John Lewis "Stub" Brickels ( – ) was a high school, college and professional football coach who served as a backfield coach for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

between 1946 and 1948. Brickels began his coaching career in 1930, after graduating from

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where he was a standout as a halfback on the school's football team. He coached high school football and basketball teams in Ohio and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

in the 1930s and early 1940s before becoming the head basketball coach at the

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

in 1944. He held that post until 1945, when Cleveland Browns coach

Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Brown was both the co-founder and first coach of the Clevela ...

hired him to recruit players for the Browns, a team under formation in the All-America Football Conference, while Brown served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during When the Browns began play in 1946, Brickels became the team's backfield coach, holding the post until he was named an assistant football coach at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

after the 1948 season. He was promoted to head basketball coach and athletic director the following year, and remained in that position until his death of a heart attack in 1964.

College career

Brickels attended

in Springfield, Ohio, where he played four sports and was a star halfback on the school's football team. He graduated from Wittenberg in 1930 and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI).

Coaching career

After graduating from college, Brickels, nicknamed "Stub", was hired as an assistant football and basketball coach at

New Philadelphia High School New Philadelphia High School is a public high school in New Philadelphia, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1913 as Central High School, New Philadelphia High School is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools an ...

in New Philadelphia, Ohio. He was promoted to head coach of both teams in 1932. During one successful run, his football team won 36 of 40 games. The team played numerous times against dominant

Massillon Washington High School Washington High School, commonly referred to as Massillon High School or Massillon Washington High School, is a 9th to 12th grade secondary school within the Massillon City School District in the city of Massillon, Ohio, United States. The schoo ...

squads coached by

in the 1930s, although New Philadelphia lost all of the matchups. Brickels went on to become head basketball coach and assistant football coach at Huntington High School in

in 1938. In 1944, he was named the head basketball coach at the

, and led the team to the National Invitation Tournament in 1945. Paul Brown, who was serving in the

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and coaching a service football team at a base outside

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, hired Brickels in 1945 to help him organize the

, a new team in the All-America Football Conference.

Arthur B. McBride Arthur B. "Mickey" McBride (March 20, 1888 – November 10, 1972) was the founder of the Cleveland Browns professional American football team in the All-America Football Conference and National Football League. During McBride's tenure as owner ...

, the team's owner, had hired Brown as head coach and general manager, but Brown was hamstrung by his military service and needed Brickels to help recruit players. Brown chose him because of his easygoing and glib manner and familiarity with the Ohio sports scene. Brickels set up an office in downtown Cleveland and visited with players Brown was interested in signing. Brickels mostly did Brown's bidding and signed numerous players on his behalf, but he also brought two men to Brown's attention who later joined the Browns and had long careers with the team. Center

Frank Gatski Frank "Gunner" Gatski (March 18, 1921 – November 22, 2005) was an American professional football player who was a center for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL) in the 19 ...

and guard

Ed Ulinski Edward Franklin Ulinski ( – ) was a professional American football guard who played four seasons for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and went on to a career as an assistant coach for the Browns that lasted ...

both played at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

in Huntington when Brickels was coaching high school there. Gatski had a Hall of Fame career in 11 seasons for the Browns, and Ulinski played four years for the team before becoming a long-time Browns offensive line coach. When the Browns started play, Brickels became a backfield coach. He stayed with the Browns for three seasons, after each of which the team won the AAFC championship. Brickels left the Browns in 1949 to take a job as an assistant to football coach

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1949–1950), and Ohio State University (1951 ...

. The following year, he was named the school's athletic director and head basketball coach.

Death

Brickels died in 1964 of a heart attack while still the athletic director at Miami. He was inducted into Miami's athletics hall of fame in 1971 and into Wittenberg's hall of honor in 1986.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

John Brickels at the Wittenberg University hall of honor
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brickels, John 1906 births 1964 deaths American football halfbacks American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Ohio Cleveland Browns coaches Miami RedHawks athletic directors Miami RedHawks football coaches Miami RedHawks men's basketball coaches West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball coaches Wittenberg Tigers football players Wittenberg Tigers men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in Ohio High school football coaches in Ohio People from New Philadelphia, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Sportspeople from Newark, Ohio Sportspeople from Huntington, West Virginia