Clyde V. Lee (February 11, 1908 – December 12, 1995) 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. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

from 1948 to 1954, guiding the

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

to a 37–32–2 record. Lee played his college career at Centenary College from 1930 to 1932 under

Homer Norton Homer Hill Norton (December 30, 1896 – May 26, 1965) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Centenary College of Louisiana from 1919 to 1921 and 1926 to 1933 and at Texas A&M ...

. Among his college teammates was

Lovette Hill Lovette Lee Hill (March 23, 1907 – August 27, 1989) was an American football and baseball coach. He was the fourth head coach of the Houston Cougars baseball team from 1950 to 1974. Hill holds the record for the longest serving head baseball c ...

, who later served as his colleague at Houston on his coaching staff and as head baseball coach for the school. After his college playing career, Lee served as head coach for several sports including football to Overton High School in

Overton, Texas Overton is a city in Rusk and Smith counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Overton lies in two counties as well as two metropolitan areas. The Rusk County portion of the city is part of the Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Smi ...

. He was paid $90 a month, taught five math classes, a history class, and coached for four sports without an assistant. In three seasons, his record was 28–3–2. Lee then moved into his first college coaching job as head coach for Kilgore College where he compiled a 57–10–5 record before entering the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. Upon leaving the armed services, he coached 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 ...

under Buddy Brothers for two years. At Houston, Lee was credited with improving the strength of the Cougars' schedules. This began during the 1949 season, when Houston played its first major opponent, William & Mary. He led the Cougars to their first

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

berth, to the 1952 Salad Bowl, and a Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) championship in 1952. During his first season, fewer than 100 season tickets were sold by the Cougars, but by 1952, over 10,000 were sold. After retiring from coaching, Lee moved to Freeport, Texas, and became a regular at Cougars home games. He died on December 12, 1995, at Plantation Health Care Center in Lake Jackson, Texas.

Head coaching record

Junior college

College

References

External links

* 1908 births 1995 deaths American football ends Centenary Gentlemen baseball players Centenary Gentlemen football players Houston Cougars football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches High school football coaches in Texas Junior college football coaches in the United States People from Freeport, Texas Players of American football from Brazoria County, Texas People from Freestone County, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Baseball players from Texas {{1940s-collegefootball-coach-stub