Hall of Fame
As a student-athlete, educator and coach, Fran Herron has left an indelible mark at California University.
Herron transferred to then-called California State Teachers College from Slippery Rock and was a blocking quarterback for the Vulcan football team from 1950 through 1952.
He paved the way for Elmo Natali to record the school’s first 1,000-yard rushing single-season in 1951 and helped the Vulcans win seven games and compete in the Third Annual Pythian Bowl. The Vulcans lost by a narrow 13-7 margin to heavily favored Lenoir-Rhyne in that game, which was contested at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina.
Cal’s Herron-led offense scored 20 ore more points in six of eight regular season games that included a 45-12 victory over Clarion and a 33-6 opening win over Edinboro.
Another victory that memorable season was a 26-7 triumph over West Liberty, who won the 1950 Pythian Bowl. Herron played under 2004 Cal U Hall of Fame inductee Ted Nemeth and was also a standout catcher on the Vulcan baseball team. Two other Cal U Hall of Fame running backs that benefited from Herron’s blocking were Don Maines (1996) and Duke O’Hara (1999).
“I ran up his back many times and he was the pivotal man in an offense that mostly ran tackle to tackle,” said Natali, whose 1,035 yards in nine games remained the school standard until 1999. “He was a quarterback but really a blocking back and on every play was at the apex of every point of attack. There’s no question he did a lot of work and did not receive nearly enough credit.”
Before attending college, Herron served in the U.S. Army where he trained soldiers for the Korean War. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Cal in 1953 and then a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburg in 1955.
Herron began his teaching career as a fifth-grade teacher at Blainesburg Elementary School; he also helped to coach California High School’s basketball and football teams. He then taught and coached in the Mount Lebanon School District from 1955 to 1960 before returning to his collegiate alma mater.
He taught at the old Noss Laboratory School on campus and was a member of the Elementary Education Department until his retirement in May 1982. He prepared aspiring teachers for elementary science; taught language arts, reading and study skills; and directed student teachers. He received emeritus professor status shortly after he retired.
Natali, who retired from Cal U in 1991 as vice president for student development and services, believed teaching was Herron’s passion first and foremost.
“His strong point really was teaching and he was a master teacher,” said Natali. “Fran Herron loved to teach whether it was in a classroom or the football field. He was truly one of the best teachers I ever saw and I can’t emphasize his passion for teaching enough. He was also a fine gentleman.”
On the football field, Herron served as the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator from 1960-69 and 1972-74, working under coaches Nemeth, Bill Hepner, and Natali. He helped Cal’s 1968 team win the PSAC co-championship, and the Vulcan offense scored 26 or more points in eight of the team’s nine games. Cal played PSAC-East rival East Stroudsburg to a 28-28 tie in the “State Game” at Booster Field in California.
From 1958 through 1968, Herron was part of a coaching staff that led the Vulcans to a 59-25-4 cumulative record for a .702 winning percentage. Innovative and ahead of his time, Herron diagrammed pictures during the game to show blocking schemes to the linemen. His brother, Carl Herron, was a star quarterback at Washington and Jefferson College and a 1997 inductee of the Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
Echoing Natali’s comments concerning Herron’s commitment to teaching was emeriti professor Dr. Gary Kennedy ’59, who taught at Cal U for 37 years and was the elementary education department’s chairman for 20 years before retiring in 1999. Kennedy was a member of Cal’s undefeated 1958 football team that is the honored team at this year’s Hall of Fame Banquet. While in high school. Kennedy was invited by Herron to occasionally sit in on his fifth grade class at Blainesburg. His involvement with Herron’s classes resulted in Kennedy changing his major from physics to elementary education.
“At first I was nervous but Fran had a way of making people feel comfortable,” Kennedy said. “He had a contagious smile and laugh that made you go right along with him. As a coach and teacher, he gave his best and was deemed justified in demanding the best. He knew how to communicate with young people. Mention Fran Herron to any former teammate, player he coached or student and you will always find a tone of fondness and respect for him.”
Originally from Marianna, PA, Herron was a multi-sport star at Trinity High School, where he graduated from in 1948. He passed away in 2001 and his wife and Cal alumna, cheerleader and longtime special education teacher, Marlene ‘62, still resides near Adamson Stadium. The couple’s four grown children are Mark, Steve, Laynee, and Amy. In Herron’s memory, the family recently initiated the Francis J. Herron Endowed Scholarship Fund. The induction into the school’s Hall of Fame certainly adds to Herron’s distinguished legacy.
“He would certainly be proud and all of us are certainly excited,” said Steve Herron, who resides in Deluth, GA. “Teaching people to learn something about anything was what was most important to him but as a kid growing up in the 1960s all I cared about then was football. Even though I did not go Cal I became a Vulcan fan forever. It gets ingrained and I still have Jeff Petrucci’s chinstrap from the 1968 championship game. I know Gary Kennedy pushed hard for my dad to receive this honor and I think he’s even more excited than us. This is a big deal for us.”
