Chester Matthias Pittser (July 29, 1893 – October 17, 1978) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

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 ...

coach at the college level. He served as the head football coach at the Montana State School of Mines— then known as

Montana Tech of the University of Montana Montana Technological University, popularly known as Montana Tech, is a public university in Butte, Montana. Founded in 1900 as the Montana State School of Mines, the university became affiliated with the University of Montana in 1994. After unde ...

— from 1920 to 1921,

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 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

from 1924 to 1931, and at Montclair State Teachers College—now known as

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...

—from 1934 to 1942, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

record of 82–45–5. Pittser was also the head basketball coach at Montclair State from 1934 to 1944, tallying a mark of 123–67, and the head baseball coach at Miami (1925–1931) and Montclair State (1935–1943), amassing a career

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

record of 129–67–2.

Education and playing career

Pittser graduated from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

in 1924 and received his master's degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1931. He was also an all-league fullback and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on en ...

Coaching career

Miami

Pittser served as football coach for

from 1924 through 1931 with a record of 41–25–2. Pittser came to Miami from Montana School of Mines where he coached football and basketball. While at Miami, he mentored future

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

coaches,

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 ...

and Weeb Ewbank. Pittser's was the baseball coach during this same period he was football coach. During his tenure, the baseball teams captured three

Buckeye Athletic Association The Buckeye Athletic Association, also known as the Buckeye Conference, was an athletic league formed out of members of the Ohio Athletic Conference. Its original membership in 1926 included Ohio Wesleyan University (Battling Bishops), Ohio Unive ...

(BAA) titles and shared two others in compiling a record of 77–21. He has the highest winning percentage (.786) of any Miami head coach. He was inducted into the Miami Athletic Hall of Fame in 1970.

Montclair State

After leaving Miami, he coached football, basketball, and baseball at Montclair State Teachers College in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. ...

from 1934 to 1944. In 1934, Pittser became the fourth head football coach in school history and had a career record of 41–20–3. His best year was his first when he led Montclair to a record of 5–1. For the season, Pittser's defense only allowed 12 points with the lone loss coming to

Trenton State College The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

, 6–0. Pittser also had a 52–46–2 record as a baseball coach and is a charter member of the Montclair State College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Death

Pittser died on October 17, 1978 in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popu ...

at the age of 85.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittser, Chester 1893 births 1978 deaths American men's basketball players American football fullbacks Baseball pitchers Forwards (basketball) Colorado Mines Orediggers baseball players Colorado Mines Orediggers men's basketball players Colorado Mines Orediggers football players Montana Tech Orediggers football coaches Montana Tech Orediggers men's basketball coaches Miami RedHawks baseball coaches Miami RedHawks football coaches Montclair State Red Hawks baseball coaches Montclair State Red Hawks football coaches Montclair State Red Hawks men's basketball coaches College men's track and field athletes in the United States High school football coaches in Colorado Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni People from Gunnison, Colorado Coaches of American football from Colorado Players of American football from Colorado Baseball players from Colorado Basketball coaches from Colorado Basketball players from Colorado