Joel Eaves
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Joel Harry Eaves (June 3, 1914 – July 18, 1991) 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 ...
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 ...
player, 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 ...
. He is perhaps most known for coaching basketball at his alma mater, 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 ...
of
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 ...
. He was also once athletic director for the
Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...
. Eaves was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1978.


Early years

Eaves was born on the
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
state line in
Copperhill, Tennessee Copperhill is a city in Polk County, Tennessee, Polk County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 443 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Cleveland, Tennessee, Cleveland Cleveland, Tennessee metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistica ...
. He grew up in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
and attended Tech High School.


Playing career

Eaves played on the
Auburn Tigers basketball The Auburn Tigers men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball team that represents Auburn University. The school competes in the Southeastern Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). T ...
,
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, 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 ...
teams


Basketball

Eaves was captain of the basketball team his senior year, an all-around
guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...
. He stood 6 feet 3 inches and weighed 190 pounds. The head coach of the basketball team was
Ralph "Shug" Jordan James Ralph "Shug" Jordan ( ; September 25, 1910 – July 17, 1980) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Auburn University from 1951 to 1975, wh ...
.


Football

On coach
Jack Meagher John Francis Meagher (July 5, 1894 – December 7, 1968) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. Meagher played football for the University of Notre Dame in 1916, rising ...
's football team, Eaves was an
end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...
, selected All- SEC by the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
in 1936. He was drafted in the eighth round of the
1937 NFL draft The 1937 NFL draft was the second draft held by the National Football League (NFL). The draft took place December 12, 1936, at the Hotel Lincoln in New York City. The draft consisted of 10 rounds, with 100 player selections, two of which would ...
by the
Boston Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football franchise based in the Washington metropolitan area. They are members of the NFC East, East division in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). ...
but never played in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL).


Baseball

He pitched on the baseball team.


Coaching career


Sewanee

Before coaching at Auburn, he coached the
Sewanee Tigers The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee, United States. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an off ...
basketball team.


Auburn

Eaves coached the Auburn men's basketball program from 1949 to 1963. He guided Auburn to its first SEC championship in 1960, and was named SEC Coach of the Year that season. Eaves made famous the shuffle offense while at Auburn. After 14 seasons at Auburn, Eaves finished with a record of 213–100 (.681). Eaves also assisted with the football team while at Auburn, helping with the freshmen ends for two years before coaching varsity
defensive ends Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...
, contributing to Auburn's 1957 national championship. Joel Eaves was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1978. Auburn's Memorial Coliseum was renamed after Eaves to Joel H. Eaves Memorial Coliseum in 1987, and later to
Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. The arena, which opened in 1969, is best known as the former home of the Auburn men's and women's basketball, women's ...
in 1993.


Administrative career

Eaves was the
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 ...
for the
Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...
from 1963 to 1979. He hired
Vince Dooley Vincent Joseph Dooley (September 4, 1932 – October 28, 2022) was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988, as well as the University of Georgia's (UGA) athletic director from 1979 to 2 ...
as football coach.


Head coaching record


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaves, Joel 1914 births 1991 deaths American football ends American men's basketball players Auburn Tigers baseball players Auburn Tigers men's basketball coaches Auburn Tigers men's basketball players Auburn Tigers football coaches Auburn Tigers football players Baseball pitchers Basketball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball players from Atlanta Georgia Bulldogs athletic directors Guards (basketball) People from Polk County, Tennessee Players of American football from Atlanta Sewanee Tigers men's basketball coaches Baseball players from Atlanta 20th-century American sportsmen