John Sciarra was driving home a couple of weeks ago when a familiar name popped up on his phone.
It was Terry Donahue, who recruited Sciarra to UCLA in the early 1970s when Donahue was an assistant to Pepper Rodgers.
“Terry said, ‘I’ve got some very good news and some very bad news,’ ” Sciarra said. “I told him to start with the good news. He said, “You’ve been selected as an inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame.’ I thought ‘Holy smoke’ and pulled the car over and took a deep breath. We spent a few minutes reminiscing, then I asked about the bad news. ‘You can’t tell anybody, You can tell (wife) Michele, but outside of that, nobody else.’ ”
Sciarra kept the secret until Wednesday when the mail arrived.
“A box came with a football that has my name on it, states that I’m now a member of College Football Hall of Fame,” said Sciarra 60, from his office at National Retirement Services in Huntington Beach, for whom he is president and CEO. “Up until (Wednesday), I hadn’t even been notified by the National Football Foundation.”
Sciarra and former USC offensive lineman Tony Boselli were among those whose election was announced Thursday. The class of 16 included late Alabama linebacker Derrick Thomas, TCU running back LaDainian Tomlinson, South Carolina receiver Sterling Sharpe and former Oregon coach Mike Belotti.
After starring at Bishop Amat — Sciarra was the CIF-Southern Section Player of the Year after leading the Lancers to their second consecutive section title in 1971 — he played quarterback at UCLA from 1972-75 and was named a first-team consensus All-American his senior season. He led the Bruins to a 23-10 victory over top-ranked Ohio State in the 1976 Rose Bowl and was named Player of the Game.
At the end of his UCLA career, Sciarra ranked among the school’s all-time leaders in total offense (4,464 yards), career passing (148 completions) and rushing (1,813 yards).
“It’s a great honor just to be nominated (for the Hall of Fame). I just feel fortunate this has come to be,” Sciarra said. “I’ve got to thank UCLA and the administration for those that nominated me.
“Most inductees, past and present, will say it’s a team sport. You have to be lucky to be on a team that has some quality players and some tremendous coaches.”
Sciarra credited Dick Vermeil with being his mentor. Vermeil coached Sciarra at UCLA — after taking over for Rodgers — and with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, including in Super Bowl XV.
Sciarra said he got a call from Vermeil on Wednesday.
“I wasn’t allowed to say anything (about the Hall of Fame). He probably knew, but he didn’t want to say anything,” Sciarra said. “He’s got a wine business and was making a call in Kansas City to one of his distributors whose name was Sciarra, so he gave me a call just to tell me about that.”
Coming out of high school, Sciarra was thought to be going to either Notre Dame or USC, where he would have joined former high school teammates Pat Haden and J.K. McKay.
“I was pretty fortunate, with an opportunity to go to a lot of universities,” Sciarra said. “It was pretty much down to ’SC and Notre Dame. But then Donahue called and said I was now their No. 1 reccruit. I think I saw him every day after that. I visited campus and felt that was where I needed to be.”
Boselli played tackle at USC from 1991-94 and was the second overall draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995. He was a four-year starter for the Trojans and a two-time first-team All-American. He played seven seasons in the pros and twice was named the NFL’s Lineman of the Year.
Boselli, who is an analyst on Jaguars broadcasts, also runs the Boselli Foundation to assist at-risk youth in Jacksonville.
He celebrated his election by coaching sons Adam and Andrew in the Providence High spring game Thursday in Jacksonville.
“One of the coolest things for me is how excited my boys were when they found out,” Boselli told The Sporting News.
Other players elected were Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton, Louisana Tech offensive tackle Willie Roaf, North Carolina cornerback Dre Bly, Purdue defensive tackle Dave Butz, Penn State linebacker Shane Conlan, Maine linebacker John Huard, Stanford running back Darrin Nelson, McNeese State defensive back Leonard Smith and Mississippi tight end Wesley Walls.
Also inducted at the Dec. 9 dinner in New York and enshrined next summer will be Bellotti, who led Oregon from 1995-2008, and Jerry Moore, who coached at North Texas, Texas Tech and Appalachian State.
The Associated Press contributed
