HIGHEST SEASON KICK RETURN AVERAGE (PUNT AND KICKOFF RETURNS COMBINED, 24.4 YARDS/RETURN)
Tolley turned his attention and focus to fundraising. He held many director and administrative positions over a five-year period and led the $9 million dollar Pride II capital campaign. Once again it was time for a change and Tolley left higher education for the corporate world. LabCorp, the second largest clinical laboratory in the world, recruited Tolley to serve as their associate vice president of training; later he was associate vice president of community and public affairs. In the latter position, Tolley established LabCorps’ matching gift and volunteer programs, and under his guidance in conjunction with the North Carolina Governor’s office, he also helped institute the statewide Drug Free School Zone program. He stayed with the company for twelve years before returning to Elon— where his heart was. Upon returning to Elon, Tolley jumped right back into fundraising as a major gifts officer and helped lead the College’s $15 million campaign for their new football stadium. With the completion of the campaign, Tolley moved into other fundraising positions where over a six-year period he increased the Elon Fund by 198% and bolstered the Elon Society (the University’s most premier giving society) membership from 678 to an impressive 904 members. Tolley officially retired from Elon in May 2010, upon which the University bestowed upon him the title of Head Football Coach Emeritus, the first in the school’s 120-year history to carry the name Coach Emeritus.
The Tolley’s favorite place in their backyard.
26 EC ALUMNI SUMMER 2011
Although retirement is supposed to be a time of leisure and often for enjoying travel and grandchildren, Tolley finds time to continue to serve his community. As the Town of Elon’s Mayor, he is the longest to serve in the position, now in his fourth term. He is a passionate volunteer and community leader, always taking time to listen to citizen’s concerns and do what he can to make the lives of those in his community better. Tolley’s volunteer services extend to various foundations and boards, including founding trustee of Be Active North Carolina, former president and founding director of the Alamance County Community Foundation, and on two occasions chairperson of Citizens for Schools. Tolley has been recognized for his arduous work and contributions to athletics, education, his community, the state, and region—by national, regional, and state organizations, as well as by East Carolina University. He has received the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Dwight D. Eisenhower Award, the Eastman Kodak National Collegiate Football Championship Award, American Football Coaches Assocation Lifetime Membership Award, and is a member of several Halls of Fame including the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame and the National Assocation of Intercollegiate Athletics Football Hall of Fame. Tolley is a nationally renowned author and has published six books about football, including The American Football Coaches Guidebook to Championship Football Drills and 101 Winning Football Drills from the Legends of the Game. “I enjoy writing,” said Tolley. “I credit Dr. Gail Hennis, who directed my doctoral studies at UNC-G, for my love of research and writing. She was always most encouraging.” Tolley’s books have sold in all fifty states as well as in twenty-five countries. Grant Teaff, executive director of the 11,000 member
Tolley running Relay for ECC.
American Football Coaches Association said of Tolley’s authorship, “Coach Tolley is unquestionably one of the foremost authors of technical and instructional books in the history of football.” His story “The Legend of the East Carolina Pirates” is a permanent fixture on the ECU Athletics web page. Tolley’s love for sports influences many aspects of his life, and no surprise, was the topic of his doctoral dissertation, which was about the history of men’s athletics at Elon. A proud family man, Tolley says his fondest memory of East Carolina is meeting his bride. The couple has two sons Jay and Justin, two grandchildren, and another on the way. His wife says he’s a very happy person who is giving, has integrity, and cares about others. That includes his deep love for East Carolina. The Tolleys are Centennial Pirate members of the Alumni Association, members of the Chancellor’s Society and Pirate Club, endowed the Dr. Ray Martinez Teaching Excellence Award, and were major contributors to the Clarence Stasavich Football Suite in the Ward Sport Medicine Building and to the Henry Van Sant Athletics Scholarship. They also established the Jerry and Joanie Tolley Scholarship in honor of their East Carolina teacher and mentor Dr. William B. Martin. What’s next for this man who wears so many hats? “I think that the next thing I’ll do is write the history of Elon football,” Tolley said. If the many accolades legendary football coaches like Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden have given his previous books are any sign of how good his next publication will be, Tolley’s Elon football history book will be one for the ages—just as he is.