Tolley’s article, “Teaching Leadership,” focuses on how football coaches are responsible not just for coordinating plays, but for teaching lifelong skills to athletes and turning them into leaders on and off the field.
Tolley started working at Elon in 1967 and was named head coach in 1977. Under his leadership, Elon won two national titles (1980 and 1981), four South Atlantic Conference championships and three district titles. He also received the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Dwight D. Eisenhower Award and the Eastman Kodak National Collegiate Football Championship Award.
Tolley has published six books on football as well as several articles related to the sport. In 2011, he was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and serves as the current mayor of the Town of Elon.