AUBURN, Ala. – Well acquainted with Auburn’s illustrious athletic history, Susan Nunnelly appreciates receiving an award named after the coach who took the Tigers to the program’s first two bowl games, Jack Meagher.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to win many awards, but this is one that is most precious to me because I know the history behind what Coach Meagher did,” Nunnelly said, before referencing the nickname of the teams Meagher coached on the Plains from 1934-42. “He hired Coach Jordan and I know that Meagher’s Marauders were big-time back in the day. I’m very honored.”
The 2025 recipient of the Jack Meagher Award, presented since 2004 to a person with Auburn affiliation who has contributed significantly to society through athletics, Nunnelly received the honor Oct. 11 during an on-field recognition before the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.
“To be in this atmosphere,” Nunnelly said on Pat Dye Field. “I worked game operations for years and I was always in the booth, so I didn’t get to be down here, other than away games when I was with the cheerleaders. This is great.”
In 2013, Nunnelly received Pamela Sheffield Award, presented annually to a woman who best embodies selfless service and commitment to Auburn University and the Auburn family.
In 2022, the Southeastern Conference honored Nunnelly as an SEC trailblazer for her role in advancing women’s athletics at Auburn, part of the conference’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
As a student, Nunnelly played alto saxophone and bassoon in the Auburn University Marching Band. Each day at practice, football coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan would stop by to encourage the band.
She played in the pep band during basketball season, guaranteeing a seat in the Auburn Sports Arena so Nunnelly did not have to camp out in 1968 like many of her fellow students to see LSU star “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s first trip to the Plains.
She was working on her master’s degree while officiating intramurals and helping with campus recreation when Congress passed Title IX in 1972.
Despite having not played high school basketball – since it was not offered to girls in Alabama at the time – Nunnelly became the second women’s basketball coach in Auburn history, leading the Tigers to a 43-20 record over three seasons from 1973-76.
“It was great,” she recalled. “They wanted to play and they loved the game.”
In those early days, the student-athletes on Auburn’s women’s basketball and volleyball teams shared uniforms, and Nunnelly’s players paid for their own shoes.
“It was pretty challenging, but I wouldn’t trade anything for having coached when I did,” she said.
In 1974, Nunnelly coached the first Auburn women’s basketball game at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, but preferred playing in the Sports Arena because of its wooden floor and the impact students and fans could have on the game.
“The Sports Arena kept the crowd close to the court,” she said. “A hundred people, that was a big crowd. The fact that they were next to the court made a difference.”
After three seasons, Nunnelly stepped down as coach to focus on her other Auburn responsibilities: teaching and running intramurals. In 1984, she became Auburn’s director of campus recreation.
She became the SEC Officials Coordinator and a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Rules Committee.
In 1976, she traded her coach’s whistle for a public address announcer’s microphone, handling PA duties for Auburn women’s basketball ever since.
“I knew I wanted to give back,” she said. “That’s for sure. The Good Lord’s been really good to me to give me those opportunities.”
In 1987, Nunnelly became the announcer for the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament, a job she faithfully performed every year until ovarian cancer briefly sidelined her in 2021.
After retiring from Auburn University in 2008, Nunnelly continued to teach an officiating class, and her “Fun with the Nun” segments at Camp War Eagle welcomed thousands of incoming freshmen to the Plains each summer.
For Susan Nunnelly, the Jack Meagher Award is the latest in a long line of recognitions for a woman who realized her dream of contributing to – and benefiting from – a lifelong association with Auburn.
“It’s meant everything to me,” Nunnelly said. “I grew up an Auburn fan and I’m still an Auburn fan and will be till the Good Lord calls me home.”