Outside the office, he still enjoys an occasional round of golf despite being legally blind for 23 years. “I always tell my playing partners that I can’t see the ball, but don’t bet on it,” says the quick-witted Blosser. “I can still get in their pockets.”

Rick Fatica

Kermit Blosser (second from right) meets friends for coffee every morning at a Court Street fast-food restaurant.

Spanning the decades

1911–Kermit Allen Blosser born in Enterprise, Ohio. 1929–Starting end in first Peden Stadium football game. 1936–Marries Mildred Howard, a 1925 graduate. She died in 1992. 1944–Serves as a Naval gunnery officer during WWII. 1946–Returns to coach at OU. 1951–Leads golf team to first MAC championship. 1959–Daughter Carol Blosser DeCaminada graduates from OU. Son Richard follows in 1966. 1966–Is inducted into Ohio University Athletics Hall of Fame. 1976–Receives key to city of Athens on “Kermit Blosser Day." 1988–Retires as Ohio University men’s golf coach after 41 years. 2001– Blosser turns 90 on Feb. 1.

Cooley, BBA ’71, played on two of Blosser’s MAC championship golf teams and has coached the men’s team since Blosser retired.

“I have learned a lot from Kermit — on and off the course,” Cooley says. “He’s the most organized person I know. He was tough and demanding, but always fair, and that’s one of the reasons everyone respects him.”

A native of Enterprise, Ohio, just 30 miles from Athens, Blosser arrived on campus in the fall of 1928 to major in physical education. His talents quickly stood out. In football, he was a three-year starter at offensive and defensive end and today is believed to be the only living member of the 1929 team, the first to play at Peden Stadium. In 1932, he became the first Ohio University student to win an NCAA national championship in any sport when he took the honor at the 191-pound weight class in wrestling.

Blosser earned his bachelor’s degree in 1932 and soon became a high school coach-of-all-trades, mentoring football, basketball, wrestling and track athletes. After three years in World War II, he returned to campus in 1946 as an assistant football and wrestling coach and took on basketball coaching duties the next year.

Despite his versatile sports acumen, no one could have dreamed Blosser would become a legend in golf.

“In 1946, Athletics Director Don Peden asked me if I knew anything about golf,” Blosser says. “I told him I didn’t. Then he said, ‘Start learning, because you’re the new golf coach.’”

The adaptable Blosser led the University’s golf team from 1947 to 1988 and produced a MAC-record 18 conference championships — not bad for a man who never touched a golf club until his mid-30s. The MAC Men’s Golf Coach of the Year Award was renamed in Blosser’s honor in 1990.

Regardless of the sport, Blosser relied on a coaching philosophy that revolved around mental toughness and a positive attitude. And his players responded.

“Coach was a man of perfection,” says former Bobcat golfer Jack Schrom, BSJ ’67, of Worthington, Ohio. “He wouldn’t accept anything but our best effort. He is a man of conviction.”

Dow Finsterwald, undoubtedly Blosser’s most accomplished protégé, went on to win a dozen PGA events, including the ’58 PGA Championship.

“He taught his players that you can overcome a lack of talent by working hard,” says Finsterwald, AB ’52, of Orlando, Fla. “He was always positive and preached that we would be successful if we persevered.”

Director of Athletics Thomas Boeh appreciates Blosser’s immense support for the direction of Ohio Athletics and values his experience.

“When you consider that most of our staff members have been with Ohio for less than six years, it’s easy to see how Kermit has served in a critical role as a liaison to former student-athletes and longtime friends of the Bobcats,” Boeh says. “He provides an endless source of insight into the past and helps us plan how to serve our constituencies in the future.”

For Blosser, the dedicated service and loyalty come easy. In fact, after a 71-year association with Ohio University, it’s safe to say The Man’s made it a habit.

George Mauzy is a media specialist with Ohio University Media Services.