Eugene Leon Caton (October 13, 1889 – March 12, 1979) 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 as well as an oil salesman.

Early years

Caton was born on October 13, 1889, in

Covington County, Alabama Covington County (briefly Jones County) is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 37,570. Its county seat is Andalusia. Its name is in honor of Brigadier General Le ...

, to Noah Dent Caton and Elizabeth Rousseau.

Playing career

Auburn

He was a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

John Heisman John William Heisman ( ; October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

considered him one of the south's greatest centers. He was selected All-Southern in 1910. Eugene was the older brother of

Noah Caton Noah Winston Caton (February 17, 1897 – April 12, 1922) was an American football player and track star for the Auburn Tigers of Auburn University. Caton was thrice selected All-Southern. He was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. His older b ...

. He was 171 pounds. In 1915, John Heisman selected the 30 best Southern football players, and mentioned Caton 24th.

Coaching career

Howard

Caton coached the Howard Bulldogs in 1915.

Oil salesman

Caton managed the southern branch of the Pure Oil company in 1922, which marketed Tiolene, Pennsylvania base motor oil.

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caton, Eugene 1889 births 1979 deaths American football centers Auburn Tigers football players Samford Bulldogs athletic directors Samford Bulldogs baseball coaches Samford Bulldogs football coaches All-Southern college football players People from Covington County, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama