Avery Benjamin Dille (October 31, 1892 – August 21, 1964) was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

and college basketball player and coach and educator. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi Normal College—now known as the University of Southern Mississippi—from 1914 to 1916, compiling a record of 6–10–1. Dille was also the head basketball coach at Mississippi Normal from 1913 to 1916, tallying a mark of 29–14.

Education and playing career

Dille played halfback for the Mississippi A&M (now

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

) football team and was awarded a letter for the 1910 season.

Coaching career

Football

Dille was the coach head football at Mississippi Normal College—now known as the University of Southern Mississippi. He held the position from 1914 until conclusion of the 1916 season and was the third person to hold the position at the school. His record at Mississippi Normal was 6–10–1. A unique positive turning point occurred in the 1916 season as the result of a loss. In what was called the program's "Greatest pre-World War I success", the team lost to Ole Miss by a score of 13 to 7. The school's leadership at the time took this as a sign that the program could compete nationally in the sport of football. Due to World War I, the school ceased competing in football after completion of the 1916 season and did not restart the program until 1919.

Basketball

While at Mississippi Normal, Dille also served as the head basketball coach from 1913 until the conclusion of the 1915–16 season, during which time his teams produced a record of 29–14 (.674). Dille was the second person to hold the position at the school.

Teaching career

In 1917, Dille was hired as the principal and agriculturalist at the newly-formed Tallachatchie County Agricultural High School in

Charleston, Mississippi Charleston is a city in north central Mississippi and one of the two county seats of Tallahatchie County, which is located on both sides of the Tallahatchie River. This city is located east of the river and its population was 2,193 at the 2010 ce ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dille, A. B. Place of birth missing 1892 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American educators American football halfbacks American men's basketball players American school principals Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball players Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Southern Miss Golden Eagles football coaches Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball coaches Educators from Mississippi