Hall of Fame
Richard Tosi was a standout athlete and six-time letterwinner in football and baseball at Coe College. Rich led the football team in yardage all three years of his varsity career. Playing quarterback, he was a co-captain and leading scorer on the 1964 Midwest Conference Championship team and scored twice in a 15-14 Homecoming win over Cornell. Rich was also an All-Conference honorable mention his sophomore and junior years. "Rich was a real leader on the field," head football coach Glenn Drahn said. "He had great judgment when to throw the ball and was a good runner, too. Rich was an underrated player who was exceptionally fine at faking the ball, especially on the counter bootleg." Coe's leading hitter in 1964 and 1965, Rich was a three-time All-Conference shortstop in baseball. He was named co-MVP his senior year and helped the Kohawks clinch the southern division crown in a doubleheader victory over Monmouth. Rich played semi-pro ball from 1964-66 for a Chicago Heights team, which won two Illinois championships and competed for a national championship. Rich later took his talents to the softball field where he joined the all-city team in Peoria, Ill., in 1982-83. After receiving his bachelor's degree in English history from Coe, Rich taught and assisted in coaching for the football, basketball and track teams at Hoopeston, Ill., before becoming a head varsity basketball coach. Rich's success was remarkable on and off the field. After coaching, he then moved into the food industry. As a sales professional, Rich was recognized as the William Tobin Award winner by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association, a repeat winner of the Pillsbury Director's Club Award, and also a winner of the Pillsbury Special Achievement Award. Currently, Rich serves as the senior director of sales in the U.S. and Canada for Archibald Brothers Fine Beverages in Deland, Fla. For his generous contributions to Coe College and the athletic program, we are privileged to welcome Richard Tosi to the Athletic Hall of Fame.
