Hall of Fame
Ray DeCola was a football and baseball standout on the hilltop during the early 1950s who went on to an outstanding coaching career at the high school and collegiate levels. DeCola was a 2-time All-West Virginia Conference selection in football for head coach Joe Bartell, capping his career as a senior by being named first-team All-WVIAC on both sides of the ball as an offensive and defensive lineman. Also a key member of the Hilltopper baseball team, DeCola served a four-year stint in the U.S. Army after graduation before entering the Ohio high school coaching ranks.
The West Liberty alum proved to be a coach for all seasons at the high school level, posting more than 100 victories in each of five sports - football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis - at New Albany, Columbus St. Marys, Johnstown-Monroe and Urbana High Schools.
DeCola enjoyed his greatest success on the gridiron at Urbana. The team hadn't won a game the previous season when he took the reins in 1971 but that changed quickly. By the time he stepped down in 1984, DeCola had led Urbana to 8 league titles, 4 unbeaten seasons and a 1983 state runner-up berth. The 1982 Ohio Coach of the Year, he was inducted into the OHSFCA Hall of Fame in 2006.
