Robert "Hooper" Eblen (November 16, 1911 – June 30, 1976) 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 ...

and

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 ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University (commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech) is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie, the name unde ...

from 1947 to 1949, compiling a record of 12–19. Eblen was school's head basketball coach during the 1947–48 season, tallying a mark of 18–7. A native of

Kingston, Tennessee Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Roane County, Tennessee, United States. This city is thirty-six miles southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. It had a population of 5,934 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 United States ce ...

, Eblen attended Tennessee Wesleyan College—now known as

Tennessee Wesleyan University Tennessee Wesleyan University (TWU) is a Private university, private United Methodist Church, Methodist university in Athens, Tennessee. It was founded in 1857 and is affiliated with the Holston :wikt:conference, Conference of the United Meth ...

—in

Athens, Tennessee Athens is the county seat of McMinn County, Tennessee, United States and the principal city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 53,569. The city is located almost equidistantly between the major cities of Knoxville a ...

when it operated as a junior college. There he played football as a fullback and basketball as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He moved on to the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, lettering for the

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Vols," "UT" and "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 132 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 870–415–53 ( ...

team in 1935 before graduating in 1936. Eblen began his coaching career at Whitwell H. S. (TN) in 1936 the departed in 1937 for a start up football program at Carter High School in

Strawberry Plains, Tennessee Strawberry Plains is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson, Knox, and Sevier counties in the State of Tennessee, United States. Before 2010, it was treated by the United States Census Bureau as a census cou ...

. After serving as head football and head basketball coach there, he returned to Tennessee Wesleyan when he was hired in December 1938 as a head football coach to succeed

Rube McCray Ruben North McCray (June 13, 1904 – November 20, 1972) was the head football, men's basketball, and baseball coach at the College of William & Mary. He also served as their athletic director. Later in life he became a community leader in Lake Wa ...

. Eblen also coached basketball at Tennessee Wesleyan, leading teams in both sports to Southeastern junior college championships. In 1941, he moved to Tennessee Tech to work as backfield coach under head football coach Preston Vaughn Overall. Eblen left Tennessee Tech in 1942 for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where he earned a master's degree in physical education. After serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he resumed his post as Tennessee Tech. In January 1947, Eblen was appointed to succeed Overall as head coach of the

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Tennessee Technological University located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship S ...

team. Eblen died on June 30, 1976, after suffering a heart attack at Baptist Hospital in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eblen, Hooper 1911 births 1976 deaths American football fullbacks Forwards (basketball) Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles athletic directors Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football coaches Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches Tennessee Volunteers football players Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs football coaches Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs football players Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in Tennessee High school football coaches in Tennessee University of Michigan alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II People from Kingston, Tennessee Coaches of American football from Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee Basketball coaches from Tennessee Basketball players from Tennessee