The names of the players and coaches who helped Tom Bell set the stage for the future success of the University of New Haven just rolled off his tongue even 40 years after he coached his final game for the Chargers.

With Bell among those being inducted into University of New Haven Athletic Hall of Fame, it was the perfect time for him to take a trip down memory lane to reflect on his seven seasons at UNH.

"I loved being in New Haven, it was a good place to be and we had some great teams," Bell said. "I think really the most important thing are the relationships between the player and coaches, the staff and players. When you come right down to it, a football team isn't brick and mortar, it is people. We were very lucky because we had some great players and I had some outstanding people on our staff."

After coaching Plymouth State to four straight winning seasons, Bell came to New Haven. After 1-8 and 3-6 seasons in his first two years with the Chargers, the tide began to turn. Bell led New Haven to a 20-6-2 mark during a three-year stretch and that included an 8-0-1 season in 1979.

Bell helped New Haven post its first winning season. Larry McElreacy, Chris Palmer, Mark Whipple, Tony Sparano, Darren Rizzi, Pete Rossomando and now Chris Pincince have pointed the way for the most successful seasons.

The winning ways enjoyed under different coaching staffs is not a surprise to Bell.

"New Haven is a special place and you have to start by understanding that," Bell said. "It is a unique institution and I am not surprised that the program has been successful."

Bell led New Haven to an undefeated season in 1979 when the Chargers posted two shutouts and finished 8-0-1. The Chargers weren't given a spot in the postseason.

Sparano played for Bell so when Sparano led New Haven to its first regular season without a loss since 1979 during a magical 1995 season, nobody was more excited than Bell.

"I was so pleased to see him on the sidelines against Northern Colorado [in the 1995 Division II National Championship Game]."

Bell had head coaching jobs at Coast Guard and Macalester. His last coaching gig was as an assistant at Westfield State.

"I miss it terribly," Bell said of his time as a college football coach. "Going to work was never a job."

There will be plenty of stories to be told when Bell returns to campus over the weekend. The Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday will be followed by the Chargers' return to DellaCamera Stadium for a matchup with Pace on Saturday.

"I haven't been able to get back very often because it has always been football season and I always had to work," Bell said. "I was in Florida and Minnesota. I am excited about it I hope there are people there I haven't seen in a while and I am really looking forward to that."

Bell will be joined by former women's basketball star Niketa Harris (1998-02), record-setting baseball standout Evan Okon (2006-09), Brian Smith, who played for the men's basketball program from 1987-91 and women's track star Ada Udaya (2010-15) as part of the latest Hall of Fame class. Harris passed away in 2021 and will be inducted posthumously.