Fred Brice never played football in college. Shawn Walsh was a member of the Bowling Green University ice hockey team – as a seldom-used backup goalie.

But both Brice and Walsh had huge impacts on their respective sports as University of Maine coaches, raising Black Bear programs to national notoriety.

Brice, who still holds the longest tenure of any Maine football coach, was known for innovations that are now commonplace at the college and professional level. Under Walsh, the Maine ice hockey team claimed two NCAA championships and gained notoriety as a national power.

Brice and Walsh will also be forever linked on Sunday, when they are inducted posthumously into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

The ceremony will be held at the Bangor Motor Inn and Convention Center. The evening starts with a social hour at 5 p.m. Dinner is scheduled to begin at 6. Tickets are $25. Call Joe Punsky at 799-4564 for more information.

The other inductees are Wayne Champeon, Ordman Alley, Jack Scott, Phil Emery, Charles “Gus” Folsom, and Thaxter Trafton.

Walsh died of complications from kidney cancer on Sept. 24, 2001, less than 24 hours before the 2001-02 hockey season was to start. It would have been Walsh’s 18th season.

Walsh’s overall coaching record at UMaine stands at 399-214-44, a mark that at the time of his death ranked 19th all-time and 11th among active college coaches.

His career was highlighted by national titles in 1992-93 and 1998-99, seven NCAA Frozen Four appearances, the Spencer Penrose Trophy as the National Coach of the Year following the 1994-95 season, and four Hockey East regular-season championships.

The Maine program gained national attention during its first championship season. It was the school’s first national title in any sport and the Bears started that season with a 32-game unbeaten streak and won their last 12 games that year. Maine beat Lake Superior State in the national championship game.

In the years following the national championship Walsh and the Maine program dealt with some negative issues.

The NCAA placed Maine on probation for four years because of rules violations, primarily in its hockey program. Walsh was suspended without pay for a year in December 1995, the team had to forfeit games from the 1991-92 and 1993-94 seasons, and the Bears were prohibited from postseason appearances in 1996 and 1997.

But the Bears rallied in the 1997-98 and earned a berth in the Hockey East final.

A native of White Plains, N.Y., Walsh graduated from Bowling Green in 1978. He coached at Bowling Green during his senior year, first with the junior varsity team and then working under then-head coach Ron Mason. Walsh and Mason moved to Michigan State two years later.

Walsh helped guide the Spartans to three straight CCHA titles and the NCAA semifinals in 1983-84. He served as the president of the American Hockey Coaches Association and was a board member for 10 years.

Brice, who died in 1967 at the age of 72, was UMaine’s first tenured football coach.

Brice took over the Black Bear football program in 1921, after Maine had been through 20 coaches since 1892. He coached the football team until 1940, amassing an overall record of 79-58-9 to go with nine state series titles and four New England crowns.

Over that time Brice picked up the nickname “Foxy Fred” for the innovations he introduced to Maine college football, according to an Associated Press obituary. Brice’s teams utilized maneuvers such as the onside kick, now standard practice in all levels of football, as well as innovations such as the four- and five-man line on defense, the forward pass, and two-line blocking maneuvers.

Brice, who was born in Lawrence, Mass., never played football in college. He attended school in Manchester, N.H., and an optometry school in Massachusetts. Brice’s coaching career began at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, N.H., and he later coached at his alma mater in Manchester, Central High. He led that school’s team to a 59-9-3 record in 10 years.

According to the Associated Press, Brice took up coaching full time on doctor’s orders. Brice had been gassed in World War I and doctors recommended that he stay outdoors as much as possible.

Brice went indoors from 1925-29, when he coached the Maine men’s basketball team to a 14-31 record. Brice also skippered the Black Bear baseball team from 1926-35, amassing a 67-60 mark.

Samuel Sezak, who played under Brice and was Maine’s director of intramural athletics at the time of Brice’s death, told the AP that Brice “exemplified the finest traditions and philosophies of the University of Maine.”

“He was an astute teacher, a highly respected individual, and a builder of men,” Sezak added.

Brice was a mild-mannered man, according to the Associated Press story, but the coach could be a stern disciplinarian if called for and stood for no bad behavior from his players. He occasionally walked the police beat with a friend who was an Orono police officer.

Brice retired from coaching in 1940 and became an optometrist. He died in Pittsfield, N.H.