Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1999
- Class:
- 1965
When Bob Pruett earned nine letters in three sports for Marshall in the early 1960s, little did anyone know that his contributions to the Thundering Herd were just beginning. Pruett, from Beckley, W.Va., was a standout on the football field, wrestling mat and track during his time as a Marshall student. As a wrestler, Pruett finished as high as third in the Mid-American Conference in the heavyweight classification in 1964. As an end for the Herd football team, he set a school record that would stand for 24 years with 193 receiving yards and both touchdowns in a 14-12 win over Buffalo in 1964, a season in which he received All-MAC honors. After his playing career was complete, Pruett became a coach, and after several years as a successful head coach on the high school level in Virginia, returned to his alma mater as an assistant for Sonny Randle from 1979-81, and went on to assistant duties at Wake Forest, Ole Miss, Tulane and Florida before replacing Jim Donnan as Marshall’s head coach in 1996.
Under Pruett, Marshall immediately went 15-0 and won the NCAA Division I-AA national championship and staked its claim as the best team in Division I-AA history by winning every game by at least two touchdowns and crushing defending champion Montana 49-29 in the title game. Pruett then led Marshall on its move up to Division I-A competition and a return to the Mid-American Conference by winning the 1997 league championship and playing in its first bowl game in 50 years. In 1998, Marshall won the second of what would become four straight MAC titles and won its first bowl game, defeating Louisville 48-29 in the Motor City Bowl in Pontiac, Mich. The 1999 Thundering Herd was even better, turning in an unbeaten 13-0 record, topping No. 25 Brigham Young in the Motor City Bowl and finishing with a school best No. 10 ranking in the final polls. By the time Pruett retired as Marshall’s head coach in the spring of 2005, he had amassed a 94-23 overall record – the most wins by any Thundering Herd football coach – including six conference titles, five bowl wins and the 1996 national championship. Pruett was twice named the MAC Coach of the Year (1997 and 1998) and was the Frank Leahy National Coach of the Year in 1996. Pruett was named the West Virginia College Coach of the Year for four consecutive years, 1996 through ‘99 and was inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. He was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.
