Hall of Fame
After years of frustration on the gridiron during the late 1920s and the 1930s, Norwich president Dr. John Thomas made a decision which altered the balance of power on New England college football fields for a brief, but exciting period. With a world war looming on the horizon, Dr. Thomas recognized the need to begin giving the young men at Norwich a winning attitude.
Accordingly, he systematically put together a winning program which catapulted Norwich among the elite football programs of the pre-war era in New England, brought many professional scouts up to Vermont, and sent the numerous young men who served their country during World War II off with a feeling of pride and accomplishment that they carried with them during the war years.
The first building block was newly-appointed Director of Athletics Major Don McCallister. McCallister was named head coach of the 1938 squad and he immediately brought in Stan Kech and Pete Fuhrman as assistants. Over a period of two years, he proceeded to assemble some of the finest high school players from Vermont, New Hampshire and neighboring states. By 1940, he was the head coach of a veritable football machine, perhaps the best football team ever to take the field in Norwich uniforms.
The 1940 team featured many individual stars, including Walt Domina '43 and Frank Liebel '43. The two players formed an awesome one-two offensive weapon. Domina led the nation in rushing yards and scoring, while Liebel led the nation in scoring for offensive ends. And they had lots of support from the likes of Ray Paquette '42, Brad Sibley '41, Carl and John Hughes '42, "Giant" Joe McCloskey '42, "Wild" Bill Dedrick '42, Andrew Stasio '42, Charles Miller '44, Christo Zoukis '44, and many more outstanding football players.
This exciting team outscored their opponents 207-69. They won seven games and suffered only one defeat, at the hands of Boston University. They had three shutouts and held six opponents to one touchdown or less. They had an umber of lopsided victories, including 40-0 over Hyanis, Mass. They defeated Middlebury 38-0 and UVM by the same score to win the Vermont State Championship.
It has been said that this group of young men changed the atmosphere at Norwich University forever. They were a proud and determined group. Most of the young men on the 1940 squad played on both sides of the ball, staying on the field for a full 60 minutes. The nucleus of this group went on the following year to hold Dartmouth, one of the most powerful teams in the nation, to a scoreless tie in the first half (though Dartmouth went on to win the game) and put together an incredible 59-0 win over UVM in what is probably the most display of dominance ever by a Norwich football team.
There are many things that can be said about the 1940 team. But perhaps the most important was that the young men accomplished what Dr. Thomas set out to do three years earlier. They made everyone associated with Norwich University hold their heads just a little higher.
