CANTON, Ohio – UW-Stevens Point Hall of Fame coach Eddie Kotal, who led the Pointers to conference championships in football, basketball, track and boxing, has been named a preliminary nominee for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
 
A standout player, coach and scout, Kotal has made his mark on the sports world. A member of the Green Bay Packers, Kotal played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Never weighing more than 170 pounds and never wearing headgear, Kotal tallied 10 touchdowns from 1925-1929 under head coach Curly Lambeau. In 1929, Kotal was recognized for playing a key role in Green Bay's first NFL Championship as the Packers beat the Chicago Bears 25-0.
 
As a prep athlete in Chicago Heights, Ill., Kotal was regarded as an all-time great of Bloom High School. He went on to play collegiately at Lawrence University in Appleton as well as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
 
After his retirement from the Packers, Kotal moved to the coaching ranks. He came to UW-Stevens Point in 1930 and as the head football compiled a 37-35-9 record in 11 seasons, winning conference championships in 1933, 1934 and 136. On the hardwood, Kotal's basketball teams posted a 133-49 record from 1930-42 and won titles in 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1942. In addition, he won conference titles in boxing and track & field.
 
Kotal coached many outstanding student-athletes in his time at UW-Stevens Point, but one story that stands out is that of Ted Fritsch. Fritsch, a Spencer, Wis., native, had never played high school football. But under Kotal's tutelage, not only did Fritsch become a star at UWSP, but also went on to play for the Green Bay Packers.
 
In 1942, Kotal returned to the Packers organization as a backfield coach and scout before becoming the chief scout for the Los Angeles Rams in 1946. In subsequent years, Kotal also assumed coaching responsibilities for the Rams as well.
 
According to materials distributed by the Rams, Kotal was noted as “one of the most astute judges of pro football material in the business” and was credited for finding stars such as Larry Brink, Paul “Tank” Younger, V.T. Smith and Bill Smyth. Years later, Ebony magazine labeled Kotal as a powerful influence in making football a racially integrated sport.
 
“…after integration, there was no great rush to scout black-college teams. Except for Eddie Kotal. He made friends with black college coaches and discovered that many black players possessed pro football potential.”
 
One of Kotal's recruits, Tank Younger, became the first African-American player to be signed by an NFL team in 1949 when he signed with the Los Angeles Rams.
 
Kotal passed away in 1973 at the age of 70. His legacy lives on, however, as Kotal has received numerous honors since his death and is one of 103 nominees for this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. The selection committee will choose 25 candidates who will be announced in mid-November.

The list of 25 semifinalists will be further reduced by a mail ballot to 15 modern-era finalists and will be announced in early January.

The Class of 2012 will be selected from the list of 17 finalists (15 modern-era and two senior nominees). The actual voting will be conducted at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee's annual meeting, which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, the day before Super Bowl XLVI. The election results will be announced that evening on NFL Network, live from the Super Bowl Media Center.

While there is no set number for any class, the selection process by-laws provide that between four and seven new members will be selected.

The preliminary list includes 71 players, 14 coaches and 18 contributors, including former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and longtime team owners Bud Adams, Jr., Jack Kent Cooke, Ed DeBartolo, Jr., and Art Modell.

The complete list of nominees can also be found at ProFootballHOF.com.