Michael Francis Ahearn (November 28, 1878 – February 5, 1948) was an American athlete and college athletics administrator. Ahearn played and coached

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 ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

, and was a college professor 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 ...

at Kansas State Agricultural College—now known as

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

. He also helped guide the evolution of the rules of modern football, serving ten years on the college football rules committee (1922–1931), initially under Secretary

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American college football player and coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage a ...

and alongside

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

. He was selected as a charter member of the

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in Wichita, dedicated to preserving the history of sports in the state of Kansas. The museum provides exhibits, archives, facilities, services, and activities to honor those individuals and t ...

Career

Over the years, Ahearn served Kansas State in a variety of roles that included coach, professor, head of the Department of Physical Education, and director of athletics. He is considered the "Father of Kansas State athletics." In 1905, he officially became the tenth head football coach at Kansas State, but was the first to hold the position for more than one year. He was coach from 1905 until 1910, compiling a record of 39–12. His 39 wins were the most in the history of

Kansas State Wildcats football The Kansas State Wildcats football program (variously K-State or KSU) is the intercollegiate football program of the Kansas State University Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and the tea ...

until Bill Snyder passed him in 1995. His winning percentage of .765 is still the highest of any coach in program history. Ahearn was also the head basketball coach at Kansas State from 1906 to 1911, tallying a mark of 28–27, and the head baseball coach at the school from 1904 to 1910, amassing a record of 90–35–12. From 1920 until 1947, Ahearn was the

at Kansas State, during which time the school built Memorial Stadium, the Wildcats home football venue from 1922 until 1967.

Personal life

Ahearn was born on November 28, 1878, in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He attended Massachusetts Agricultural College, now the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

, where he lettered in football, basketball, baseball, and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

. Ahearn died on February 5, 1948, in

Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city in and the county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County, Kansas, Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big ...

Legacy

Kansas State honored Ahearn's coaching success in 1911 by naming its first on-campus athletic field Ahearn Field. The location is the current site of Memorial Stadium. The school further honored his memory in 1950 with the opening of Ahearn Field House, which used to house the school's volleyball and indoor track and field teams, and was home to the Kansas State basketball teams from 1950 to 1988.

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahearn, Mike 1878 births 1948 deaths American men's basketball players English emigrants to the United States Kansas State Wildcats athletic directors Kansas State Wildcats baseball coaches Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball coaches Kansas State University faculty People from Rotherham UMass Minutemen baseball players UMass Minutemen basketball players UMass Minutemen football players UMass Minutemen ice hockey players