Thomas C. Boisture (March 23, 1931 – March 11, 2011) 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 ...

high school and college coach, a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) scout, and the head of player personnel for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. Before joining the Giants, Boisture was a scout for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

from 1970 to 1979. He became the Director of Player Personnel for the New York Giants in 1980 and was named Vice President of Player Personnel in 1998. He retired in 2000.

Super Bowl

Boisture was a member of the 1986 Super Bowl and

1990 Super Bowl Super Bowl XXIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...

winning Giants. Giants like

Lawrence Taylor Lawrence Julius Taylor (born February 4, 1959), nicknamed "L.T.", is an American former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the New York Giants. He is almost universally regard ...

Mark Bavaro Mark Anthony Bavaro (born April 28, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for the New York Giants (1985–1990), Cleveland Browns (1992), and Philadelphia Eagles (1993–1994) in the National Football Lea ...

Carl Banks Carl E. Banks (born August 29, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played from 1984 to 1995 for the New York Giants, Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns. H ...

Michael Strahan Michael Anthony Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television host, journalist, and former professional American football, football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Gian ...

and

Amani Toomer Amani Askari Toomer (born September 8, 1974) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a wide receiver and punt returner for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He registered over 1 ...

were among the players who helped the Giants reach four Super Bowls during Boisture's tenure.

Coaching

Boisture began his coaching career at

Austin Catholic Preparatory School Austin Catholic Preparatory School was a boys, non–residential, college preparatory Catholic Church, Catholic school in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Austin was "one of the city's most widely respected schools."Austin Prep School to Close Next Yea ...

in Detroit before becoming the head football coach at

St. Ambrose High School St. Ambrose High School is a coeducational secondary school located in the Townhead area of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. History The school opened in August 1961 and was originally located on Blair Road before the school moved sites ...

Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan Grosse Pointe Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 11,555 at the 2010 census. Bordering on Detroit with frontage on southern Lake St. Clair, it is the southernmost of the Grosse Pointe suburbs. Gro ...

. Boisture then became an assistant coach at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

and then at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. He was the head football coach at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

from 1967 to 1968, compiling an 8–11–1 record as head coach.

Early years

Boisture was a star football player at

Holy Redeemer High School Holy Redeemer High School is a high school of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton. It is located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States. It is currently the only Catholic high school in Luzerne County. History In January 2007, Bishop ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. He went on to play college football for

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

. He was the younger brother of

Dan Boisture Daniel P. Boisture Jr. (February 22, 1925 – May 18, 2007) was an American football coach. He was the head coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles football team from 1967 to 1973, compiling a record of 45–20–3. Boisture was a star athlete in ...

, who served as head football coach at

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

from 1967 to 1973.

Personal life

A resident of

Little Ferry, New Jersey Little Ferry is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 10,987, an increase of 361 (+3.4%) from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census count of 10,626, w ...

, Boisture died of

myelofibrosis Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a rare bone marrow blood cancer. It is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm, a group of cancers in which there is activation and growth of mutated cells in ...

on March 11, 2011.Levin, Jay
"Retired Giants executive Thomas Boisture of Little Ferry dead at 79"
''

The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and ...

'', March 17, 2011. Accessed May 12, 2016. "Tom Boisture never made a tackle or caught a pass for the Giants but he wore a

Super Bowl XXI Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

ring on his left hand and a

Super Bowl XXV Super Bowl XXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

ring on his right. The Little Ferry resident, who died last Friday at 79, headed the Giants’ player personnel for 20 years."

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boisture, Tom 1931 births 2011 deaths Holy Cross Crusaders football coaches Houston Cougars football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football players New England Patriots scouts New York Giants executives Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches High school football coaches in Michigan People from Little Ferry, New Jersey Players of American football from Detroit Coaches of American football from Michigan Holy Redeemer High School (Detroit) alumni Players of American football from Bergen County, New Jersey