Hall of Fame
THOMAS BELL
- Sport: Football
- Graduation Year: 2001
- Highlights: Three-time first team All-PSAC offensive lineman on powerhouse SRU teams of the late 1990s … All-American guard in his senior year … helped lead SRU to four conference titles and three appearances in the NCAA Division II Playoffs, including trip to semifinals in 1998.
Tom Bell was among the most important pieces of one of the best four-year stretches in Slippery Rock football history, starting all four years as a guard on the offensive line and helping lead The Rock to four straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference titles between 1997-00.
For his dominance on the line, Bell was recognized as a first team All-PSAC performer for three straight years between 1998 and 2000 and wrapped up his career by being named to first team All-Region and honorable mention All-America honors in 2000.
He helped lead a dynamic Slippery Rock offense that reached the NCAA Division II Playoffs three times, advancing as far as the national semifinals and climbing all the way up to a No. 2 national ranking, the highest in program history.
"Tom was THE guy on the interior of our offensive lines on those teams that went on the run in the 1990s," says former SRU head coach George Mihalik. "We wouldn't have been nearly as dynamic on offense if it wasn't for Tom's presence in the middle of that offensive line. He was one of the best to ever play the position here."
Bell earned his health and physical education degree from SRU in 2001 and went on to earn a master's degree in exercise science and physical education from McDaniel College in 2006.
He turned his passion for teaching and his academic background into a full-time career as a physical education teacher and coach, working at Red Lion High School in York, Pennsylvania. Bell also serves as an assistant football coach with the Red Lion varsity football team and works as a driver's education instructor at Red Lion. In addition to his work at Red Lion, Bell has also spent the last six years volunteering as a youth football coach in the York area. He is a member of the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association and SHAPE PA, a professional organization for health and physical educators.
Bell and his wife, April, who also teaches in the Red Lion School District, have two children, daughter Addison and son Ashton.
