MANSFIELD, Pa. – Mansfield and Mountaineer Athletics mourn the passing of Hall of Fame head football coach Tom Elsasser.
Elsasser passed away on Sunday, May 7.
Inducted into the Mansfield Alumni-Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003, Elsasser served as the Mountaineer head football coach from 1983-1995. He has both the longest tenure as well as most wins of any coach in the Mountaineers 132-year football history.
Elsasser revived the football program in his first season, winning twice as many games as the previous year and the most victories in eight years. He went on to win a school record 48 games over his tenure including nine wins over nationally ranked opponents. His 1987 team was the first Mansfield team to be ranked in the NCAA Division II Top 20 Weekly Poll when the Mountaineers were ranked No. 20 in the country after the fourth week of the season.
The 1990 PSAC East Coach of the Year, Elsasser had a total of 54 players named to All-PSAC East honors a total of 83 times during his coaching career with many of them also earning preseason or postseason all-American honors. Four players signed professional contracts with NFL of CFL teams.
Elsasser and Jamie Butsko developed the university's athletic mentoring program in the late 1980's and, after retiring from coaching, Elsasser became the director of academic advising where he continued to serve Mansfield students.
This past August, Elsasser was honored as the 2022 John "Jay" Atkins Mountie Award winner at the football program's annual Butsko Breakfast. The award honors the courage and dignity of former Mountaineer standout offensive lineman Jay Atkins, who was diagnosed with MS.
A Mountie through and through, Elsasser continued to stay involved with the Mansfield football program in retirement, attending games, alumni golf outings, and events to bring together alumni and to support current student-athletes.
A Celebration of Life for Coach Elsasser will be held on Sunday, July 9 from 1-3 p.m. at North Manser Hall on Mansfield's campus.
Former Mountaineer men's basketball head coach and Hall of Famer, Tom Ackerman, remembers his friend and colleague with these words:
"I don't know if there are words that can adequately describe how entwined Tom Elsasser and Mansfield University were. There wasn't a single part of the school that Tom didn't have his hand in at one time or another.
"So many remember him simply as a successful football coach and will rightly point out the significant role he played in so many of his players' lives. What many didn't see, however, was how important it was to Tom that every area of the school strive for the same standard of excellence that he was working to achieve on the football field and how he tried to influence that excellence.
"Tom worked to get to know all the other coaches and served as both a sounding board and counselor to them. He was never too busy to attend other teams' games and took the time to get to know student-athletes from those teams. Many of them went to him for advice over the years, and he was always willing to work with them. He truly wanted everyone to succeed and played a major role in the coaching staff working so closely together. Some of the school's best and most successful coaches were active during Tom's coaching tenure, and he played a vital role in helping all of us achieve success.
"Tom saw himself as so much more than a coach, though. Over the years he served on a number of committees and encouraged other coaches to get on them. He felt that it was important to have a say in the direction of the university and took that responsibility very seriously, putting time and effort into his work on those committees.
"After leaving coaching, Tom joined the counseling department and started to play an even bigger role on campus, serving on a number of faculty committees and having even greater influence on many more student-athletes.
"Tom loved Mansfield University. Even after retiring, he tried to stay current with what was happening on campus and was invested the school's future.
"I recently had an opportunity to speak with Rod Kelchner, and he pointed out that one of the reasons for Tom's success was how much he cared about the school. Mansfield University has lost a true and loyal friend and supporter. Tom Elsasser was a standard bearer for the school."
