Jerry Russell Tolley (born November 6, 1942) is a former American football coach, educator, and politician.

[1][2] He served as the head football coach at Elon University from 1977 to 1981, compiling a record of 49–11–2.

He graduated from East Carolina University with a master's degree in education in 1966.

Tolley formerly served as the mayor of Elon, North Carolina.

This biographical article relating to a college football coach first appointed in the 1970s is a stub.