Hall of Fame
Though he prefers to credit his teammates and is an individual not concerned with individual statistics, Alan Sepsi was one of the finest running backs in Vulcan football history.
Sepsi transferred to Cal U from Notre Dame and played for the Vulcans from 1962 through 1964. He earned his bachelor’s degree in education in 1965 and his master’s of education in 1968.
On the football field, Sepsi was a three-time, first-team, all-conference selection who also received NAIA All-District honors once.
Aided by Sepsi’s effective running, Cal U won two-thirds of its games from 1962 through 1964, compiling season records of 5-1-1, 5-2, and 4-4-1 under head coach Bill Hepner.
From a statistical standpoint, Sepsi’s finest season was in 1963 when he gained over 600 rushing yards and averaged five yards per carry. One of many memorable games from that season was a 34-0 victory over Shippensburg when Sepsi ripped the Red Raiders for 171 yards. That was Cal’s second-highest single-game rushing total in school history at that time. Ironically, teammate Frank Johnson set the school rushing record with 233 yards in the 1963 season opening 44-21 win over Marietta. The gifted Sepsi also rushed for 121 yards in a tough 7-0 loss to Indiana in 1963. As a team, Indiana mustered only 116 rushing yards that day.
His own indifference to personal statistics, coupled with a lack of sophisticated statistical programs 40 years ago, have made the records and numbers from that time period nearly obsolete. However, Sepsi reflected the same thoughts as did his teammate and fellow 2002 Hall of Fame inductee Bob Lippencott, when asked to recall the glory football days of the early 1960s.
“If you say I gained those yards than I guess I did,” Sepsi said. “As I reflected back on my football days, I believe a large reason for our success was the large number of players that we had who left the area and then came back,” said Sepsi. “I initially went to Notre Dame and I think my own immaturity brought me back. But for whatever the reason we had a tough team full of local guys. We were a power-house.”
Sepsi helped the 1962 and 1963 Vulcan squads average 32 and 22.6 points per game respectively. In 23 games that Sepsi played in, Cal scored 20 or more points 13 times and 30 or more points seven times.
“I guess I would say that I was a straight-ahead running back,” Sepsi said. “Honestly we scored so many points that it did not matter who the running backs were. Nothing else mattered besides doing well as a team and we had many fine players. Basically all I had to was run.”
A 1960 graduate of Brashear High School (Brownsville), Sepsi grew up on the Cal U campus. His father, Andrew Sepsi, a longtime Cal U associate professor of biology, was also the Vulcan head baseball coach and an assistant football coach under Ted Nemeth from 1950 through 1960. Also a standout football player and scholastic coach, Andrew Sepsi was inducted into the Mid-Mon Valley Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.Despite several professional football teams, including the Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys, writing letters and showing interest, Alan Sepsi turned to teaching and coaching after his stellar playing career.
“Because of my father I spent practically everyday of my life on the California campus,” said Sepsi. “I remember watching the Steelers train here. My father was always in charge of something on campus and I grew up with him.”
Sepsi taught biology and health education while coaching football for over 30 years. He retired in 1995 after helping Colerain High School in Ohio establish itself as a perennial scholastic football power. One of the local schools that Sepsi taught at was Ringgold.
“It was always my intention to be a teacher and a coach,” said Sepsi. “I admire my father and my upbringing from both of my parents. Teaching and coaching are important and can be very rewarding.”
Sepsi and his wife, Hallie, reside in Oxford, Ohio, and are the parents of two grown children - Alan Jr., and Elizabeth.
Still quite active, Sepsi is the Golf Director at Oxford Country Club. He is also an associate member of the National Football League Alumni Association, and organizes an annual memorial golf tournament in honor of deceased NFL coaching great Weeb Ewbank.
Making his first trip back to the area since attending a high school reunion five years ago, Sepsi is pleased to be inducted into Cal U’s Hall of Fame. He thanked the efforts of many, including Dr. Paul Burd, Cal vice president of student development, and Wayne Miller and his athletic advancement team.
“I do feel good about this honor and I appreciate the efforts of people that tried to find information through microfilm and old clippings,” Sepsi said. “It has been a while since I have been on the campus. My last time here I was pointing out buildings and things to my family and realized there were more new buildings on campus that I did not know than the ones I remembered.”
Cal U is grateful to have one of its personal treasures return to his own stomping grounds tonight.
