Earl C. "Tuffy" Abell (May 29, 1892 – May 26, 1956) 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 ...

player and coach. He played football as a tackle at

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

. He later returned to Colgate as an assistant coach in 1925, and took over the head coaching job in 1928. He spent the 1929 and 1930 football seasons as head football coach at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. Abell was inducted into the

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

as player in 1973.

Early life

Abell attended Portage High School in

Portage, Wisconsin Portage is a city in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 10,581 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Columbia County. It is part of the Madison metropolitan area. Portage was named for ...

Coaching career

VMI

Abell was the 13th head football coach at

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) in

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 ...

, serving for two seasons, from 1917 to 1918, and compiling a record of 7–7–1.

Colgate

Abell was the 22nd head football coach at

in the Hamilton New York, serving for the 1928 season, and compiling a record of 6–3.

Personal life

Born in

, Abell attended

, where he became a member of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...

fraternity. Abell was married and had three children. He worked for the

American Can Company The American Can Company was a manufacturer of tin cans. It was a member of the Tin Can Trust, that controlled a "large percentage of business in the United States in tin cans, containers, and packages of tin." American Can Company ranked 97th amo ...

upon retiring from coaching. He died of a heart attack on May 26, 1956.

Head coaching record

Football

Note: In the 1918 season, Abell served as a co-coach alongside Mose Goodman.

Basketball

2013–14 VMI Basketball Fact Book
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abell, Earl 1892 births 1956 deaths American football tackles Colgate Raiders football coaches Colgate Raiders football players Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Sewanee Tigers football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches VMI Keydets basketball coaches VMI Keydets football coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Portage, Wisconsin Coaches of American football from Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin Basketball coaches from Wisconsin