George Ottinger "Ott" Romney (December 12, 1892 – May 3, 1973) 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 ...

player, coach of football,

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 ...

, and track, and college athletics administrator. While directing the department at Montana State Agricultural College (now Montana State University- Bozeman) he served as head coach in football, track and basketball from 1922 to 1927 and at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU) from 1928 to 1936, compiling a career college football record of 72–51–8. Romney served as head basketball coach at Montana State Agricultural College from 1922 to 1928. The program built teams that were honored by the Helms Foundation as some of the best of the early 20th Century, pioneering the Fast Break’ offense, successfully coupled with high pressure defense. The ‘Golden Bobcats’ under his successor, Schubert Dyche, won national recognition and two players, John ‘Cat’ Thompson and Frank Ward, were named as ‘All Americans’. At BYU from 1928 to 1935, Romney amassed a career

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

mark of 283–102. In addition, Romney coached football and track at BYU and served as the school's

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 ...

Coaching career

Romney was the third head football coach at

(BYU). He coached for nine years, from 1928 to 1936. His overall record at BYU was 44–31–6. His best year in coaching was in 1932 when he went 8–1 and took second in the

Rocky Mountain Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

Honors, family, death

Montana State University honored Romney by naming the first gymnasium built on campus after him. Although later replaced as the main sports facility by a large multipurpose field house named for his player John "Brick" Breeden, the Romney Gymnasium, now Romney Hall, still stands on the main quad of the Bozeman campus. MSU sought funding for the Romney repurposing from the Montana Legislature for nearly a decade until, in April 2019, the Legislature approved $25 million for Romney Hall. With these funds, and an additional $7 million raised from generous donors, MSU could proceed with transforming the marginally usable building into an energy-efficient "hero" building that will be used by nearly every student to attend Montana State for generations to come. Romney is a first cousin of former

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Governor

George W. Romney George Wilcken Romney (July 8, 1907 – July 26, 1995) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd gover ...

, and his son, former

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Governor Mitt Romney is named for Ott's younger brother. G. Ott Romney was named after his maternal grandfather George M. Ottinger although, since his father was George Ernest Romney and his other grandfather was also named George Romney, it might have been more complex than this. He died of a heart ailment in 1973.''Salt Lake Tribune'', May 4, 1973, Salt Lake City, Utah

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romney, G. Ott 1892 births 1973 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Utah BYU Cougars athletic directors BYU Cougars football coaches BYU Cougars men's basketball coaches Montana State Bobcats football coaches Montana State Bobcats men's basketball coaches Utah Utes football players Utah State University faculty College track and field coaches in the United States Romney family Sportspeople from Salt Lake City Players of American football from Salt Lake City