John Orville "Buddy" Brothers (May 29, 1909 – December 25, 1991) 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 ...

coach. He coached the

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the University of Tu ...

football team at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

from 1946 to 1952 and compiled a 45–25–4 record and .635

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

Coaching career

Brothers attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, where he played on the football team from 1928 to 1930. Brothers coached at Tulsa for seven seasons. During that time, his teams compiled four Missouri Valley Conference championship, and Brothers was twice named the conference Coach of the Year. He posted a 45–25–4 record and .635 winning percentage, which makes him the ninth winningest Tulsa coach in school history. In 1946, Brothers and quarterback Clyde LeForce led the Golden Hurricane to a 9–1 record. Tulsa recorded impressive wins over

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and conference co-champions

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. The Golden Hurricane beat Kansas, 56–0, after scoring five touchdowns in the first half within a 12-minute span. The lone loss came to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. In 1949, Tulsa posted just a 5–5–1 record, but that included one of the biggest upsets of the season. The Golden Hurricane beat undefeated Villanova, 21–19, a team that had recorded earlier wins over Texas A&M,

Penn State #Redirect 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 campu ...

, Detroit, and

Saint Mary's St. Mary's, St. Marys, or St. Maries may refer to the following places: Australia * St Marys, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** St Marys railway station, Sydney ** North St Marys, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * St Marys, South Austra ...

. After the game, Brothers told the media, "You know, we've had one coming to us for a long time. I guess this was it. We hadn't been doing much and Villanova was bigger, faster and a sound favorite. "But a half dozen of the boys came to me this afternoon. They said they were speaking for the team when they told me: "'We're gonna win this one for you, coach, just to make you coach of the week'." In 1951, in the game against Marquette, the opposing coach,

Lisle Blackbourn Lisle William "Liz" Blackbourn (June 3, 1899 – June 14, 1983) was an American football coach in Wisconsin, most notably as the third head coach of the Green Bay Packers, from 1954 through 1957, and the final head coach at Marquette University i ...

, accused the Golden Hurricane of "flagrantly illegal tactics." Brothers called the charges "unfair, unsportsmanlike, and onesided." The incident created enough ill will that the schools cancelled the 1952 game. After the end of his coaching tenure at Tulsa, Brothers went on to coach high school football including stints at Norman High School, in 1956 and 1957, and Lubbock High School.From the A-J's Pages: 50 years ago
''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'', June 19, 2008.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers, Buddy 1909 births 1991 deaths Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football players High school football coaches in Oklahoma High school football coaches in Texas