Book Description

Dick Farley planned to be the head coach of track and field, assistant football coach, and P.E. instructor at Williams College for a couple of years before moving on to higher levels of football and eventually become an assistant coach in the NFL.Farley had starred in both sports at Boston University (BU), where he earned the scholar athlete award and the top athletic honor. He was inducted into the Boston University Hall of Fame in 1982. He competed in 14 events for BU in track and was drafted as a safety by the San Diego Chargers, where he started for two years. A back injury ended Farley's Chargers career. What Farley learned early on at Williams is that he could not separate his love of football and track and field and he could not leave Williams College. He just could not dedicate himself to football 12 months a year. He encouraged all of his football players to play another sport or take a semester abroad or in some other manner avail of all that Williams had to offer academically. It was never about winning and losing for Dick Farley it was all about giving one's best every day.Farley is likely the only member of the College Football Hall of Fame who coached more college track and field (44 years) than he did football (32).When Farley took over the reins of the Williams football team in 1987 the Ephs lost their first three games, however, the Ephs rebounded to finish 4-4 and Farley began a streak of 128 consecutive games without back to back losses. Little wonder he was named to the ESPN List of the 150 Greatest Football Coaches in 2019. In 1989 Farley's football Ephs recorded the first perfect season in school history 8-0-0 and in his 17-year run as Eph head coach he recorded five perfect seasons and compiled a career record of 114-19-3, .849.Dick Farley will never leave Williams and Williamstown as he has secured a burial plot in the Williams College Cemetery.