Charles "Doc" Whelan (April 3, 1877 – May 29, 1945) 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 and coach and physician. He served as the head football coach at Tufts College—now

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

—for three stints (1903–1907, 1912–1917, and 1919) and at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

from 1921 to 1925, 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 54–68–7. Whelan also coached track at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He died after a brief illness in 1945.

Early life

Whelan was born on April 3, 1877, in

Weymouth, Massachusetts ("To Work Is to Conquer") , image_map = Norfolk County Massachusetts incorporated and unincorporated areas Weymouth highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in Norfolk County in Massa ...

. He graduated from

Weymouth High School Weymouth High School (WHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Weymouth, Massachusetts, United States that serves students in grades nine through twelve. Weymouth High School also offers a Career and Technical Education Program offering suc ...

in 1896 and entered

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

that fall. He left after one year to work in Boston, but returned a year later and graduated in 1901. While at Dartmouth, Whelan played fullback on the school's football team and specialized in the broad jump and the shotput on the track team.

Coaching career

Whelan worked his way through the Tufts School of Medicine by serving as coach of the school's football team and as the athletic director at the Volkmann School. After graduating, Whelan left athletics to work as a physician, but returned to football in 1910 as an assistant coach at Dartmouth. He returned to Tufts in 1912 and remained with the school until 1920 when he became supervisor of the

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at ...

track team and a professor of hygiene at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

(he missed the 1918 season due to military service). His tenure at Harvard was short-lived as he submitted his resignation less than three months after taking the job to return to medicine. His final coaching position was at

, where he served as head football coach from 1921 to 1925.

Medical career

Whelan was a pioneer in radiology. He was the chief radiologist at Quincy City Hospital and was the head of the x-ray at the

New York Port of Embarkation The New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. The command had facilities in New York and New Jersey, roughly covering the ...

Hospital during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was also a consultant at

Carney Hospital Carney Hospital is a 159-bedhttp://www.caritaschristi.org/oth/Page.asp?PageID=OTH000334 community teaching hospital in Dorchester, Massachusetts, affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Medical Center. The hospital had its be ...

and the

New England Hospital for Women and Children The New England Hospital for Women and Children was founded by Marie Zakrzewska on July 1, 1862. The Hospitals goal was to provide patients with competent female physicians, educate women in the study of medicine and train nurses to care for the ...

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelan, Charles 1877 births 1945 deaths American football fullbacks American radiologists Boston University Terriers football coaches Dartmouth Big Green football coaches Dartmouth Big Green football players Dartmouth Big Green men's track and field athletes Harvard Crimson track and field coaches Tufts Jumbos football coaches Harvard University faculty United States Army Medical Corps officers United States Army personnel of World War I People from Cohasset, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Weymouth, Massachusetts Coaches of American football from Massachusetts Players of American football from Norfolk County, Massachusetts Track and field athletes from Massachusetts Military personnel from Massachusetts