Patrick Edward "Bunny" Larkin (March 17, 1882 – August 18, 1948) was an American physician, college football coach, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

manager. He served as a co-head coach alongside William Lang for the

Maryland Agricultural College Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

(now the University of Maryland) in 1909. Larkin was also an assistant football coach at

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 tea ...

, the

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. It took over the historic Carlisl ...

, and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. He worked for many years as a team physician for the Washington Senators baseball team.

Early life

Larkin was born on March 17, 1882, in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

, where he received his early education. He played as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for Ithaca High School. Larkin played baseball as a catcher for the Haverling team.Personal Mention
''Steuben Farmers' Advocate'', October 22, 1902. He enrolled at

for his undergraduate education in 1902, and played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

. The ''Elmira Morning Telegram'' wrote, "He was a fast, tricky

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

, who knew all of the possibilities of the position." Larkin attended the

School of Medicine, from which he graduated in 1908. He earned a

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

on the Georgetown football team in 1904. After college, Larkin held an internship with the Providence Hospital in

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''Bulletin, Volumes 2–4''
Georgetown University Medical Center, 1948.

Coaching career

Upon the expiration of his college athletic eligibility, Larkin coached football as an assistant at Cornell. In 1907, he served as an assistant at the

under head coach Glenn "Pop" Warner, and helped coach the line and played on the practice team at Georgetown.

Bill Stern Bill Stern (July 1, 1907 – November 19, 1971) was an American actor and sportscaster who announced the nation's first remote sports broadcast and the first telecast of a baseball game. In 1984, Stern was part of the American Sportscaster ...

later described Larkin's coaching as "a gem of brevity and logic". One season at Carlisle, Larkin explained to his players the game: "Boys, football is like this: When white man has ball, knock down white man. When Indian has ball, knock down white man." At Carlisle, he "drilled Warner's Indians to look after

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridir ...

es and fake plays".Would Thwart Steffens
''The Day'', November 11, 1908. He turned down the opportunity to coach at Georgetown for the 1908 season despite strong support from the school's alumni and students.Bunny Larkin Not Georgetown Coach; Expects to Go to Cornell or Carlisle.
''The Washington Times'', December 21, 1907. He instead coached the ends at Cornell as the "head field coach". In October, he spent a week confined with

blood poisoning Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is foll ...

before returning to the sidelines. In 1906 and 1907, Larkin also managed the

DuBois, Pennsylvania DuBois ( ) is a city and the most populous community in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States. DuBois is located approximately northeast of Pittsburgh. The population was 7,510 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the ...

based DuBois Miners baseball club of the

Interstate League The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. Early leagues Earlier versions of the Interstate League, with years active: *1896–1901: an unclassified ...

, having played baseball in the minor leagues beginning in 1904. Larkin worked for many years as the club physician for the Washington Senators baseball team. He was also the team physician for the Georgetown football program. In 1909, while also working for the Senators, Larkin assisted

Bill Lang Bill Lang (born William Lanfranchi; 6 July 1882 – 3 September 1952) was an Australian professional boxer who held the national heavyweight title. He was also an Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond in the Victorian Football ...

as co-head coach at the

(now the University of Maryland). The team finished the season with a 2–5 record. In 1911, Larkin coached the ends at Carlisle,Bunny Larkin Coaching Indians; Former Cornell End Helps Glenn Warner To Train Carlisle Backs
''Elmira Morning Telegram'', 1911. and then assisted Ray Van Orman in coaching the ends at Cornell.Cornell Works In Mud
''The New York Times'', November 6, 1911. During the 1913 season, Warner, a long-time friend, lent his assistant and former Carlisle star Albert Exendine to coach the Georgetown football team in its final games as a favor to Larkin. Exendine served as head coach at Georgetown for nine more seasons.Albert A. "Al" Exendine Records by Year
, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved October 12, 2011. Larkin suffered a brief illness and died on August 18, 1948.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Edward 1882 births 1948 deaths 20th-century American physicians American football ends American football halfbacks American sports physicians Cornell Big Red football players Carlisle Indians football coaches DuBois Miners players Georgetown Hoyas football coaches Georgetown Hoyas football players Georgetown University School of Medicine alumni Maryland Terrapins football coaches Minor league baseball managers Washington Senators (1901–1960) Ithaca High School (Ithaca, New York) alumni Sportspeople from Ithaca, New York Coaches of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from New York (state)