Anthony R. "Red" Matal Jr. (July 18, 1911 – March 18, 2003), sometimes known as Tony Matal, was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player and coach. He was an All-American

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: **End (category theory) ** End (topology) ** End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) ** End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footba ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1933. He later coached football at Columbia and at high schools in

Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. At the 2020 censu ...

, and Bergen County, New Jersey.

Athletic career

A native of

Lawrence, Massachusetts Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachuset ...

, Matal attended the Roxbury School in

Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), formerly known as New Cheshire Parish, is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The center of population of Connecticut is located in Cheshire ...

. At Roxbury, Matal played football, basketball and baseball. In the fall of 1931, he enrolled at

where he played college football, baseball and basketball. As a junior, Matal was selected by the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

as a second-team end on the

1932 College Football All-America Team The 1932 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1932. The eight selectors recognized by the ...

. The following year, he was selected by both the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media ou ...

and Davis J. Walsh, sports editor of

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

as a first-team

on the

1933 College Football All-America Team The 1933 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1933. The eight selectors recognized by the ...

. In the

1934 Rose Bowl The 1934 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1934, was an American football bowl game. It was the 20th Rose Bowl Game. The Columbia Lions defeated the Stanford Indians (now Cardinal) 7-0. Cliff Montgomery, the Columbia quarterback, was named the Ros ...

game, Matal caught a pass from midfield at the 19-yard line to set up "the famous KF-79 touchdown play" as Columbia upset Stanford by a score of 7 to 0.

Coaching career

Matal remained at Columbia as a graduate student, ultimately receiving a master's degree in physical education, and he also served from 1935 to 1939 as the varsity ends coach for the

Columbia Lions football The Columbia Lions football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Columbia University. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Ivy League. The Columbia football ...

team. From 1939 to 1943, he was employed at

Taunton High School Taunton High School (often abbreviated THS) is located within a large, three-floor, interconnected, multi-block complex in the eastern section of Taunton, Massachusetts, United States. It is an urban public high school with an estimated average st ...

as the athletic director and head coach of the football, basketball and baseball teams. Matal entered the United States Army in 1943 and served two-and-a-half years, including a stint as a special agent for the War Department in Germany. After being discharged from the Army, he returned to Taunton High School in the spring of 1946 and remained there for one year. In March 1947, Matal returned to Columbia as the Lions' ends coach. He remained with the Columbia Lions through the 1954 season. In April 1955, Matal was hired as the head football coach and athletic director at

Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

in Bergen County, New Jersey. Matal taught and coached football at Babylon HS in Babylon, NY in the 1960s. (ref-BHS yearbooks for the period)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matal, Red 1911 births 2003 deaths American football ends Columbia Lions football coaches Columbia Lions football players High school baseball coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in New Jersey High school football coaches in New Jersey Players of American football from Lawrence, Massachusetts People from Cheshire, Connecticut