Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame
Nolan*, Daniel
Daniel Nolan*
- Induction:
- 1996
- Class:
- 1958
Father Dan Nolan, a college division All-American selected to play in the 1957 North-South football game and signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1958, is regarded as one of Lehigh’s all-time greatest quarterbacks.
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During his three-year varsity career, he led the Engineers to 22 victories in 27 games, climaxed by an 8-1 record in his senior season of 1957. That year Lehigh also claimed the inaugural Lambert Cup, recognizing the best team in the east. Under Nolan's leadership Lehigh finished 7-2 in both the 1955 and 1956 campaigns.
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Playing in an era before the forward pass became a dominating Lehigh weapon, Nolan was still an excellent passer and quite possibly the best running quarterback Lehigh ever featured.
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His numbers while quarterbacking Lehigh, although good enough to allow him to rewrite the school record book at that time, have been broken chiefly because the game is played much differently today. Still, his statistics are impressive. He completed 142-of-298 aerials for 2,317 yards and 16 touchdowns. When rushing the ball, Nolan carried 263 times for a net of 720 yards and seven touchdowns. In all, Nolan piled up 3,037 yards of total offense in three years.
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An exceptional athlete, Nolan occasionally played baseball and basketball at the intercollegiate level, but did not letter in either sport.
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After a brief stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Nolan did graduate work at Carnegie Tech and then studied for the priesthood and became a Roman Catholic priest.
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Nolan went on to work at the Benedictine Priory in Savannah, Georgia and often preached at the St. Francis Church in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He passed away in 2013.
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During his three-year varsity career, he led the Engineers to 22 victories in 27 games, climaxed by an 8-1 record in his senior season of 1957. That year Lehigh also claimed the inaugural Lambert Cup, recognizing the best team in the east. Under Nolan's leadership Lehigh finished 7-2 in both the 1955 and 1956 campaigns.
Â
Playing in an era before the forward pass became a dominating Lehigh weapon, Nolan was still an excellent passer and quite possibly the best running quarterback Lehigh ever featured.
Â
His numbers while quarterbacking Lehigh, although good enough to allow him to rewrite the school record book at that time, have been broken chiefly because the game is played much differently today. Still, his statistics are impressive. He completed 142-of-298 aerials for 2,317 yards and 16 touchdowns. When rushing the ball, Nolan carried 263 times for a net of 720 yards and seven touchdowns. In all, Nolan piled up 3,037 yards of total offense in three years.
Â
An exceptional athlete, Nolan occasionally played baseball and basketball at the intercollegiate level, but did not letter in either sport.
Â
After a brief stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Nolan did graduate work at Carnegie Tech and then studied for the priesthood and became a Roman Catholic priest.
Â
Nolan went on to work at the Benedictine Priory in Savannah, Georgia and often preached at the St. Francis Church in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He passed away in 2013.
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