Richard William Barker Sr. (January 6, 1897 – December 17, 1964) was an American football player and coach, wrestler and wrestling coach, and athletic director. He played professional football for the Chicago Staleys. Barker served as the head football coach at Cornell College and Franklin & Marshall College as well as starting the wrestling programs at Michigan and Cornell College.

College career

At Iowa State University, Barker was a star both on the football field and wrestling mat. Under head football coach Charles Mayser, Barker anchored the offensive line from the guard position. Career highlights were being named first-team All-Missouri Valley in 1917 and All-American, All-Western team, and All-Missouri Valley in 1919. In his collegiate wrestling career, Barker went 10–1–1, including five pins. In 1920 and 1921 he won the intercollegiate championship in the 175-pound weight class; this is the predecessor to the NCAA championship.1925 Michiganensian, page 193.

Professional career

After graduation Barker received a telegram from

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

with an offer to play football for the Chicago Staleys, who would eventually become the Bears, of the

American Professional Football Association The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

. Barker, without a job or money, accepted the offer and played the 1921 season for the Staleys. This made Barker the first Cyclone to ever play football professionally. That season marked two major landmarks for the team, the inaugural

Bears–Packers rivalry The Bears–Packers rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. The two teams have a combined 67 members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (34 for Chicago and 33 for Green Bay), have ...

game and the Staleys winning the league championship. After his one season in the professional ranks Barker realized there was no money or future in playing football, so he moved back to Ames to be an assistant coach at his alma mater, Iowa State under Sam Willaman.

Coaching career

Barker began his coaching career as a football assistant at Iowa State for the 1922 season. The following season he was hired to form the inaugural wrestling program at Cornell College in

Mount Vernon, Iowa Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The population was 4,527 at the time of the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Mount Vernon ...

in addition to being an assistant football coach. In 1923 Barker was hired by the University of Michigan to repeat the same process, form a wrestling program and serve as an assistant football coach. In 1925, Barker was again hired by Cornell, this time to serve as head football coach, head wrestling coach, as well as athletic director. Cornell wrestling saw tremendous success under Barker. As a team, the Rams went 73–48–2 with six top 20 NCAA finishes during his 36 seasons. He also coached several wrestlers to great individual success with one

NCAA champion The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in Dale Brand and four future olympians in Kenneth Truckenmiller (

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

Lloyd Appleton Lloyd Otto Appleton (February 1, 1906 – March 17, 1999) was an American wrestler who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics. Appleton was born in Edgewood, Iowa and died in Oberlin, Ohio. In 1983, Appleton was inducted into the National ...

(

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

), Lyle Morford (

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

), and Dale Brand (

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

). Appleton won a silver medal at the 158.5 weight class in the freestyle division. Additionally, Barker helped draft the first collegiate wrestling rules and helped plan the first NCAA tournament in 1928. He was also an assistant coach of the

U.S. Olympic Wrestling team.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Dick 1897 births 1964 deaths American football guards Cornell Rams football coaches Chicago Bears players Franklin & Marshall Diplomats football coaches Iowa State Cyclones football players Iowa State Cyclones wrestlers Michigan Wolverines wrestling coaches Rock Island Independents players Sportspeople from Sedalia, Missouri Sportspeople from Oklahoma City Coaches of American football from Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma