Mullens High School Mullens may refer to: * Mullens, West Virginia * B. J. Mullens (b. 1989), American basketball player * Bob Mullens (1922–1989), American basketball player * Nick Mullens (b. 1995), American football player * Willy Mullens Willy Mullens (4 October ...

Mullens, West Virginia Mullens is a city in Wyoming County, West Virginia. The population was 1,475 at the time of the 2020 census. Located in a valley along the Guyandotte River within a mountainous region of southern West Virginia, the town was nearly destroyed by f ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six regi ...

Coaching career

Tolley started his coaching career during the years in 1962 at John S. Battle High School in

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State S ...

as an assistant football coach for two years and then as an assistant

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

for another year. He then joined the football coaching staff at Ferrum Junior College for three years, one of which they won the

National Junior College National Junior College (NJC) is a government Junior college (Singapore), junior college located in Bukit Timah, Singapore. Established in 1969, it was the first government junior college in Singapore. NJC offers a two-year course for pre-univer ...

Championship. He then left to become the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

coach at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

in 1968. He joined Perry Moss's Marshall football staff as defensive line coach in early 1969 replacing Ken Cooper who resigned to coach in Florida He was interior line coach at the time of Moss's removal from the head coaching duties. Tolley became the interim head coach of Marshall just four days before the start of fall practice for the 1969 season. He started the season with over 40 players but through attrition, the number of players dropped to just 32 player after the team lost the first six games. The team was on its way to a collegiate record losing streak. Tolley was able to turn things around and managed to win three straight games against

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

(21–16),

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

(31–20) and

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

(38–7). The final game of the 1969 season was a loss against

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

(38–35) with the Bobcats scoring their winning touchdown with five seconds left. During the entire season Tolley was considered the "acting" head football coach. Tolley had expressed his desire to be the permanent head coach, but the university had not appointed a permanent athletic director and would name a head coach after the season was complete. Twenty-eight Marshall players had signed a petition and presented it to Governor Arch Moore asking that suspended head coach

Perry Moss Perry Lee Moss (August 4, 1926 – August 7, 2014) was an American football player, coach, and executive. Moss played tailback at the University of Tulsa and quarterback at Illinois during the 1940s. As a Tulsa tailback, he was on the Orange Bo ...

be named to the top spot. Newly appointed Athletic Director Charles Krautz announced Tolley's selection appointment to the permanent head coaching position on December 1, 1969. His appointment was a unanimous recommendation by a special selection committee submitted to

Donald Dedmon Donald Newton Dedmon (August 13, 1931 – February 13, 1998) was an American academic administrator and communications consultant. Early life and education Dedmon was born in Wright County, Missouri, and received his undergraduate degree ...

, executive vice president of the university, who made the final decision, in an absence of Roland Nelson, Marshall University president who was on vacation.''Charleston Daily Mail'', December 1, 1969, page 1 Tolley was killed in the Marshall football plane crash on November 14, 1970 along with members of his coaching staff and 37 of his football players.

In media

Tolley is depicted in the movie '' We Are Marshall'' by actor

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and honorable authority figures, he is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked ...

(uncredited). Patrick was 18 years older (when the movie was made) than Tolley (at death), causing Tolley to be portrayed in the film as middle-aged.

Personal life

Tolley was married to the former Mary Jane Edmundson of Charlottesville, Virginia from 1963 to his death. The couple had no children. Mary Jane Tolley later moved back to Virginia, where she taught English and creative writing for high school students. She never remarried, and is now retired and living an active life in Richmond. She can be seen in a final scene in the movie ''We Are Marshall'' with many people gathered around the university Memorial Water Fountain honoring and remembering the crash victims.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tolley, Rick 1940 births 1970 deaths American football centers American football linebackers Furman Paladins football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Virginia Cavaliers baseball coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football players Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches High school football coaches in Virginia Junior college football coaches in the United States People from McDowell County, West Virginia People from Mullens, West Virginia Coaches of American football from West Virginia Players of American football from West Virginia Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in West Virginia