Press Release

TAXACT TEXAS BOWL FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER AND HOUSTON BUSINESSMAN LARRY CATUZZI INDUCTED IN BOWL SEASON HALL OF FAME FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL CONTRIBUTIONS

HOUSTON – Houston businessman and philanthropist Larry Catuzzi has been selected as a member of the 2022 Bowl Season Leadership Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport of college football, Bowl Season and the TaxAct Texas Bowl announced today.  Catuzzi will be honored in Houston in recognition of this achievement at NRG Stadium, home of the TaxAct Texas Bowl, during the Houston Texans vs. Tennessee Titans game this Sunday. 

 

"We're excited to honor some longtime valued contributors to bowl games and college football," said Bowl Season Executive Director Nick Carparelli. "Celebrating friends like Larry who have given so much back to the game is always a thrill. He is most deserving, and we thank him for his dedication and service."

 

“Coach” Catuzzi is one of college football’s true gentlemen, devoting over 50 years to the good of the sport and over 30 years to growing the business of post season college football.  Following his time playing quarterback at the University of Delaware from 1955-1957, Catuzzi launched a decade plus career in coaching with stops at the University of Dayton, Indiana University and as a member of Woody Hayes’ staff at the Ohio State University before becoming the head coach at Williams College from 1968-1970.  

 

After a successful career in investment banking, Catuzzi returned to college football as a member of the Board of Directors for the Bluebonnet Bowl Association, serving as President throughout the early 1980s.  The Bluebonnet Bowl proudly served college football fans and charities through the Houston community as a mainstay on the Bowl Season calendar from 1959 until 1987.  During Coach Catuzzi’s time as a member of the leadership of the event, the Bluebonnet Bowl featured teams from the Big 10, Pac-10, Southwest Conference, Big 8 and SEC and included legendary matchups between coaching greats like Bo Schembechler, Jimmy Johnson, John Robinson, Bill Yeoman, Grant Teaff, Johnny Majors, Lou Holtz, Terry Donahue and many others.

 

Catuzzi also served as Vice Chairman of the Harris-County Houston Sports Authority and was instrumental in paving the road for NRG Stadium to be built in 2002 and bringing big time college football back to Houston.  He was a founding member of the TaxAct Texas Bowl Board of Directors upon its launch in 2006 and part of the group that forged the sale of the event to ESPN in 2009.  He continues to still serve on the TaxAct Texas Bowl and HCHSA today as the longest serving member of both organizations.  

 

Since 2001, following the tragedies of 9/11 that took his daughter Lauren’s life, Larry has also served as a director of the Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation, which provided numerous scholarships to young women around the country entering college and, in addition, in conjunction with the City of Houston, built Lauren’s Garden at Market Square Park, honoring Lauren and all the victims of 9/11.  He also served on the Flight 93 Federal Advisory Commission, championing efforts to develop, fundraise for and finance the Flight 93 National Museum that opened in Shanksville, PA in 2011. 

 

Coach Catuzzi joins five other new members into the Leadership Hall of Fame class for 2022 including Richard Giannini from the Bahamas Bowl, Mickey Holmes from the Sugar Bowl, Tom Mickle from the Citrus Bowl, Jimmy Rogers from the Sun Bowl and Ellie Ziegler from the Fiesta Bowl.