Mallory Men Bullet Points
To: Loyal Mallory Men
From: Andy Curtin
RE: Letters of Recommendation for Bill Mallory’s Candidacy for College Football Hall of Fame
My name is Andy Curtin. I created and ran the Legends Poll for 10 years from 2005 through 2014. We had 23 retired coaches participate over those years. Of this group 21 are in the HOF. Bill Mallory was a charter member and served all 10 years as a voter in the Legends Poll. The roster of Legends Poll coaches is stunning in its composition. Bobby Bowden, Tom Osborne, Frank Broyles, John Cooper, Fisher DeBerry, Bo Schembechler, Terry Donahue, Vince Dooley, Pat Dye, LaVell Edwards, Don James, Hayden Fry, John Ralston, Dick MacPherson, Don Nehlen, John Robinson, Bill Snyder, R.C. Slocum, Gene Stallings, George Welsh, Frank Kush, Bobby Ross…and Bill Mallory. Bobby Ross and Bill are the two non-HOF coaches.
Everyone of our Legends Poll coaches believe Bill Mallory belongs in the HOF. However, since 2010 no coach has been granted a waiver for eligibility from the 60% winning percentage minimum rule, despite the fact that there are 31 non-60% coaches in the HOF with over 200 coaches enshrined there. I have been lobbying for Bill for over 4 years now to have the National Football Foundation reinstate the waiver procedure. I believe we have our best chance now because I have created an Index called the Curtin Coach Index (CCI) which I have provided to you herewith. It awards points to coaches for playing Top 25, Top 10 and Top 5 teams and is then averaged by years of service. The coaches in the CCI besides Bill are all HOF members who coached contemporaneously with Bill.
As you can see from the CCI, Bill compares very favorably with his contemporaries. I’m hoping the CCI will open the eyes of the NFF as it demonstrates that there is more to being a HOF coach than winning 60% of your games. And, remember, if Bill had won just 9 more games over his 27-year career, he would be at 60%.
Besides the CCI I believe letters from the Mallory Men would go along way in helping Bill crack the club. I hope you will respond so that we can get 500 letters from his 4 schools. Please spread the word and get your teammates to get onboard the Bill Mallory HOF Train.
At present I do not have a target candidate at the NFF who I think should receive this onslaught of letters. I have two close friends on the NFF Board working on that problem right now. So, I am asking you to write a draft letter right now in support of Bill and hold on to it. Once I get you a name and address I will then ask you to fire those letters off ASAP to create a tsunami of support.
In drafting your letters can I suggest you read all the material I have sent to you first? And not to look like we are sending form letters I am providing a number of bullet points with ideas you can draw from to help you fashion your letters. I’d suggest each writer pick about 2 points and expound upon them. Finally, please add any of your personal experiences of how Bill helped you become a Mallory MAN . Anything you can add about Bill’s work off the field would be very helpful.
I saw your great support for Bill at his funeral so I know you will get this done in a fashion Bill would be proud of.
Here are the bullet points taken from my research.
• Look at Bill’s standing compared to HOF coaches in CCI. • Mention the recruiting restrictions Bill worked under at IU (see my explanation in notes). • Very first Big Ten coach to win back-to-back Coach of the Year honors voted on by the coaches. An accomplishment never achieved by Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler or Joe Paterno. • According to Richard Billingsley (former BCS Computer Pollster and college football historian) Bill faced arguably the toughest schedules in college football during his time at CU and IU. • Bill supported the game by being an active AFCA Board member. • Reverse 9 of Bill’s losses to wins and he is at 60%. • At IU (with historically mediocre football record) Bill is IU’s winningest coach and far outperforms the other 13 coaches who led IU from 1948 through 2017 (70 years). Bill’s IU record 47.3%. The other 13 have a 33.8% record. • This is important and needs to be emphasized by many of you. Bill had to rebuild 4 different programs that he inherited. No consideration to that fact is given by the NFF today in determining HOF eligibility. • Why is 60% so inviolate? Of the over 200 coaches in the HOF, 31 have been admitted with less than a 60% winning percentage. • Of the 31 non-60% coaches in the HOF, 18 of them coached at 3 or more schools (can we say REBUILD?). It seems the NFF used to grant an allowance for poor seasons during rebuilding years. Why shouldn’t Bill get that same consideration? • The College Football Playoff currently emphasizes that playoff teams need to play stronger schedules. So why isn’t Bill rewarded for doing that during his 18 years at CU & IU? • Bill won Coach of the Year honors twice in the Big Ten and twice in the MAC. • At IU from 1948 through 2017 Bill has more winning seasons (6) than the 13 other coaches combined (5) from that time span.