Falcon head football Coach John O'Grady will be inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame on April 5.

The WFCA inducts those who are outstanding achievers at the college level. Selection criteria is based on record, longevity, and service to WFCA. It is a prestigious honor and the most recognized in Wisconsin at all levels of the football community.

"It is a real honor to be selected to the WFCA Hall of Fame," said O'Grady. "With names like Mike Farley, Jerome Fishbain, Ted Thompson and Don Page, to name a few, it is quite humbling. The WFCA recognizes not only those with great records but also those who have devoted a great deal of time and energy to the great sport of football. I think I fit the later category. From the first time I put pads on in the sixth grade at St. Jerome grade school in Chicago, football has been my passion. My world is filled with former players and coaching colleagues. They have all helped me to look at my profession as a vocation rather than a job. I am one of the lucky ones who rarely isn't excited to get to work in the morning."

Farley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994, Fishbain in 1995, Thompson in 2003 and Page in 2004.

The Falcons have finished 3-7 in each of the last three seasons and O'Grady is determined to return the football program to the success it enjoyed in the past.

O'Grady finished his 19th year as UWRF head coach last fall. He has a 98-89-3 overall record and his teams are 70-63-3 in WIAC games.

O'Grady stands second in all-time football wins at UWRF. Among WIAC active coaches he is second in wins and is seventh in all-time wins of all WIAC coaches. In WIAC play O'Grady has led the Falcons to one first place finish (1998), three second place finishes (1994, 1995, 1996) and five third place finishes (1989, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001). He has had winning seasons in 10 of his 19 seasons with the Falcons.

In 1998, the Falcons surprised most WIAC observers. The team finished 7-3 overall and 5-2 in the WIAC good for a tie for first place. In 1996 the team finished 9-2 overall and lost to La Crosse (44-0) in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. In 1995 the Falcons were 9-3 overall. The nine wins tied the school record. In the NCAA playoffs the Falcons beat Central, Iowa, (10-7) but then lost to La Crosse (28-14).

O'Grady was named the 1995 WIAC Coach of the Year.

O'Grady, 53, played for the Falcons (linebacker) from 1972-75 and earned four letters. He was the team captain and voted most dedicated in 1975 when the Falcons won their first WIAC title in 18 years.

He coached for two years at Miami University of Ohio as an offensive line coach and offensive special teams coordinator. Before that, he coached at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1985-86) as an offensive line coach and special teams coordinator, at Kent State University, Ohio, where he was offensive coordinator/offensive line and offensive special teams coordinator (1983-84), and at the University of Wisconsin as a part time assistant coach of tight ends and special teams (1981-82). He also was an assistant at UW-River Falls (1976-80) as a linebacker, secondary and special teams coach.

O'Grady played football at Sullivan High School, Chicago, Ill., from 1968-71 and was team captain, most valuable player and winner of a coach's award as a senior. He is a native of Worcester, Mass.

He earned his undergraduate degree in physical education from UW-River Falls in 1979 and his master's degree in supervision and instructional leadership from UWRF in 1983. Besides coaching football, O'Grady teaches classes in the University's health and human performance department.

O'Grady is a firm believer in education and helps all UWRF students in pursuit of collegiate degrees. In his career as head coach, 181 of 182 Falcon football players, who have completed four seasons of eligibility, have earned undergraduate degrees. Several have gone on to highly successful careers in education, coaching and business.

He runs three summer football camps - Wishbone, Kickers and Big O & D. About 400 participants and 75 coaches, many of them are UWRF graduates, attend the camps each summer. The Kickers Camp has been a mainstay at UWRF for 34 years and has had top NFL and college kickers attend as counselors. Gary Zauner, a special teams coach for several NFL teams, has been a counselor for 30 years.

O'Grady is well known as a speaker and clinician throughout the midwest. He has given presentations at the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association spring clinic several times and has addressed participants at the Indiana Wishbone Coaches Association clinic. He has been invited to give clinics in Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Minnesota. For the past 17 years he has worked with former Falcon football player and teammate, Darryl Herrick, at a football camp in Gilman, Wis. The camp was established by Herrick, who is the superintendent of the Cedarburg school district, in memory of a nephew who was killed in a hunting accident.

He and wife, Jody, have three children: Lindsey, 26, Jaclyn, 23 and Logan 20. Lindsey, a UWRF graduate, is completing her master's degree in curriculum and instruction at the University of St. Thomas. Jaclyn graduated in 2005 from the University of Minnesota with a degree in film studies. She is now working on a master's degree in film studies in Australia. Logan studied for two years at St. Thomas but has transferred to UW-La Crosse and is majoring in communications. He was a member of the Tommie cross country and track & field teams the past two years and competes with the Eagles highly successful cross country and track & field teams.

John O'Grady