Stuart K. Holcomb (September 11, 1910 – January 11, 1977) 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 ...

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 ...

coach best known for serving as head football coach for

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

(1942–1943) and

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

(1947–1955). Before coaching, Holcomb was a starting halfback at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

and the captain of the 1931 Buckeyes football team. Prior to arriving at Miami, Holcomb was the head football coach at three smaller schools: the University of Findlay (1932–1935), Muskingum College (1936–1940), and

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...

(1941). He also served as the head basketball coach at University of Findlay for four seasons, 1932–33 through 1935–36 and at the United States Military Academy from 1945 to 1947. After retiring from coaching, Holcomb was the athletic director at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

(1956–1966) and later the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

(1971–1973).

Coaching career

Miami

Holcomb was named

's head football coach for the 1942 season succeeding Frank Wilton. His first team went 3–6 which equaled the number of wins of the three previous years for the Redskins. The next year Holcomb and the Redskins posted a winning record of 7–2–1. This team was dominated by defense, only allowing their opponents to score in double digits twice; A 34–12 win over Bradley University and a 35–0 blow out loss to Arkansas A&M. In his two years as Miami’s head coach he compiled an overall record of 10–9–1. He left Miami to become an assistant coach for Earl Blaik at the United States Military Academy. He was replaced as Redskins coach by future Pro and College Football Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman who was one of Holcomb's top assistant coaches.

Army

While an assistant football coach for the United States Military Academy, Holcomb was head coach of the men’s basketball team for two seasons from 1945 through 1947. He led the cadets to two straight winning seasons of 9–6 and 9–7.

Purdue

During Holcomb’s tenure as Boilermakers head coach he compiled a record of 35–42–4. His best year was 1952 when he led the Boilermakers to a

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

co-championship and a #18 ranking in the final poll. Despite having only a 4–3–2 overall record, Holcomb's team played well in conference with a 4–1–1 record. Holcomb’s Purdue teams are, perhaps, best remembered for ending Notre Dame's 39-game unbeaten streak when his Boilermakers defeated the Irish, 28–14, in the second game of the 1950 season. Holcomb was known for developing solid quarterbacks including Bob DeMoss, Dale Samuels and Len Dawson. These players helped grow a strong tradition at Purdue of great quarterback play. On December 12, 1955, after his nine seasons at Purdue, Holcomb left Purdue to accept the athletic director position at the

Sports administrator

Holcomb served as the Athletic Director at Northwestern from 1956-1966. He hired fellow Miami alum Ara Parseghian to be the new Wildcats head coach in 1956, and Parseghian stayed at Northwestern until accepting the head coaching job at Notre Dame following the 1963 season. One of the reasons for Parseghian's departure was his feud with Holcomb. Holcomb was appointed as the

of the Chicago Mustangs, a United Soccer Association franchise owned by

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

and John Allyn. After the Mustangs folded following the 1968 season, Holcomb was reassigned to the

, another of the Allyn brothers' business entities, as its

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

director. With the White Sox's record at 49–87 and en route to a franchise-worst 56–106 finish,"Gutteridge Is Released As White Sox Manager," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Wednesday, September 2, 1970.
Retrieved December 10, 2021 Holcomb was promoted to replace Ed Short as

on September 1, 1970. He immediately began overhauling the ball club that month with the dismissal of Don Gutteridge on the 2nd and the hiring of Chuck Tanner and Roland Hemond from the California Angels as manager and director of player personnel respectively two days later on the 4th. Holcomb was succeeded by Hemond as general manager in 1973.

Death

Holcomb died of a heart attack, on January 11, 1977, in Venice, Florida.

Family

Holcomb's three sons played college football: Chip at

, Doug at

, and Bryan at Arizona State University and

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holcomb, Stu 1910 births 1977 deaths American football halfbacks Army Black Knights football coaches Army Black Knights men's basketball coaches Chicago White Sox executives Findlay Oilers football coaches Findlay Oilers men's basketball coaches Major League Baseball general managers Miami RedHawks football coaches Muskingum Fighting Muskies football coaches Muskingum Fighting Muskies men's basketball coaches Northwestern Wildcats athletic directors Ohio State Buckeyes football players Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Washington & Jefferson Presidents football coaches Sportspeople from Erie, Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania