Robert Lee "Jack" Boone (May 28, 1918 – February 6, 1984) 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; most notably he served as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

for the

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 ...

team of East Carolina College (now

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

) for ten years.

Early years

Boone was a native of

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, and attended

Elon College Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, the university is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or ...

, where he played on the football team as a halfback from 1938 to 1941, and was co-captain in his senior year. After his college career, he was signed by the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to ...

in 1942, and played in two games for them. He later served in the

US 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 ...

East Carolina

Boone joined the coaching staff of East Carolina in September 1948, as assistant football coach. He was the

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

coach for three seasons. His teams posted a 38–23–2 record, for a .623 winning percentage. In 1952, Boone became head football coach for East Carolina, the ninth in the program's history. That year, the

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

saw their first action in the postseason when they played Clarion State College in the Lions Bowl, but lost 13–6. In 1953, the Pirates became the

North State Conference Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisio ...

champions and played in the Elks Bowl, where they lost 12–0 to Morris Harvey College. Boone was named the

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

in the North State Conference, after his team finished 8–2. Boone's football coaching career lasted ten years, during which he compiled a 49–45–5 record. He was dismissed as head coach in November 1961.

Later years

Boone was inducted into the athletic hall of fame of Elon in 1972, and of East Carolina in 1981. He died in February 1984 at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in

Greenville, North Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. It is the principal city of the Greenville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 12t ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boone, Jack 1918 births 1984 deaths People from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina Cleveland Rams players East Carolina Pirates baseball coaches East Carolina Pirates football coaches Elon Phoenix football players United States Navy personnel of World War II Players of American football from Portsmouth, Virginia