Marvin Allen "Mal" Stevens (April 14, 1900 – December 6, 1979) 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, naval officer, and

orthopedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

surgeon. He served as the head football coach at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

from 1928 to 1932 and at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

from 1934 to 1941, 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 54–45–10. He was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

as a player in 1974.

Early life, playing career, and education

Born in

Stockton, Kansas Stockton is a city in and the county seat of Rooks County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,480. History 19th century Stockton was founded in 1872. A large share of the first settlers were catt ...

, Stevens attended

Washburn College Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 ...

for three years before transferring to

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

. He lettered in three sports at Washburn and played halfback on Yale's undefeated 1923 football team. He graduated from Yale in 1925 and was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

. He graduated from

Yale Medical School The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...

in 1929.

Coaching career and military service

Stevens coached the Yale football team from 1928 to 1932, leaving to become the 21st head football coach at

in 1934. His coached at NYU through the 1941 season, compiling a record of 33 wins, 34 losses, and 2 ties. This ranks him second at NYU in total wins and tenth at NYU in winning percentage. Stevens was awarded a place in the NYU Athletic Hall of Fame for his coaching efforts.NYU Athletics - Hall of Fame
/ref> Stevens then served as a lieutenant commander in the

United States 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 ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1946 he became head coach of the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

. He was the Eastern Director of the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute and Clinic in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Bellevue Hospital Center Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Mal 1900 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American physicians 20th-century surgeons American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks American men's basketball players American orthopedic surgeons Brooklyn Dodgers (AAFC) coaches NYU Violets football coaches Washburn Ichabods baseball players Washburn Ichabods men's basketball players Washburn Ichabods football players Yale Bulldogs football players Yale Bulldogs football coaches Yale College alumni Yale School of Medicine alumni College men's tennis players in the United States College men's track and field athletes in the United States College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers People from Osborne County, Kansas People from Stockton, Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Kansas Basketball players from Kansas