SCSU Football Founder Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

The College Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony happens tonight in Atlanta and one of the people being honored is Jesse L. “Jess” Dow, the founder of the intercollegiate athletic program at Southern Connecticut State University and the university’s first football coach.

The National Football Foundation announced in May that he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame’s Class, according to SCSU.

The is the coach of the “only unbeaten-untied (9-0-0) team in Southern Connecticut State history,” according to the National Football Foundation.

The ceremony will showcase the careers of 24 of college football’s greatest legends, including Dow, according to a news release for the event.

“Jess Dow left an indelible legacy on the Southern Connecticut State University community over the span of four different decades in his roles as a coach, administrator and faculty member,” Director of Athletics Patricia Nicol said in May. “He set the foundation for sustained athletic excellence for our football program and the entire athletic department. I am extremely pleased that the National Football Foundation has selected him for this prestigious honor. It is certainly well-deserved for his many contributions to SCSU, to college football, and to college athletics on the whole.”

Dow coached the Owls for 18 years, between 19-48 and 1965 and had 16 winning seasons and
Southern’s Jess Dow Field was dedicated in 1988.

The Texas native played for the Philadelphia Eagles for three seasons before serving in World War II, according to Southern.

He died in 2003 at the age of 88, according to the National Football Foundation.

 

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