Nov. 11, 2008

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Former Golden Eagle athletics director and coach, Roland Dale, and his wife, Teenie, will have a parlor in the Southern Miss Athletic Center dedicated in their name this Friday (Nov. 14) at 5 p.m.

Dale, who was inducted into the Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame on April 12, 1996, was one of the architects of the Southern Miss athletic program as both an assistant coach and as athletic director. His accomplishments and achievements are responsible for the success of the school's athletic program today.

"The accomplishments of Coach Dale during his tenure at the school are unquestioned," Southern Miss Director of Athletics Richard Giannini said. "He truly was a visionary and his proactive approach to running the department, and the hiring of several special coaches, has helped build the foundation for the program and the successes it enjoys today. This dedication is our way of saying thanks to Roland and Teenie, for their hard work and efforts over the years in their tireless efforts for this University."

In 1955, Southern Miss' Pie Vann recognized Dale's coaching abilities and hired him to be the school's line coach. Dale served in this position for two seasons and the school posted a record of 16-3-1 and earned an invitation to the Tangerine Bowl.

After a couple of years in private business, he returned to coaching at Tulane and then in 1960 went to Ole Miss as an assistant under the legendary Coach John Vaught, where he remained for 12 seasons, leaving to be head football coach at Southeastern Louisiana in 1972. It was from there he returned to Southern Miss in 1974 to become athletic director.

His arrival as athletic director at Southern Miss began when he was introduced at a press conference on January 29, 1974. A few days later he began his duties.

One of his accomplishments was the renovation to Roberts Stadium. It was underway when Dale first arrived, but under-funded. He helped oversee the project and was instrumental in securing the additional funds needed from the legislature that helped see the project through to completion. The larger facility was a key factor in helping to upgrade the schedule by getting more formidable opponents to come to Hattiesburg.

During his tenure as athletics director, Dale engineered the school's membership in the Metro Conference. The success enjoyed during those Metro Conference days was one of the key factors in Southern Miss' membership today in Conference USA.

Dale hired several outstanding Golden Eagle Hall of Fame coaches such as Bobby Collins in football, M.K. Turk in men's basketball, Kay James in women's basketball, Hill Denson in baseball and Marshall Bell in track and field.

The public is invited to this event.