Jul 12, 2022 3 min read

W&J to honor Luckhardt at game

The Washington & Jefferson Department of Athletics and the National Football Foundation will partner to recognize former coach John Luckhardt during W&J’s Oct. 15 home game against Carnegie Mellon. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Cameron Stadium.

Luckhardt, who served as head coach at W&J from 1982-98, is one of 21 individuals who will be inducted as part of the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class.

“Coach Luckhardt’s induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in December will be a very special moment for Washington & Jefferson College and we want to recognize John for this achievement at the stadium in which his teams won so many games,” said athletic director Scott McGuiness. “We invite all of Coach Luckhardt’s former players and coaches to come celebrate his outstanding career and the success of one of NCAA Division III’s storied college football programs.”

Luckhardt turned two programs into perennial national contenders, winning an astounding 76.1 percent of his combined games at W&J and California University.

In 1982, Luckhardt took over a W&J program that had only produced four winning campaigns in the previous 17 seasons. By 1984, Luckhardt had turned the Presidents into a 9-2 team, winning the team’s first Presidents’ Athletic Conference title and earning the school’s first trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The program amassed winning records every season under his watch, culminating in 1998 with a 137-37-2 record.

Under Luckhardt, W&J won 13 PAC championships and made 11 appearances in the NCAA Playoffs, including two trips to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl (1992 and 1994). In 1992, he was named the AFCA National Coach of the Year.

The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class will officially be inducted during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6 at the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

In college football

Gary Moeller, who succeeded Bo Schembechler as Michigan’s coach and later led the Detroit Lions, died Monday. He was 81.

The University of Michigan announced his death, and no cause was provided.

Moeller was promoted from offensive coordinator to lead the Wolverines’ program in 1990 and was 44-13-3 over five seasons.

In the NHL

The Philadelphia Flyers placed forward Oskar Lindblom on waivers with the intent of buying out the final year of the 25-year-old cancer survivor’s contract.

General manager Chuck Fletcher called it a “very difficult decision” to free up salary cap space by cutting a player who recovered from being diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. The Flyers will donate $100,000 in Lindblom’s name to a Philadelphia organization that supports families impacted by cancer.

• Family brought Duncan Keith to Edmonton after a stellar run as the backbone of the Chicago Blackhawks’ defense.

And following a season with the Oilers, family is why Keith feels he’s in a good place to end his NHL career after 17 seasons, three Stanley Cups and two Norris Trophy awards as the league’s top defenseman.

Keith announced his retirement Tuesday, at times fighting back tears during a news conference as he thanked teammates, coaches and family members for helping him along the way of his Hall of Fame-caliber career.