Clarence Elijah "Chief" Boston (April 13, 1917 – May 4, 2002) 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 wi ...

player, college football coach—most notably at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

—and

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

officer.

Early years

Boston was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, graduated from

Moses Brown School Moses Brown School is an independent Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. It was founded in 1784 by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, and is one of the oldest prepara ...

there, and attended Harvard. His father, a newspaper reporter, was also nicknamed "Chief", as ''his'' father had been the

chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...

Woonsocket, Rhode Island Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of ...

. At Harvard, Boston competed in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, and football. He was a champion wrestler, and graduated from Harvard in 1939.

Coaching career

Boston coached

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

University School University School, commonly referred to as US, is an all-boys, private, Junior Kindergarten–12 school with two campus locations in the Greater Cleveland area of Ohio. The campus located in Shaker Heights serves junior kindergarten through eigh ...

near

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, before returning to Harvard in 1940 as coach of the freshman football team. After coaching football for two seasons, and also coaching wrestling, Boston entered the

in February 1942. Boston served in the Third Army, commanded by

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

, and received a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and the Legion of Merit, while rising to the rank of major. Boston returned to Harvard in 1946, coaching the

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level� ...

football team and wrestling. In May 1948, he was named as backfield coach for

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, under head coach

Earl Blaik Earl Henry "Red" Blaik (February 15, 1897 – May 6, 1989) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at ...

. In March 1949, Boston was named

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

New Hampshire Wildcats The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham. The wildcat is the school's official mascot, the colors are UNH Blue and white. The Uni ...

, succeeding

Bill Glassford James William Glassford (March 8, 1914 – September 19, 2016) was an American football player and coach, who served as head coach for the New Hampshire Wildcats and Nebraska Cornhuskers. Biography Glassford was born in Lancaster, Ohio, and atte ...

, who had resigned to coach

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. Boston coached the Wildcats from 1949 to 1964, compiling a record of 60–57–10. During his 16 seasons with New Hampshire, the Wildcats won four

Yankee Conference The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a American football, football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is ...

titles, and in 1962, he was named New England small college coach of the year by the Boston Football Writers Association. He resigned in January 1965, after the team had gone a combined 3–12–1 during the 1963 and 1964 seasons.

Personal life

Boston was inducted to the Harvard Varsity Club hall of fame in 1971, and the University of New Hampshire athletic hall of fame in 1995. He remained active in the

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 1960s while serving as executive officer of the 304th Infantry Regiment based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Boston and his wife, Mary, had two daughters and a son. Boston died in May 2002 at his home in

Nashville, Indiana Nashville is a town in Washington Township, Brown County, Indiana, United States. The population was 803 at the 2010 census. The town is the county seat of Brown County and is the county's only incorporated town. The town is best known as the c ...

, and was buried at Greenlawn Cemetery there.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boston, Chief 1917 births 2002 deaths Army Black Knights football coaches Harvard Crimson football coaches Harvard Crimson football players New Hampshire Wildcats football coaches United States Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Legion of Merit