Alfred Mudge McCoy (October 7, 1899 – January 28, 1990) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as head football coach at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

and Colby College and was the head baseball and men's basketball coach at Northeastern.

Early life

A native of

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

, McCoy attended Newton High School and

Dean Academy The Dean Academy (formerly Whitecross School) is a Mixed-sex education, mixed secondary school located in Lydney in the English county of Gloucestershire. Location The school is located on the edge of Lydney, a small river-side town in the Roy ...

. As a youth he excelled in football, swimming, and baseball. He was awarded a medal from the

Massachusetts Humane Society Captain Joshua James, volunteer The Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, better known as the Massachusetts Humane Society was founded in 1786 by a group of Boston citizens who were concerned about the needless deaths resulting ...

for saving a girl from drowning in

Crystal Lake Crystal Lake or Crystal Lakes may refer to: Lakes Canada * Crystal Lake (Saskatchewan) * Crystal Lake (Ontario), drain into the Lynn River, which drains into Lake Erie United States * Crystal Lake, California, a mountain lake in Nevada Co ...

. He attended the

College of Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a Private college, private, Society of Jesus, Jesuit Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Ho ...

for one semester but had to leave due to poor health. He enrolled at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in 1921. He was a member of the Penn State team that played in the

1923 Rose Bowl The 1923 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1923, was an American Football bowl game. It was the 9th Rose Bowl Game. The USC Trojans defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 14-3. Leo Calland, a USC guard, was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game when ...

. After the game, McCoy missed his midterms due to a blizzard that trapped him in his wife's home town of

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. He could not afford the $5 an exam fee to retake the test so he dropped out of school and worked on a railroad. McCoy resumed his education after he was recruited to play football at Lafayette College by coach Jock Sutherland.

Coaching

After graduating from Lafayette College in 1927, McCoy became the coach for all athletics at

Hackettstown High School Hackettstown High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Hackettstown in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the H ...

in Hackettstown, New Jersey. In 1929 he joined the faculty of

as an English professor and head baseball and men's basketball coach. In 1932, with the assistance of engineering school dean

Carl Ell Carl Stephens Ell (November 14, 1887 – April 17, 1981) was the second president of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts from 1940 to 1959. He was born in Staunton, Indiana on November 14, 1887, son of Jacob and Alice (Stephens) Ell. ...

and athletic director Putty Parsons, McCoy established a freshman football team at Northeastern. The following year the school began its varsity football program. After a 1-3-1 first season, McCoy would not have a losing season as Northeastern's football coach. In 1937, McCoy left Northeastern to become the head football coach at Colby College. In 1941, he was hired as backfield coach for the Harvard Crimson football team. In 1947 he became the chief scout for the Boston Yanks of the National Football League. McCoy's final coaching position came as an assistant at the University of Washington.

Later life

After his coaching career ended, McCoy moved to

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, where he was a successful liquor store owner and a golf writer for the '' San Diego Tribune''. In 1982 he was inducted into Northeastern's Hall of Fame. He died on January 31, 1990, in La Jolla. He was 90 years old.

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, Alfred 1899 births 1990 deaths American football ends Colby Mules football coaches Golf writers and broadcasters Harvard Crimson football coaches High school football coaches in New Jersey Lafayette College alumni Lafayette Leopards football players Northeastern Huskies baseball coaches Northeastern Huskies football coaches Northeastern Huskies men's basketball coaches Northeastern University faculty Penn State Nittany Lions football players People from La Jolla, San Diego Sportspeople from Newton, Massachusetts Washington Huskies football coaches