Chester Leland Brewer (November 26, 1875 – April 16, 1953) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

coach and

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

. He served as the head football coach at

Albion College Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014. They participate in NCAA Division III and the Michigan Interco ...

(1899–1902), Michigan Agricultural College—now known as Michigan State University (1903–1910, 1917, 1919), the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

(1911–1913), and the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture—now known as the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

(1922), compiling a career record of 97–51–4. Brewer was also the head basketball coach at Michigan Agricultural (1903–1910), Missouri (1910–1911) and Northern Branch (1922–1923), tallying a mark of 84–36, and the head baseball coach at Michigan Agricultural (1904–1910, 1918–1920) and Missouri (1911, 1914–1917, 1933–1934), amassing a record of 148–93–4.

Coaching career

From 1903 to 1910, and in 1917 and 1919, Brewer coached football at

Michigan Agricultural College Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, where he compiled a 58–23–7 record, making him one of the school's most prolific coaches. From 1911 to 1913, he coached football at the

, where he compiled a 14–8–2 record. During his years at the Missouri, Brewer fulfilled many roles. He was hired as athletic director in 1910 and wasted little time in leaving his mark at the university, as he was one of the founding members of the M Men's Club. He founded the club on the eve of the 1911 football game against

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, and the organization became the sponsor for intramural sports championships at the university. Brewer was also the coach of the 1911 baseball team, which had an 8–3 record. He assumed the leadership of the baseball team a second time from 1914 to 1917 and achieved a 49–15–3 record. He remained at the Missouri until 1917 and at different periods also coached basketball and track. Brewer is also credited with beginning the

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

tradition at the University of Missouri and the entire nation with the 1911 Kansas vs. Missouri football game. Brewer left Missouri at the end of the 1917 school year to serve in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He spent the next year directing training camp activities at universities around the country. He returned to Michigan Agricultural College after the war. In 1922, he coached football at the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture in

Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of California, Davi ...

, where he compiled a 3–4–2 record. Brewer returned to Missouri in 1923 and was named athletic director and a professor of

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

. His second tenure as athletic director lasted until 1935. During these twelve years of leadership, he helped oversee the construction of

Brewer Fieldhouse The Brewer Fieldhouse was a multi-purpose arena located in Columbia, Missouri, and home to the University of Missouri Tigers basketball team prior to the Hearnes Center Hearnes Center is a 13,611-seat multi-purpose arena in Columbia, Missou ...

, which was named for him on February 8, 1930. Brewer also coached the Missouri Tigers baseball team one final time from 1933 to 1934 and finished with a 12–17 record. His final record as Missouri's baseball coach was 69–32–3.

Later life and death

Brewer remained with the university as a professor until his death. He died on April 16, 1953, at the age of 77 in Columbia, Missouri.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links