Jim Dennison (1986) - Hall of Fame - University of Akron Athletics

Jim Dennison

Induction:
1986

1965-85
Coach
Football
‘68

This is the fifth sports hall of fame that Jim Dennison have been inducted—and all for good reason. He has excelled in many phases of his relatively young life. At UA he spent his first eight seasons as an assistant football coach to Hall of Famer Gordon Larson before being elevated to head coach in 1973. During his 13-year head coaching tenure, Dennison achieved several milestones. He became UA’s winningest football coach—compiling an 80-62-2 record. Along the way, he became the first football coach to: win 10 games, o win a post season game, to play for a national championship, to e named Ohio Coach of the Year and voted National Coach of the Year. All of those first came in the memorable 1976 season in which UA captured 10 to 13 games and finished NCAA II national runner-up. In addition, 1982 Dennsion was voted Ohio Valley Conference Co-Coach of the Year, and in 1985 he took his nationally ranked (10th) Zipp gridders to the NCAA IAA playoffs while compiling 8-4 campaign. During his 21 seasons at UA he recruited of coached 32 All-Americans, 18 All-OVC picks and three OVC Players of the Year. The 48-year old Dennison, a native of Medina County, has been honored as he 1977 Akron Dapper Dan Man of the Year and inducted into the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame, he College of Wooster Athletic Hall of Fame, the Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame, the a charter member of the Wadsworth Sports Hall of Fame. Presently associate director of athletics at UA, Dennison and his wife, Sue, have four children and two grandchildren and reside in Norton.