SUNY Cortland Athletics

SUNY Cortland’s first Kodak All-America football player who later played with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, Rodney E. Verkey ’69 had an exceptional career as a coach and long-time director of athletics at Lyons (N.Y.) Central School. The Seneca Falls, N.Y., native was an all-state football player and three-sport standout at Mynderse Academy before arriving at Cortland. He competed for three seasons on the Red Dragon basketball squad but excelled on the football gridiron.

The 6-4, 215-pound tight end and defensive end landed a spot on the 1967 Kodak American Football Coaches Association Small College All-America Team alongside future National Football League stalwarts Marvin Upshaw, Haven Moses and Greg Landry. An ECAC Player of the Week on numerous occasions in both football and basketball, Verkey won the football Red Letter and was named the SUNY Cortland Athlete of the Year in 1967-68. He was signed by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and played on the team’s taxi squad for two years. He also competed in semi-pro basketball with the Auburn Lakers.

While at Cortland, he served as vice president of the Men’s Athletic Association and was a member of Beta Phi Epsilon. Verkey, who earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education, taught and coached at Cazenovia (N.Y.) Central, Union Springs (N.Y.) Central and South Seneca Central between 1970-74. Verkey joined the Lyons Central staff in 1974 and remained there until his retirement in 2002. He coached the Lyons baseball squad for five years, taking the team to five straight sectional finals, three sectional titles and a state championship. He was named Section V Coach of the Year three times. He also coached varsity basketball for seven seasons. He led his teams to three sectional crowns and a state title, while posting a 128-29 career coaching mark. He was once named Coach of the Year. In 1978, he was named athletic director and serve in that role until 2002. He has been the Section V basketball chairman and a Wayne County basketball officials’ assigner since 1975. He has been a member of the Section V Executive Council for the past 23 years and a Section V officials negotiator since 1998.

He served the Wayne County Athletic Association as president for five years and is a member of the Lyons High School Hall of Fame Committee. In 2000-01, Verkey was voted the Section V Athletic Director of the Year. He was inducted into the Section V Football Hall of Fame in 2003. An active member of the Lyons Elks Club, he also helps in the community with Youth Hoop Basketball and the Over the Rim Club. He served on the SUNY Cortland Football Centennial Committee in 1992-93.

Rod and his wife, Christine, have three grown children: Jason ’93, Matt and Andy.

UPDATE-March, 2015: Rod Verkey retired in 2001 but continues to stay active in his field. He is the Basketball Chairman for the Mynderse Academy HOF Comm. Wayne Co.  since 1976 and the commissioner for Section V.