Edward Clark Timothy McKeever (August 25, 1910 – September 13, 1974) 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, coach, and executive. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

(1944) and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(1945–1946) and the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

(1947), 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 25–12–1. From 1960 to 1961, McKeever was the general manager of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

A native of Texas, McKeever originally attended Notre Dame in 1930 and 1931 and transferred to

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, where he played football from 1932 to 1934. He launched his coaching career in 1935 as backfield coach at Texas Tech, where he remained through 1938. In 1939 and 1940, McKeever was on

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to 1940 and at ...

's staff at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. He came to Notre Dame along with Leahy in 1941 and served as an assistant through 1943, and was named interim head coach in 1944 when Leahy entered 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 ...

. McKeever gained a spot in the Notre Dame record books by presiding over the worst defeat in school history, a 59–0 rout by

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 ...

. in 1945, McKeever moved on to Cornell as head coach, where he remained for two seasons. In 1947, he became head coach at the University of San Francisco and the following season served as head coach of the

Chicago Rockets The Chicago Rockets were an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets. Unlike the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, an ...

of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

. In 1949, he joined the staff at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

and in 1960 became general manager of the

. McKeever died on September 13, 1974.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Edward McKeever
at Pro-Football-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:McKeever, Edward 1910 births 1974 deaths Boston College Eagles football coaches Chicago Rockets coaches Cornell Big Red football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches New England Patriots executives Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches San Francisco Dons football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football players National Football League general managers University of Notre Dame alumni Sportspeople from San Antonio Players of American football from San Antonio United States Navy personnel of World War II