Robert A. Pickett (February 22, 1932 – February 3, 2010) 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 who served as the head football coach of at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...
from 1978 to 1983.
Early life
Pickett attended high school at
Cony High School
Cony High School is a public school located in Augusta, Maine, United States that educates students from Grades 9 to 12. Cony draws its students from Augusta, as well as the surrounding communities of Chelsea, Maine, Chelsea, China, Maine, China ...
in
Augusta, Maine
Augusta is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Maine. The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Maine, 12th-most populous city in Maine, and third ...
, where he graduated in 1952. He attended
Maine Central Institute
Maine Central Institute (MCI) is an independent high school in Pittsfield, Maine, United States that was established in 1866. The school enrolls approximately 430 students and is a nonsectarian institution. The school has both boarding and d ...
for one year after that, and then finished his education at the
University of Maine
The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...
where he graduated in 1959. Pickett played football for Maine and was their starting
quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
.
Coaching career
Pickett began his coaching career as the head football and basketball coach at
Laconia High School. In his first season, Laconia won the Division II state title, their second ever championship and their first since 1951. He coached at
Portsmouth High School from 1962 until 1964, when he became an assistant coach at Maine. In 1971 he joined
Dick MacPherson
Richard F. MacPherson (November 4, 1930 – August 8, 2017) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1971 to 1977 and at Syracuse University from 1981 to 1990, compiling a ca ...
as the defensive coordinator at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was promoted to head coach following MacPherson's departure in 1978. In his first season as head coach, UMASS won the
Yankee Conference
The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is essentially the a ...
championship and was runner-up finish in the
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was ca ...
. He served as head coach until 1983, compiling a record of 36–28 overall record and winning four Yankee Conference championships.
Later life
Pickett served as UMASS' associate athletic director until his retirement in 1997. He was the color commentator on radio broadcasts of Minutemen football from 1998 to 2003.
Head coaching record
College
References
1932 births
2010 deaths
American football quarterbacks
Maine Black Bears football coaches
Maine Black Bears football players
UMass Minutemen football coaches
High school football coaches in New Hampshire
Maine Central Institute alumni
Sportspeople from Augusta, Maine
Coaches of American football from Maine
Players of American football from Maine
Cony High School alumni
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