Thomas Robert Hazzard (October 24, 1871 – February 10, 1957) 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 ...
player and coach, minister, farmer, missionary, and riveter. He served as the head football coach at
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 ...
in
Oxford, Ohio
Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion ...
, in 1901, compiling a record of 1–3–1. An
Episcopal clergyman, Hazzard founded
Hope Farm in
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later o ...
, in 1907.
Early life
Thomas Hazzard was born on October 24, 1871, in
Titusville, Pennsylvania
Titusville is a city in the far eastern corner of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,262 at the 2020 census. Titusville is known as the birthplace of the American oil industry and for a number of years was the le ...
. He was one of nine children of Hiram and Ruby (Windsor) Hazzard.
He attended
Kenyon College
Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...
, where he received his theological training.
He was as originally part of the class of 1895, but did not graduate until 1899, with a degree in theology.. While at Kenyon, he was a standout athlete and captain of the football team for two years.
He later wrote about his playing days and his approach to stopping the
flying wedge of the opponent. His tactic was to dive into the wedge "...grabbing up enough feet that if a pile-up didn't occur the ball carrier would be open anyway for other defenders to get."
Football coach

Hazzard coached
Sidney High School football team from 1897 to 1900 where he never lost a game.
In 1901 he moved onto Miami University. Hazzard coached the 1901 football team at Miami, which was known for a strong defense that gave up less than six points a game.
The offence had trouble scoring in the first three games, starting the season 0–2–1, with close losses to
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...
(12–0) and Dayton Athletic Club (5–0) and a 0–0 tie to
Earlham.
The joke around campus was,
"if they could score they could win."
They finally won in a game against
Antioch College
Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...
by score of 23–6. They lost their last game of the season to
Denison by a score of 6–0.
Later in life, Hazzard wrote about his coaching philosophy. He stated he would lecture his player on how to play the game by telling his team stories of his playing days at Kenyon. On story was how he "...had a trick, a habit of putting the man opposite me out of business by jamming an elbow against his neck...a couple of hard ones got him a little timid."
Church work
In the early 1900s Hazzard headed up the
Episcopal Church in
Sidney, Ohio
Sidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 20,421 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton and south of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo, and is a ...
. In 1900 he designed and built a new Church for the congregation. Hazzard's design was based on a memory of church from his past. It was designed in an English
gothic styled including Flemish oak beams in the nave.
Due to a tight budget, Hazzard also did a substantial amount of the manual labor to build the church including the furniture and
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
.
In 1902 he moved to
Briarcliff, New York, to be the rector at
All Saints' Episcopal Church. He served at this position until 1907, where with the urging Bishop
David H. Greer, he founded
Hope Farm in
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later o ...
. At Hope Farm he served as its first director as well as building several of the original buildings.
In 1917, he resigned as director to become a riveter at International Shipbuilding Co. at
Hog Island, Pennsylvania, during the war years.
After World War I, he became an Episcopal Missionary in
Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
. He spent two years in Africa before returning to New York to become a rector at several churches, including St. Peter's Church in
Lithgow and St. Thomas Church in
Amenia Union.
Later life
In the early 1950s, Hazzard resigned his positions as rector. Later he moved into a home he shared with his son, Charles B. Hazzard. After a long illness he died on February 10, 1957, in
Millbrook, New York
Millbrook is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. Millbrook is located in the Hudson Valley, on the east side of the Hudson River, north of New York City. Millbrook is near the cent ...
.
Head coaching record
College
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazzard, Thomas
1871 births
1957 deaths
19th-century players of American football
American Episcopal clergy
American football tackles
Kenyon Owls football players
Miami RedHawks football coaches
High school football coaches in Ohio
People from Briarcliff Manor, New York
People from Sidney, Ohio
People from Titusville, Pennsylvania
Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania
Players of American football from Pennsylvania