Andrew Gustafson (April 3, 1903 – January 7, 1979) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI)—now

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

—from 1926 to 1929 and the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

from 1948 to 1963, compiling a career

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 ...

record of 115–78–4. Gustafson was also the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

at Miami from 1963 to 1968. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a coach in 1985.

Early life and playing career

Gustafson was born in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

. As a halfback at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, Gustafson scored the first touchdown ever in

Pitt Stadium Pitt Stadium was an outdoor athletic stadium in the eastern United States, located on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1925, it served primarily as the home of the univer ...

in 1925 against

Washington and Lee , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

Coaching career

Gustafson served as the head football coach of

from 1926 to 1929, where he compiled a 22–13–1 record. Gustafson is considered one of the University of Miami's most successful coaches, with a record of 93–65–3 (.587). He led the Hurricanes to four seasons of eight wins or more and was the longest serving coach in school history. He is currently a member of the

Sports Hall of Fame. He also served as the athletic director of the school, following his retirement as a head coach.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gustafson, Andy 1903 births 1979 deaths American football halfbacks Army Black Knights football coaches Dartmouth Big Green football coaches Miami Hurricanes athletic directors Miami Hurricanes football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football players Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Aurora, Illinois Sportspeople from Coral Gables, Florida Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Illinois