Statue of Legendary Coach Duvall Dedicated

Fighting Falcon fans in attendance for the 2014 Fairmont State football season opener against Notre Dame College on Thursday, Sept. 4, witnessed the dedication of the Harold S. “Deacon” Duvall statue that will be permanently displayed at Duvall-Rosier Field.

Watching over the turf from under the scoreboard, the 400-pound, larger-than-life statue stands atop a 2-ton granite base with an inscription describing the legendary coach’s place in Fairmont State history and his words: “Among my lifetime goals none is more important to me than preparing my students for success in life.”

Former players Steve Lipscomb, Kenny Miller, Gary Moyer and Paul Clovis presented the statue of Coach Duvall to the University to honor the accomplishments of their former coach and mentor.

“These four gentlemen are representing all the former players that played under Coach Duvall during his career here,” said Will Armistead, President of the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc. “All are great players and have great stories to tell.”

A member of the Class of 1965, Lipscomb played at Fairmont from 1961 to 1964 and was a four-year letterman, 1962 leading scorer, first team All-WVIAC defensive back and was named 2007 Letterman of Distinction by the Fairmont State Athletic Association. Miller, also a member of the Class of 1965, played for Fairmont State from 1961 to 1963; he was quarterback and defensive back, was named Outstanding Player in the 1962 Homecoming game and also played basketball. A member of the class of 1964, Moyer played for Fairmont State in 1959 and 1961 through 1963, was a four-year letterman and earned WVIAC All-Conference Honors on offense in 1962. Clovis, a member of the Class of 1963, played for Fairmont State in 1963 and 1964 as a lineman; he later became Athletic Director and coached football and cross country at Hampshire High School in Romney.

Sculptor Matt Glenn from Provo, Utah, said he welcomed the opportunity to celebrate a Fairmont State legend.

“I talked with a lot of former players and comrades of Coach Duvall, and everyone has just nothing but positive things to say about what a wonderful coach he was and what an inspiration he was to all the young men that he worked with,” Glenn said. “It was just a great opportunity to work with the community and the players. It was a dream come true.”

FSU President Maria Rose hosted a social at the Shaw House before the game to recognize the former players and their mentor. Although Coach Duvall was unable to attend the event due to health concerns, his wife Joan participated on his behalf.

“Thanks to all of you for coming this evening, what a great honor it is that we are able to recognize Coach Deacon Duvall,” Rose told those gathered. “We are pleased tonight to have his lovely wife Joan here with us. We are sorry that Deacon couldn’t be here. We know that he is in our thoughts and prayers tonight.”

During the social, the four former players presented Mrs. Duvall with a replica of the statue.

“I wanted to thank all of you on behalf of Deacon. He has been humbled about this. In fact he kept saying ‘I don’t deserve this. My players deserve this. People probably will be mad at me; they think I shouldn’t have this honor, they should have it.’ He really believes that. He has been a great coach. He didn’t get blue chip players because he had no recruiting; he had no scholarships; only two coaches were all he ever had. He still won games,” Mrs. Duvall said.

“What he did was he had all kinds of strategy and kept a lot of secrets up his sleeve and knew right when to pull them, didn’t he? He would tell you about them if he were here. It’s really, really a great honor. And these guys, they deserve the very best. He didn’t recruit blue chips, but he made blue chips out of them.”

From the social, those gathered moved over to Duvall-Rosier Field to see the statue and join in the official dedication during the few minutes before the kickoff of the game. Video of the proceedings could be seen on the scoreboard. To allow the large crowed in the stands to hear the ceremony, announcer Bob Mild highlighted Coach Duvall’s many accomplishments.

A 1939 graduate of Fairmont State, Duvall was the head football coach at Fairmont State from 1952 to 1971 and compiled a record of 125-42-3 on the FSU sideline. Coach Duvall had the highest winning-percentage of any coach in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) history (73.5 percent).

Duvall also led Fairmont State to the 1967 NAIA National Championship and two national playoff appearances. Fairmont State was the first team in the state of West Virginia to win a National Championship in football and no other WVIAC school won a National Championship in football before the league split in 2013. In addition, Duvall led the Falcons to 15 winning seasons, eight WVIAC Championships and four undefeated seasons during his career.

To end the ceremony, Fairmont Mayor Ron Straight presented Mrs. Duvall with a proclamation naming Sept. 4 as Harold S. “Deacon” Duvall Day in Fairmont because the coach is an icon in his home community and the State of West Virginia.

The proclamation stated that : “Harold ‘Deacon’ Duvall may well be one of the greatest football coaches of the 20th century. He built one of the greatest small-college football programs ever at a Division II school, winning a national championship and later to become a member of the West Virginia Football Hall of Fame.”

 

About the photo:

The City of Fairmont, Fairmont State University and generations of Fighting Falcon fans came together on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Duvall-Rosier Field for the dedication of a statue in honor of legendary FSU Coach Harold S. “Deacon” Duvall. From left to right are Paul Clovis, Class of ‘63; Matt Glenn, sculptor; Will Armistead, President of the FSU Foundation, Inc.; Ron Strait, Mayor of the City of Fairmont; Steve Lipscomb, Class of ‘65; Dr. Maria Rose, FSU President; Joan Duvall, wife of Deacon Duvall; Kenny Miller, Class of ‘65; Gary Moyer, Class of ‘64; and Tim McNeely, FSU Athletic Director.

Deacon DuvallJoan DuvallFootballMatt GlennSteve LipscombPaul ClovisGary MoyerKenny MillerMaria RoseWill ArmisteadRon Straight