Douglas W. Weaver (born October 15, 1930) is a former

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 with ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

from 1960 to 1966 and at

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 s ...

from 1974 to 1975, 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 rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of 11–78–2. His

Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are generally used as c ...

teams posted two of the longest losing streaks in college football history. Weaver was also the

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 and ...

at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

from 1976 to 1979 and at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

from 1979 to 1989.

Career

Weaver starred as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

of Michigan State's great teams of the early 1950s. After graduation, he served as an assistant on

Duffy Daugherty Hugh Duffy Daugherty (September 8, 1915 – September 25, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Michigan State University from 1954 to 1972, compiling a record of 109–69–5. His 1965 and 1966 teams won ...

's staff at his alma mater, and at the

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

under

Dan Devine Daniel John Devine (December 23, 1924 – May 9, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the Univers ...

. Prior to the 1960 season, he was hired as the head coach at Kansas State at age 29.

Kansas State

In seven seasons at Kansas State, he compiled an 8–60–1 record. His final two seasons went without a win. His 1961 and 1962 teams posted a losing streak of 18 games—tied for the 20th-longest streak in college football history. Weaver's best season at K-State came in 1964, when his team went 3–7, with the three wins coming by a combined six points, but he retained his sense of humor. According to a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' article, after he was hanged in effigy at K-State, he said: "I'm glad it happened in front of the library. I've always emphasized scholarship." He was fired following the 1966 season. His career record was 8–60–1 including a 4–43-1 record in conference play.

Southern Illinois

After being fired from Kansas State, Weaver attended law school at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. He returned to coaching football after earning his law degree, serving as an assistant coach at Kansas under

Pepper Rodgers Franklin Cullen "Pepper" Rodgers (October 8, 1931 – May 14, 2020) was an American football player and coach. As a college football player, he led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to an undefeated season in 1952 and later became their head ...

for the 1970 season. In 1973, he was named athletic director at

. In 1974, he named himself as head football coach at Southern Illinois, where he posted records of 2–9 and 1–9–1 during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.

Georgia Tech and Michigan State

In 1976, he left Southern Illinois to take over as athletic director at the

. He was succeeded as athletic director at Southern Illinois by

Gale Sayers Gale Eugene Sayers (May 30, 1943September 23, 2020) was an American professional football player who was both a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). In a relatively brief but highly productive NFL career, Saye ...

. While athletic director at Georgia Tech, Weaver fired his old boss, Rodgers, from his position as football coach. In 1980, Weaver returned to his alma mater, Michigan State, as athletic director, a position he held for a decade until he retired in 1990. Michigan State's indoor practice facility is named in his honor, and Weaver was inducted into the 2015 Class of the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

References

Additional sources

* Fitzgerald, Tim. (1996) ''Kansas State Wildcats Handbook: Stories, Stats and Stuff About K-State Sports'' () {{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Doug 1930 births Living people American football centers Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets athletic directors Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Michigan State Spartans athletic directors Michigan State Spartans football coaches Michigan State Spartans football players Missouri Tigers football coaches Southern Illinois Salukis athletic directors Southern Illinois Salukis football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches University of Kansas School of Law alumni People from Goshen, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana