John L. Toner (May 4, 1923 – September 23, 2014) 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 wi ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

(UConn) from 1966 to 1970 and as the school's

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

from 1969 to 1987. During his 18-year tenure as athletic director Toner also served in several roles with the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA), including as its president from 1983 to 1985. Toner was responsible for several momentous decisions in his time as athletic director at UConn, including UConn becoming a founding member of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

in 1979, as well as the hiring of future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

coaches

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an Italian-born American college basketball coach and, since 1985, the head coach of the University of Connecticut Connecticut Huskies women's basketball, Huskies women's basketball team. , he has le ...

and

Jim Calhoun James A. Calhoun (born May 10, 1942) is a longtime college basketball coach. He is best known for his tenure as head coach of the University of Connecticut (UConn) men's basketball team. His teams won three NCAA national championships (1999, 20 ...

. He also oversaw the funding and construction of Gampel Pavilion.

Personal life

Toner was born in 1923 in

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachus ...

. He died at the age of 91 in 2014.

Football coach

Toner became UConn's 21st head football coach in 1966. after having been the head football coach at

New Britain High School New Britain High School is a public high school in New Britain, Connecticut, United States, part of New Britain Public Schools. New Britain High School is one of the largest high schools in the state. Notable alumni * Anita Antoinette * Steve ...

in New Britain, CT. In five seasons under Toner the Huskies compiled a 20–24–3 record. Toner resigned as football coach at the end of the 1970 season to concentrate on his position as athletic director.

Athletic director

Toner became UConn's

in 1969, continuing a tradition of elevating someone from the football program to that position. He served in that position for 17 years until he resigned in 1987 except to oversee the construction of Gampel Pavilion.

Joining the Big East Conference

Toner was first approached about Connecticut becoming a founding member of the

in May 1979, but was uncertain. On May 26, UConn was given a 24-hour deadline to decide whether they would join. Toner, unable to reach the university president, unilaterally accepted the invitation.

NCAA

Toner served as president of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

from 1983 to 1985. During his tenure, he was involved in implementing Title IX in collegiate athletics, splitting college football into Divisions I-A and I-AA, and passing new freshman eligibility rules. He also was involved in

Herschel Walker Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia. ...

's leaving college early to join the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

Honors and awards

* In 1997, the National Football Foundation inaugurated its

John L. Toner Award The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

, with Toner as the first recipient. * On February 28, 2009, Toner was inducted as the 29th member of the UConn

Huskies of Honor Huskies of Honor is a recognition program sponsored by the University of Connecticut (UConn). Similar to a hall of fame, it honors the most significant figures in the history of the UConn Huskies—the university's athletic teams—espec ...

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toner, John 1923 births 2014 deaths American football quarterbacks Boston University Terriers football coaches Boston University Terriers football players Columbia Lions football coaches National Collegiate Athletic Association people UConn Huskies athletic directors UConn Huskies football coaches High school football coaches in Connecticut People from Bristol County, Massachusetts People from Nantucket, Massachusetts Coaches of American football from Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts