Former RHS football coach Thurman Bell talks with players from the 1981 championship team during his final season on the sidelines for the Indians.

PORTLAND – Former Roseburg High School football coach Thurman Bell has been chosen as a member of the 2017 class of inductees for the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. Bell, who coached for 45 years at Roseburg, is one of six individuals or teams to be included in this year’s hall of fame class.

Bell finished his coaching career at No. 2 on the all-time coaching wins list with a 331-154-2 record. He finished his career only 21 wins behind the state’s all-time wins leader Dewey Sullivan of Dayton High School.

Coach Bell led Roseburg to the state championship game nine times, winning it all in 1981, ’90, ’95, and ’96. He was honored as the national coach of the year in 2011 by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Others included in the 2017 class of inductees are; Ashton Eaton, a two-time Olympic decathlon champion and five-time world champion; Brianne Theisen-Eaton, Ashton’s wife and a world champion heptathlete; adaptive sports paralympic swimming gold medalist Aaron Paulson; the 2002 NCAA champion University of Portland women’s soccer team; and the 2006-2007 Oregon State baseball teams that won back-to-back College World Series.

The induction ceremony will take place September 19 at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland.