[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 115 (Wednesday, September 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1681]]
                         COMMENDING DICK STRAHM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL G. OXLEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 22, 2004

  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend to the attention of 
the U.S. House of Representatives the achievements of Dick Strahm, a 
great football coach, civic figure, and role model for our young 
people.
  Dick Strahm's accomplishments as the head football coach at the 
University of Findlay were formally recognized in August when he was 
inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame in 
South Bend, Indiana.
  Simply put, Dick Strahm is Findlay football. In his 24 years as head 
coach for the Findlay Oilers, he compiled a record of 183-64-5 that 
included four National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) 
championships. His fourth and final national title came in 1997 when 
the Oilers were a perfect 14-0. During one remarkable ten-year run, his 
teams won nine Hoosier-Buckeye Conference championships. The team's 
record in the 1990s was the best in the country for NAIA schools.
  Dick is a 12-time NAIA District 22 Coach of the Year and four-time 
National Coach of the Year. With his induction into the National 
Football Foundation Hall of Fame, he joins such coaching legends as 
Woody Hayes, Knute Rockne, and Amos Alonzo Stagg.
  But while my hometown of Findlay is proud of Dick Strahm's record on 
the football field, it has even greater respect for the influence that 
he has had on the lives of the young men in his program and in his 
community.
  Because they do not receive athletic scholarships, those who attend 
NAIA schools truly are students first and athletes second. Dick Strahm 
always recognized that. He insisted that his players be as diligent in 
the classroom as they were on the field. By teaching the importance of 
commitment, discipline, and perseverance, Dick Strahm has prepared 
countless young men to become successful businessmen, public servants, 
and husbands and fathers.
  Dick Strahm will be honored at a dinner at the University of Findlay 
on Saturday, September 25. Findlay continues to look to Coach Strahm 
for advice and guidance. We are glad that the nation now knows what 
we've known all along: our community is blessed to have such a great 
teacher and leader in our midst.

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