John Orville "Buddy" Brothers (May 29, 1909 – December 25, 1991) was an American

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 ...

coach. He coached the

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Tulsa Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the Universit ...

football team at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

from 1946 to 1952 and compiled a 45–25–4 record and .635

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

Coaching career

Brothers attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

, where he played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

from 1928 to 1930. Brothers coached at Tulsa for seven seasons. During that time, his teams compiled four

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

championship, and Brothers was twice named the conference Coach of the Year. He posted a 45–25–4 record and .635 winning percentage, which makes him the ninth winningest Tulsa coach in school history. In 1946, Brothers and quarterback Clyde LeForce led the Golden Hurricane to a 9–1 record. Tulsa recorded impressive wins over

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, and conference co-champions

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. The Golden Hurricane beat Kansas, 56–0, after scoring five touchdowns in the first half within a 12-minute span. The lone loss came to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. In 1949, Tulsa posted just a 5–5–1 record, but that included one of the biggest upsets of the season. The Golden Hurricane beat undefeated Villanova, 21–19, a team that had recorded earlier wins over

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, Detroit, and Saint Mary's. After the game, Brothers told the media, "You know, we've had one coming to us for a long time. I guess this was it. We hadn't been doing much and Villanova was bigger, faster and a sound favorite. "But a half dozen of the boys came to me this afternoon. They said they were speaking for the team when they told me: "'We're gonna win this one for you, coach, just to make you coach of the week'." In 1951, in the game against Marquette, the opposing coach,

Lisle Blackbourn Lisle William "Liz" Blackbourn (June 3, 1899 – June 14, 1983) was an American football coach in Wisconsin, most notably as the third head coach of the Green Bay Packers, from 1954 Green Bay Packers season, 1954 through 1957 Green Bay Packers se ...

, accused the Golden Hurricane of "flagrantly illegal tactics." Brothers called the charges "unfair, unsportsmanlike, and onesided." The incident created enough ill will that the schools cancelled the 1952 game. After the end of his coaching tenure at Tulsa, Brothers went on to coach high school football including stints at

Norman High School Norman High School is a four-year Public school (government funded), public high school in Norman, Oklahoma, with a steady enrollment of approximately 2,000 students. It is accredited by North Central Association, the Oklahoma State Department ...

, in 1956 and 1957, and

Lubbock High School Lubbock High School is a 5A high school serving grades nine to twelve in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the Lubbock Independent School District. The school was founded in 1891 as the first high school in Lubbock County. Lubbock High School predat ...

.From the A-J's Pages: 50 years ago
''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'', June 19, 2008.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers, Buddy 1909 births 1991 deaths Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football players High school football coaches in Oklahoma High school football coaches in Texas Norman Public Schools teachers