William Harold "Butch" Cowell (July 21, 1887 – August 28, 1940) 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 ...

. He is best known for his tenure as head coach of the

New Hampshire Wildcats football The New Hampshire Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcats compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Coastal A ...

team from 1915 to 1936.

Biography

Cowell was born on July 21, 1887, in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest List of municipalities in Massachusetts, municipality in Massachusetts, United States, and the largest city in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line ...

. His family moved to

Clyde, Kansas Clyde is a city in Cloud County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 694. It is located east of Concordia along state highway K-9. History Clyde was laid out in 1867, making it the oldest town in ...

, where he played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

. He later 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 ...

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 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Cowell served as the head coach of the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

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 1915 to 1936, except in 1918 when no

varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

was fielded. As a football coach, Cowell led his varsity teams to an overall record of 87 wins, 68 losses, and 23 ties, for a

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 ...

. In addition to coaching football, Cowell was also the head basketball coach, head baseball coach, and

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 a ...

at New Hampshire. He was a founder of the American Football Coaches Association and served a term as the organization's

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

. New Hampshire's

Wildcat Stadium Wildcat Stadium may refer to one of the following sports stadiums in the United States: :''Entries are listed alphabetically by state'' * Wildcat Stadium (Fort Valley, Georgia), home football field of Fort Valley State University * Wildcat Stadium ( ...

was named Cowell Stadium in his honor from 1952 until 2016. He was a member of the inaugural class of the Wildcat athletic Hall of Fame in 1982. He is also the "Cowell" in the name of the rivalry game with the

Maine Black Bears The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's Col ...

, the Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket. 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 ...

, he served as a second lieutenant in the Yankee Division ( 26th Infantry Division). Cowell, who never married, died on August 28, 1940, in

Dover, New Hampshire Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,741 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous city in the New Hampshire Seacoast Region (New Hampshire), Seacoast region and ...

, at the age of 53 after a two-year illness. He was interred at Maple Grove Cemetery in Randolph, Maine. His brother, Roland Cowell, was also a coach and administrator in college athletics.

Head coaching record

Note that New Hampshire did not adopt the Wildcats nickname until February 1926; before then, they were generally referred to as "the blue and white".

Football

New Hampshire had an eight-game schedule planned for the 1918 season, which was abandoned due to

.
Source:

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowell, Butch 1887 births 1940 deaths American football tackles Basketball coaches from Kansas Players of American football from Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas Haskell Indian Nations Fighting Indians football coaches Kansas Jayhawks football players New Hampshire Wildcats athletic directors New Hampshire Wildcats baseball coaches New Hampshire Wildcats football coaches New Hampshire Wildcats men's basketball coaches People from Cloud County, Kansas College men's basketball head coaches in the United States United States Army personnel of World War I Presidents of the American Football Coaches Association