Class of ‘58 grad to be added to Hall of Fame

Ron Nay, a 1958 graduate of Powell High School and former teammate of PHS Hall of Famer Eddie Kawano, will receive Powell High School’s ultimate sports honor when he is inducted into the Hall of Fame this Friday night. The ceremony will take place at halftime of the Powell-Worland boys basketball game this Friday.

Nay was one of three captains for the 1957 Powell High School football team. He was a three-time letter winner in football, basketball and track for the Panthers.

Despite that success, Nay’s passion, as well as his truest talent, may have been on the baseball diamond.

As a 12-year-old, Nay was the starting catcher for the Powell junior Legion baseball team. In 1957, he was named as a first-team catcher for the all-state junior Legion team.

Nay was considered the top baseball prospect in the state of Wyoming in those days. He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, receiving a bonus of $6,000 and a monthly salary of $350.

Both figures were considered to be exceptional at the time, especially considering the limited baseball season in Powell.

Nay played for the Billings Mustangs through the 1958 season. In 1959, he was assigned to the Cardinals’ farm team in Keokuk, Iowa, and played there as an outfielder through the 1960 season.

Not seeing his baseball career progress as he desired, Nay returned to college in the fall of 1960, enrolling at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, where he played football for one of his former Powell High School coaches.

During both the 1960 and 1961 football seasons, Nay was the nation’s No. 2 punter. He also played running back and defensive back, earning inclusion on the 1961 small college All-American team.

Nay received an invitation to try out as both a defensive back and punter for the Dallas Cowboys in 1961. He was a late cut by the organization and returned to Westminster, eventually becoming the freshman coach at Judge Memorial Cathlic High School in Salt Lake City. He completed his studies in 1963 and joined the Marine Corps the following year.

Nay played both football and baseball for the Marines. He was selected to the All-Marine football team and served as its captain. He was also named the most valuable player of the Marine baseball team in 1964.

He became assistant coach at Claremont Mudd College in California in 1966. One year later, he became an assistant coach under Mike Giddings at the University of Utah. He served as the head football and baseball coach at Westminster during the 1968 and 1969 seasons, before his career really took off.

In 1970, he was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas under legendary coaching icon Pepper Rodgers. The following year, he followed Rodgers to a job at UCLA.

Nay was hired in 1972 to serve as a scout for the Quadra scouting combine, a three-team combine that included the Dallas Cowboys. In 1977, the San Diego Chargers hired him to serve as a scout for their organization.

In 1985, he was promoted to the position of director of football operations for the Chargers. In 1987, he was offered a position with the New York Jets and traveled East to accept the position.

Nay remained a member of the Jets’ organization until 1995, when he was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles. After an unsuccessful season, owner Robert Lurie famously fired the Eagles’ entire coaching staff and scouting department, prompting Nay to return to the West coast.

He coached at Christian High School in El Cajon, Calif., for two seasons. At the same time, he was an associate scout for the Atlanta Braves baseball team.

Nay returned to the NFL in 1997, where he worked as a pro scout for the Washington Redskins. His primary responsibilities with the franchise were to grade current NFL players and perform advance game scouting for the franchise.

In 1999, the Redskins moved him to the position of college scout. Two years later, Nay was named the director of college scouting for the Redskins franchise, the position he held until his retirement in 2003.

Despite an extensive career in college and professional sports, Nay’s memories remained in Powell. Nothing evidences that fact better than a memory from Kawano.

“Somone asked Ron what was his proudest moment in sports,” Kawano wrote in a nomination letter for Nay’s inclusion in the PHS Hall of Fame. “To which he replied ‘going undefeated in football at Powell High School in 1957.’”