Eugene Davis (December 26, 1870 – January 14, 1946) was an American surgeon and

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 served as the head football coach at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI)—now known as

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

—for one season in 1900. Davis's team played only one home game that season, beating St. Albans by a score of 21–0. The rest of the schedule was played away. VPI won a rematch St. Albans, 16–6, beat North Carolina A&M, 18–2, played

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

to a scoreless tie in Chapel Hill, lost to the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, 17–5, defeated Clemson in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, 12–5, and lost to their biggest rival at the time, VMI, 5–0. Davis was born in Charlottesville in 1870 to D. C. T. and Mary Davis. Davis was a member of

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...

. Around 1898, Davis was elected president of the general athletic association at the University of Virginia, described in an 1899 publication as "the highest honor within the gift of student body". He married Marguerite Sanders in 1910 in Wytheville. He also served as the first health commissioner of

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

from 1906 to 1909. After practicing medicine in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and his home state of Virginia, Davis served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as a surgeon and medic. He was honorably discharged. He moved from

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, where he managed a Veterans' Administration hospital, to Fort Lyon Colorado in December 1931. In 1933, Davis was managing a Veterans Administration facility in

Fort Lyon, Colorado Fort Lyon is an unincorporated community and U.S. Post Office in Bent County, Colorado, United States. The Fort Lyon Post Office has the ZIP Code 81054. A post office called Fort Lyon was established in 1862. The community was named after Nat ...

. He had previously managed a Veterans' Administration hospital, also in Fort Lyons. At the time of the

1940 United States Census The United States census of 1940, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 132,164,569, an increase of 7.3 percent over the 1930 population of 122,775,046 people. The census date of record wa ...

, Davis and his family was living in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...

, working at a "government hospital". Davis died at a New Orleans hospital in 1946.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Eugene 1870 births 1946 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football guards American hospital administrators Physicians from Virginia Virginia Cavaliers football players Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches American military personnel of World War I Players of American football from Charlottesville, Virginia