Richard George Babcock (March 21, 1899 – February 27, 1988) 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 and athletics administrator. He played football 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 1923 to 1925 and served as the head football coach at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

in 1926 and at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

from 1927 to 1930. He also served as the University of Cincinnati's

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

from 1927 to 1932.

Early years

Babcock was born in Illinois, and grew up in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236. Royal Oak is located along th ...

. In 1918, he was living in

River Rouge, Michigan River Rouge (, french: link=no, Rivière Rouge, translation=red river) is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,224 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The city is named aft ...

, and working as an electrician for the

Great Lakes Engineering Works The Great Lakes Engineering Works (GLEW) was a leading shipbuilding company with a shipyard in Ecorse, Michigan, that operated between 1902 and 1960. Within three years of its formation, it was building fifty percent of the tonnage of all ships ...

, a shipbuilding company.Draft registration card for Richard George Babcock, born March 21, 1899, age 19, resident of River Rouge, Wayne, Michigan. Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 atabase on-line Registration Location: Wayne County, Michigan; Roll: 1683037; Draft Board: 3. At the time of the 1920 United States Census, he was living in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and working as a hotel clerk.

University of Michigan

Babcock attended the

where he played

for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

team from 1923 to 1925. He was 5 feet, 11 inches tall, and weighed 180 pounds while playing for Michigan. At age 26, he was a starter at tackle for the

1925 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1925 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1925 Big Ten Conference football season. The 1925 season was Fielding H. Yost's 24th as the head football coach. Michigan compiled a 7–1 record and ...

that outscored its opponents by a combined score of 227 to 3 on the season. While attending Michigan, Babcock studied education and was a member of the

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...

fraternity and of the Sphinx and Michigamua.

Coaching career

Akron

In February 1926, the Municipal University of Akron, now known as the

, announced that it had chosen Babcock as its new football and track coach. Babcock let the

Akron Zips football Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

team to a 5–2–2 record during the 1926 season.

Cincinnati

In March 1927, Babcock was hired as a professor of athletics and physical training at the

. From 1927 to 1930, he was the head football coach of the

Cincinnati Bearcats football The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the Big 12 Conference. They have played their home games in h ...

team, compiling a 12–21–3 record. At the time of the

1930 United States Census The United States census of 1930, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during ...

, Babcock was living in Cincinnati with his wife, Aneeta, whom he married in approximately 1929. His occupation was listed as the athletic director of the University of Cincinnati. In November 1928, Babcock, in his capacity as Cincinnati's athletic director, hired Frank E. Rice, another former University of Michigan athlete, to serve as the Bearcats' head basketball coach. Babcock continued to serve as Cincinnati's athletic director until the fall of 1932. Babcock's overall record as a college football head coach was 17–23–5.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, George 1899 births 1988 deaths American football tackles Akron Zips football coaches Cincinnati Bearcats athletic directors Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players Sportspeople from Royal Oak, Michigan Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan