View the entire 60th Anniversary PAC Football Team

GREENVILLE, Pa. - Four members of the Allegheny College Athletic Hall of Fame have been named to the Presidents' Athletic Conference's 60th Anniversary All-Time Football Team.

Mike Ganey '70, Ed Pinkham '75, Tibor Solymosi '77, and current Gator head coach Mark Matlak '78 were selected to the team, which has a total of 60 members from 15 schools (10 current/five former) that have been members of the PAC.  Allegheny College athletic teams were full members of the PAC from 1959-84, before becoming a charter member of the North Coast Athletic Conference.  

More than 40 years after graduating, Ganey's name can still be found all over the Allegheny record books.  A four-time, first team All-PAC selection and 1969 Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American quarterback, Ganey graduated as the program's career leader in every passing category, including yards (4,564), completions (342), and touchdowns (43), with all three marks standing as school record for 25 or more years.  During his 1969 All-American campaign, he fired 17 touchdown passes, which remained a school record until 1966, while he also ran for 352 yards and six touchdowns on the season.  During his four-year career, Ganey led the Gators to a 21-9 overall record, and a 16-6 PAC mark, highlighted by the Gators' undefeated (6-0) 1968 PAC championship season.  Ganey was inducted into the Allegheny Hall of Fame in 1982. 

Ed Pinkham was a dynamic player both on defense and special teams for the Gators from 1971-1974. Defensively, he posted 14 career interceptions, still good for second all-time in program history, including a PAC-leading six picks as a freshman in 1971. An explosive return man, Pinkham averaged 22.9 yards per kick return, with two touchdowns, and 13.8 yards per return with three touchdowns on punt returns. His 81-yard punt return for a touchdown in a 1971 win over Case still stands as the third-longest in program history, while his 91-yard kick return score in 1974 is good for sixth-longest in team history. As a senior in 1974, he earned second team Associated Press (AP) All-America honors after tallying two interceptions and 31 tackles, while ranking in the top-10 in the NCAA in both kick return (25.2) and punt return (12.8) average. That season, he helped spearhead a Gator unit that ranked eighth nationally in total defense (181.4 yards/game), as the Gators finished 7-1 overall and captured the PAC title. For his career, Pinkham was a four-time All-PAC selection, two-time All-Pennsylvania selection, and two-time Pittsburgh Press All-District pick. After graduating he entered the coaching ranks, and following stints as the defensive coordinator at Minnesota and Rutgers, he is currently the defensive coordinator at Western Michigan. He was inducted into the Allegheny Hall of Fame in 1988.

A three-time All-PAC performer and two-time Honorable Mention Associated Press (AP) All-American, 1989 Allegheny Hall of Fame selection Tibor Solymosi remained the Gators' career record holder in every major rushing category for nearly two decades after graduating. In just 33 career games, Solymosi ran for 3,257 yards and 35 touchdowns, forming one of the nation's leading rushing attacks for three seasons alongside another Allegheny Hall of Famer in Matlak.. Solymosi led the Gators in rushing in all four years, and over his final three seasons, averaged 110 yards and 1.3 touchdowns per game. After gaining 658 yards with seven touchdowns as a freshman in 1973, Solymosi burst onto the scene with an 871-yard, 9-touchdown performance the next season, when he earned his first of three straight All-PAC accolades. He earned his first All-American nod in 1975 after gaining 853 yards with a team-best nine touchdowns, before closing out his career in 1975 with 875 yards and 10 touchdowns to earn his second consecutive All-American accolade. While he enjoyed immense individual success, the Gators were also quite successful as a team, posting a combined 24-8-2 overall record, and 22-5-1 PAC mark.

Matlak, inducted into the Allegheny Hall of Fame in 1989, put together a storied four-year career on the gridiron for the Gators from 1974-77. A three-time All-PAC selection, Matlak ran for 2,382 yards and 28 touchdowns during his 31-game career, while hauling in 28 catches for 377 yards and four scores, as he shared the backfield for three seasons with two-time All-American Solymosi. As a freshman in 1974, Matlak led the Gators in scoring with 10 touchdowns (seven rushing/three receiving) in eight games, averaging 6.4 yards on 43 carries, and 16.0 yards on 16 receptions. In 1975, the sophomore gained 690 yards on 123 carries with six touchdowns to earn his first of three first team All-PAC laurels, before gaining 673 yards and scoring seven touchdowns in eight games as a junior in 1976. In 1977, he was named the PAC Offensive Player of the Year, running for 744 yards and eight touchdowns in just seven games. Named the Gators' MVP in all four seasons, Matlak was also a four-year starter and all-conference performer in baseball. He was named the Gators' head football coach in 2002, and has amassed 61 career wins, good for second in team history.

The PAC's 60^th anniversary football team was announced at PAC Football Media Day on August 6th at Saint Vincent College.  A total of 16 schools are participating in the 60th anniversary celebration, including all 10 of the PAC's current members, and past league members who were affiliated with the conference for over 10 years.  Nominations were submitted by each school's sports information department, while sport-specific advisory committees of 5-6 past and present PAC coaches and administrators determined student-athletes who were recognized.