Earl Thomas Martineau (August 30, 1896 – January 20, 1966) 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 ...

player and coach. He played halfback at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and was selected as an All-American in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

and served as the captain of the 1923 Minnesota team. While at the University of Minnesota, Martineau was a member of

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

fraternity. After graduating from Minnesota, Martineau became a football coach. From 1924 to 1928, he was the head football coach at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

, then known as Western State Normal School and Western State Teachers College, compiling a record of 26–10–2 in five seasons. His 1926 team tallied a record of 7–1. Martineau later served as a backfield coach for Purdue. In 1932, Martineau began a long association with

Fritz Crisler Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler (; January 12, 1899 – August 19, 1982) was an American college football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and d ...

. He was the backfield coach for Crisler at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

from 1932 to 1937 and an assistant coach under Crisler at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1938 to 1945.

Early life and playing career

Martineau attended West High School in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, from which he graduated in 1917. He enlisted with the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

and served overseas from 1917 to 1919. He died of a heart attack in 1966.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martineau, Earl 1896 births 1966 deaths Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Michigan Wolverines football coaches Princeton Tigers football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches College men's track and field athletes in the United States College track and field coaches in the United States United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I United States Marines Sports coaches from Minneapolis Players of American football from Minneapolis