Benjamin S. Martin (June 27, 1921 – July 24, 2004) 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 ...
player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the
University of Virginia from 1956 to 1957 and the
United States Air Force Academy from 1958 to 1977, compiling a career head coaching record of .
A native of
Prospect Park, Pennsylvania, Martin played college football at
Princeton University in 1941 and then moved to the
United States Naval Academy; he was a member of the class of 1946, which graduated early in 1945 due to
World War II. After sea duty on the USS ''
Helena
Helena may refer to:
People
*Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer
*Helena, mother of Constantine I
Places
Greece
* Helena (island)
Guyana
* ...
'', Martin was an assistant coach at Navy from 1949 to 1954; that
last team was 8–2, among the best in program history, and won the
Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...
. His first team at Air Force in
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
was undefeated (with two ties), played in the
Cotton Bowl, and finished in the top ten
in both polls.
Martin died at age 83 in 2004 in
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
,
[ and was buried in Maryland at the Naval Academy Cemetery. He was inducted into the Air Force Falcons Hall of Fame in 2009.]
Head coaching record
References
External links
*
1921 births
2004 deaths
American football halfbacks
Air Force Falcons football coaches
Navy Midshipmen football coaches
Navy Midshipmen football players
Princeton Tigers football players
United States Football League announcers
Virginia Cavaliers football coaches
College football announcers
College men's track and field athletes in the United States
The Hill School alumni
Players of American football from Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania
United States Navy personnel of World War II
United States Navy officers
Military personnel from Pennsylvania
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