Robert Lee "Chief" Myers (September 1, 1887 – May 5, 1953) 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 ...

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 ...

foundational in the success of the

Centre Praying Colonels football The Centre Colonels football team, historically also known as the Praying Colonels, represents Centre College in NCAA Division III competition. The Colonels currently play in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA), which was established in 2011 ...

programs of

Centre College Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...

in the period from 1917 to 1925. This era included the 1921 Centre vs. Harvard football game, one of the sport's greatest upsets.

Early years

Myers was born in

Atchison, Kansas Atchison is a city in, and the county seat of, Atchison County, Kansas, United States, along the Missouri River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,885. The city is named in honor of US Senator ...

. He graduated from

, class of 1907. He then found himself in Chicago watching clinics performed by

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 ...

Coaching career

High school

Myers coached at North Side High School in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

c. 1916. He had implemented a system of play akin to

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

's. His team there included future Centre stars

Bo McMillin Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin (January 12, 1895 – March 31, 1952) was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-t ...

and

Red Weaver The red weaver (''Anaplectes jubaensis'') is a species of bird in the weaver family Ploceidae. It is found in southern Somalia and northeastern Kenya. This species was formerly considered as a subspecies of the red-headed weaver The red-heade ...

, who, after needing more credits, were recruited by boosters to Somerset High School in Kentucky, where they joined up with Kentucky native

Red Roberts :''This is an article about the baseball player. For the college football coach, see Red Roberts (American football).'' Charles Emory "Red" Roberts (August 8, 1918 – December 2, 1998) was an American Major League Baseball player. Roberts ...

. Also at North Side were

Sully Montgomery James Ralph "Sully" Montgomery (January 12, 1901 – September 5, 1970) was an American professional football player and boxer. Montgomery played college football for the Centre Praying Colonels of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He ca ...

Matty Bell William Madison "Matty" Bell (February 22, 1899 – June 30, 1983) was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He played for Centre, captain of its 1918 team. He served as the head foot ...

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His a ...

, and Bob Mathias. Myers brought all of these to his alma mater

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micr ...

Centre

As one writer explains, Centre's success in football from

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

"came about because one man dreamed it, and put his feet to the ground with a plan, and then realized his dream to make Centre the No. 1 football team in America. That person was Robert Livingston "Chief" Myers, who had been a 98-pound weakling when he played football. He was a scrub and they made him the water boy. But he had a love for football, a passion for football, so even though he didn't make varsity, that didn't stop him from wanting to coach Centre, and didn't stop him from trying to put together the best team possible."

1917

The first two games were coached by Myers, and the rest by

Charley Moran Charles Barthell Moran (February 22, 1878 – June 14, 1949), nicknamed "Uncle Charley", was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as a collegiate and professional American football coa ...

. According to Centre publications, "Myers realized he was dealing with a group of exceptional athletes, who were far beyond his ability to coach. He needed someone who could othe team justice, and found that person in Charles Moran."

1921

Myers was then

of Centre from 1920 to 1922. Centre's undefeated season in

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...

drew attention and a challenge from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

. Centre lost to Harvard in 1920, but in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

it defeated the Crimson 6 to 0 in what is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in college football history. McMillin got the score with Roberts providing the blocking. Following the game, students from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

who came to cheer against Harvard carried McMillin off the field and tore down the goalposts.

1924

Myers led the Colonels to their last Southern championship in 1924. The team defeated both

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 ...

and

SoCon The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly kn ...

champion

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Later years and death

Myers left Centre in 1925 and worked with his father in the White & Myers Chautauqua and subsequently with Interstate Lyceum Bureau of Chicago. In 1932, he was hired as director of admissions and publicity at the

Kentucky Military Institute The Kentucky Military Institute (KMI) was a military University-preparatory school, preparatory school in Lyndon, Kentucky, and Venice, Florida, in operation from 1845 to 1971. Founding One of the oldest traditional military prep schools in th ...

Lyndon, Kentucky Lyndon is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 11,002 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 9,369 at the 2000 United States ...

. Myers returned in 1944 to Centre, serving as director of publicity until 1950 when he took the same position at Trinity University in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

. He left Trinity in 1953 and moved to

Algonquin, Illinois Algonquin is a village in McHenry and Kane counties, Illinois, in the United States. It is a suburb of Chicago, located approximately northwest of the Loop. As of the 2020 census, the village's population was 29,700. The village is known as ...

to live with his son. Myers died on May 5, 1953, in Algonquin.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Robert L. 1887 births 1953 deaths Centre Colonels athletic directors Centre Colonels football coaches Centre Colonels football players Trinity University (Texas) people High school football coaches in Texas People from Atchison, Kansas