Bill McElroy

This is the third in a series of articles profiling the 2020 Butler County Sports Hall of Fame inductees. BUTLER TWP — Bill McElroy has gotten a lot out of mileage out of Butler.He was a rare sophomore starter on the varsity football team.He was Field MVP in track and field his senior year.He earned a Division I football scholarship to West Virginia University and was a part of four bowl teams with the Mountaineers.He's been a physical education teacher at Butler Area High School for 17 years, was a Golden Tornado assistant football coach for 10 years and an assistant track and field coach for 14.Now the 1993 Butler graduate is entering the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. He will be inducted during the organization's annual banquet at 6 p.m. April 25 at the Butler Days Inn.“I thought for a while that I might get in, but as the years passed, it didn't look like it was going to happen,” McElroy said. “My mother always thought I belonged in the Hall of Fame.“She passed away around Easter and six months later, I got the word I was being inducted. Maybe she had something to do with that.”His career had plenty to do with it.At 6-foot-4, 275 pounds, McElroy was named a starter at defensive tackle his sophomore year at Butler. He also started at guard his junior and senior seasons.He was a first team All-WPIAL selection as a lineman and received an All-American Scholar Award.“I was shocked when I became a starter my sophomore year,” McElroy said. “That was extremely rare in those days because we had a ton of football players.“Most colleges recruited me as a defensive lineman because that's where I was a three-year starter at Butler. West Virginia was one of the few schools to recruit me as an offensive lineman.”McElroy was part of the last Butler football team to win a section title (1992). The Golden Tornado reached the WPIAL title game his sophomore year.McElroy played a year of baseball and basketball at Butler as well as being a standout thrower von the track team.He lettered for three years at WVU, was a part-time starter at guard and center, and was a freshman on the Mountaineer team that played Florida for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl. McElroy was his team's Rookie of the Week twice that season, in games against Misasouri and Miami (Fla.).He went on to play in two Carquest Bowls and the Gator Bowl.“I really respected Don Nehlen as a coach,” McElroy said of his years at WVU. “He was a tremendous guy. My parents loved sports and came to just about everything I ever did.“Going to West Virginia was close enough that they could get to the football games.”An education/health major in college, McElroy was able to return to his alma mater for his teaching and coaching career.“I feel very fortunate about that,” he said. “Mark Farabee was my throwing coach when I was on the track team at Butler. To coach the events he coached means a lot to me.”McElroy coaches the shot put and discus for the Golden Tornado. He competed in both events in high school.“I teach strength and conditioning, so I'm in the weight room all the time now,” he said. “From 5:30 in the morning until 5:30 p.m., that's where I am, working with my class and the athletes.”Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Tables of eight are $200. Tickets are available at Parker's Appliance in Chicora, Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, The Butler Radio Network in Butler and Saxonburg Drug.