Hall of Fame
Former Bentley linebacker Frank Doherty, a member of the Class of 1985, was a tough, quick, smart player who always put the team first.
During his career, the Falcons had a dominating 26-5-1 record and were the 1982 and 1983 club football national champions. Frank played when during the days when club football wasn’t held in the same regard as varsity football at other schools, but according to longtime head coach Peter Yetten, Frank and his teammates were the real deal.
“He was very good at running to the football,” Yetten remembers when asked about the Somerville, Massachusetts native. “He had lots of tackles and was the leader on a very good defensive football team. It was one of the best defenses during the three years he played.” His induction came during the fall that marked the 20th anniversary of the ’82 Club National Championship. Frank also played on the ’83 team that repeated as champions and for the ’84 team that lost in the finals.
As a senior, Frank was named the first-team club football All-America and was also first-team All-Conference. He led the Falcons in tackles as a senior and was named the team’s Defensive MVP and tri-captain. As a junior, he was second on the team in tackles after tying for second as a sophomore.
Beyond the success that Frank and his teammates had at Bentley, Yetten stated that it was this group of players and this era in Bentley football that set the tone for future Falcons on the grid iron. “Frank was a classy person, he had a very supportive family, he played over a good era of Bentley College football, and those guys set the tone and were the cornerstone of the Bentley football program.”
Frank was the ultimate team player, team-oriented to the end, and it reflects in what he has done in his post-Bentley days. He teamed up with Yetten, Bentley's head coach for 30 years (1979-2008) to organize the Gridiron Club and he established a website for former Bentley football players. He helped coordinate the Bentley Football Alumni Golf Classic that has become an annual event.
At the time of his 2002 induction, Frank had completed five consecutive Boston Marathons and raised a total of over $32,000 for cancer research for the Dana-Faber Marathon Challenge.
