Russell E. Peterson was an American college

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 ...

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 ...

coach. He served as a multi-sport coach at

American International College American International College (AIC) is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885 by Calvin E. Amaron who sought to create an institution of higher ...

and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Early life

Peterson was a native of

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, where he attended the High School of Commerce. He then continued on to

Springfield College Springfield College is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. The institution's mission, called the Humanism, Humanics philosophy, calls for educating students in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in service ...

, where he played football and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

.AIC athletics program builds on storied past
''The Republican'', March 27, 2011. He graduated as a member of the class of 1932.

Coaching career

Peterson began his coaching career as an assistant football coach at the Springfield Trade School. In 1933, American International College president Chester McGown hired Peterson as the school's first

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 ...

. Peterson established the American International basketball program in 1933, and its football, baseball, and soccer programs in 1934. On October 13, 1939, Peterson coached American International to perhaps its greatest victory, a 7–6 upset of heavy favorites

Saint Anselm Anselm of Canterbury OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also known as (, ) after his birthplace and () after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Canterb ...

at Pynchon Park. Trailing 6–0 with 1:30 remaining, American International elected to punt, but the

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

dropped the wet ball, and was forced to

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

. A

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gave him an opening and he ran 60 yards for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. Future American International coach Henry Butova kicked the

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to seal the victory.Richard Bedard continuing tradition of athletic excellence at American International College
MassLive.com, December 24, 2010. Peterson served as both the head football and basketball coach at American International. From 1934 to 1940, his football teams compiled a 16–27–2 record. As the basketball coach from 1933 to 1941, he compiled a 45–59 record. In 1941, he was hired by

as the line coach for its

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

and as the freshman coach for its basketball program. In 1943, Boston University also appointed Peterson as its head baseball coach. That year, he temporarily left the school to take a commission in the

United States 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 ...

as a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

instructor 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 ...

. Peterson returned to Boston and served as the head coach of the

basketball team 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 ...

from 1945 to 1948 and compiled a 36–18 record. In 1948, he was promoted to the position of freshman football coach. In August 1949, Peterson resigned from his posts at Boston in order to take an athletic director position at Arlington High School in

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Europe ...

. In 1953, he took over as head football coach at Springfield Technical High School, where he remained until 1958, when he resigned in order to become athletic director for

public schools.West Springfield and Springfield Tech coach Eddie Mason taught lessons about football, life
MassLive.com, January 26, 2011. He retired in 1970.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Russ Year of birth missing Year of death missing American International Yellow Jackets athletic directors American International Yellow Jackets football coaches American International Yellow Jackets men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Massachusetts Boston University Terriers men's basketball coaches Boston University Terriers football coaches Boston University Terriers baseball coaches Springfield Pride football players Springfield Pride men's lacrosse players High school football coaches in Massachusetts United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II Players of American football from Springfield, Massachusetts Military personnel from Massachusetts