'The Dover' never forgot his roots
He was a two-time All-American at Notre Dame and played in the NFL.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning Valley, Youngstown State University and football in general lost a great man Wednesday.
Bob Dove, "The Dover," passed away after a long illness. He was 85 years old.
Dove, a football star at South High who went on to be an All-American at Notre Dame and played nine seasons in the professional ranks, never forgot his roots.
From the time he retired from professional football in 1955 until his death, the Mahoning Valley and Youngstown in particular was his home.
Dove was a member of the YSU football coaching staff for 23 years and coached for the school's first four head coaches.
YSU's first head coach, Dwight "Dike" Beede, hired Dove out of Hiram College where he had been the head coach for seven seasons, in 1969.
Dove also coached under Rey Dempsey, Bill Narduzzi and Jim Tressel before retiring in 1991, right after the Penguins won their first national championship.
One of the greatest to play
Considered by many as one of the greatest football players to ever come out of this area, he ironically died on the day of the YSU Bob Dove Free Coaches Clinic which was held Wednesday at Stambaugh Stadium.
"I'm just so glad that I got to know Bob Dove because he's what this place is all about," said YSU football coach Jon Heacock Wednesday before practice.
"A lot of people around here were always looking for a way to get out of this area, but Bob Dove always found a way to come back," Heacock said.
"He was a great football player, a great coach and an even greater person. I know what he and his family have gone through these last few years and I know that he's in a much better place today," Heacock added.
Wathen close friend
Dan Wathen, YSU's head athletic trainer, knew Dove since joining the university in 1974.
"He's definitely one of the greatest persons this area has ever produced," Wathen said.
"He was the best player, best coach, best father, best grandfather, best story teller, best eater and best drinker that I've ever known," Wathen said.
Just how good a football player was Bob Dove?
"I don't think anybody around here will ever know just how good he was," said YSU athletic director Ron Strollo, who played for Dove during his playing career at YSU.
"You don't find a lot a film from those days to actually see him playing, but talking to people they will tell you he was a great one," Strollo said.
Earned many awards
Dove was a Vindicator All-City performer his senior season at South.
He was a two-time All-American at Notre Dame and was awarded the Rockne Trophy by The Washington, D.C. Touchdown Club his senior season as the nation's best lineman in 1942.
He played on two NFL championship teams with the Chicago Cardinals and was traded to the Detroit Lions where he played on two more championship teams and made the NFL's first-ever All-Pro teams. He retired from the NFL following the 1954 season.
In 1990 Street and Smith's magazine named its 50-year anniversary All-College team, in the magazine's existence since 1940.
Picked among best ever
Dove was chosen at defensive end on the second team. He was ranked behind Ted Hendricks of Miami and Hugh Green of Pittsburgh and ranked with Bubba Smith of Michigan State.
The "Dover" collected a lot of honors throughout his life including induction into the Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame in 1969, the YSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989, the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and twice was selected as the Penguin Club's Man of the Year in 1984 and 2000.
"I've had a love affair with this area all my life," Dove once said. "I've been fortunate enough to see many people from all walks of life, and quite frankly, none are bonded together as strong as those from this area."
Dove's "love of his life," his wife Jane, passed away in 1991.
"He's been going down hill ever since she died," said Wathen. "They were so close and so much alike."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
mollica@vindy.com