Alpha Brumage (March 16, 1880 – March 11, 1963) was an

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

player and 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Early life and playing career

Brumage was a native of

Beloit, Kansas Beloit is a city in and the county seat of Mitchell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,404. History On permanent organization of the county in 1870, Beloit was selected as the county sea ...

and graduated from Beloit High School. He attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, where he played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

from 1901 to 1903 as a fullback and captained the

1903 Kansas Jayhawks football team The 1903 Kansas Jayhawks football team was an American football team that represented the University of Kansas as an independent during the 1903 college football season. In January 1903, Kansas hired Boss Weeks, who was the quarterback of Fi ...

. Brumage also participated in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

as Kansas, running the hurdles in 1902–03.

Coaching career

Ottawa (KS)

Brumage was the head football at

Ottawa University Ottawa University (OU) is a private Baptist university with its main campus in Ottawa, Kansas. It also has a second residential campus in Surprise, Arizona, and adult campuses in the Kansas City and Milwaukee metropolitan areas, as well as onlin ...

Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Kansas, Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located on both banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near the center of Franklin County. As of the 2020 United ...

for four seasons, from 1904 to 1907 compiling a record of 14–16–1. Brumage took over the team after a one-year hiatus because the school was attempting to purge

professionalism Professionalism is a set of standards that an individual is expected to adhere to in a workplace, usually in order to appear serious, uniform, or respectful. What constitutes professionalism is hotly debated and varies from workplace to workplac ...

from their college sports teams.

VMI

After coaching at

William Jewell College William Jewell College is a private liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and endowed with $10,000 by William Jewell. It was associated with the Missouri ...

Liberty, Missouri Liberty is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Missouri, United States and is a suburb of Kansas City, located in the Kansas City Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 30,167. Liberty is home to Willia ...

and Nebraska State Normal School—now known as

Peru State College Peru State College (Peru) is a public college in Peru, Nebraska, United States. It was founded by members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1865, making it the first and oldest institution of higher education in Nebraska. The college is org ...

—Brumage moved to

Lexington, Virginia Lexington is an Independent city (United States)#Virginia, independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, Virg ...

to become the tenth head football coach at the

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

(VMI). He held that position for two seasons, from 1911 until 1912. His career coaching record at VMI was 13–2.

Kentucky

Brumage then went to Kentucky where he was football coach from 1913 to 1914, compiling an 11–5 record, and basketball coach from 1913 to 1915, compiling a 19–7 record.

Late life and death

In September 1915, Brumage was appointed as the physical director of the Birmingham Athletic Club in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and coached the basketball team. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Brumage attended officer's training school and was promoted to the rank of major in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He served in France with the 322nd Field Artillery Regiment of the 83rd Infantry Division. Brumage retired to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

in the early 1940s. He died there on March 11, 1963.

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brumage, Alpha 1880 births 1963 deaths American football fullbacks American male hurdlers Kansas Jayhawks football players Kansas Jayhawks men's track and field athletes Kentucky Wildcats baseball coaches Kentucky Wildcats football coaches Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coaches Ottawa Braves football coaches Peru State Bobcats football coaches Peru State Bobcats men's basketball coaches VMI Keydets football coaches VMI Keydets basketball coaches William Jewell Cardinals baseball coaches William Jewell Cardinals football coaches William Jewell Cardinals men's basketball coaches United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War I People from Beloit, Kansas Sportspeople from San Antonio Coaches of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Kansas Players of American football from San Antonio Baseball coaches from Kansas Basketball coaches from Kansas Track and field athletes from Kansas Track and field athletes from San Antonio Military personnel from Kansas 20th-century American sportsmen