Larry Scott publishes book on legendary MSUM football coach, Ross Fortier
Sports information director emeritus Larry Scott has published a book on the life and legacy of football coach Ross Fortier. Fortier, who signed on as head football coach at Moorhead State College in 1970, transformed the Dragons into a major player on the regional and national levels.
“As sports information director at Moorhead State, I had a front row seat to watch all 236 games of the Ross Fortier Era,” Scott said. “It was a privilege, indeed, and I felt a special calling to somehow preserve those wonderful days of yesteryear. I offer this small measure as a tribute to coach Fortier, not only for the program he built and the championships he produced, but more importantly for how he went about his business and the profound impact he had on hundreds of student-athletes.”
Fortier’s guidance and inspiration led a legion of former players to a rich variety of post-collegiate careers. They became doctors and lawyers, high school, college and professional coaches, business leaders and CEOs, national talk show hosts, professional wrestlers, high school principals and even college presidents. They followed his lead, remembered many of the lessons football taught and dared to dream big. That is arguably Fortier’s greatest legacy.
Scott won 107 national awards for athletic publications, including 25 “Best in the Nation” certificates and is an adjunct professor in the MSU Moorhead Mass Communications department. A member of the MSUM football broadcast team, Scott has worked 471 consecutive Dragon football games since 1967.
Order your hardcover, paperback or eBook of “The Fortier Years: A Coach’s Story” online at www.friesenpress.com.