Glen W. Harmeson (March 9, 1908 – June 23, 1983) 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 of football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

(1934–1941),

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

(1946–1950), and Arkansas State College—now

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

(1954), 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 49–60–11. Harmeson was also the head basketball coach at Lehigh from 1934 to 1937 and at Wabash from 1950 to 1951, tallying a career

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

mark of 20–43. Harmeson was a high school star in basketball, football, and baseball for Indianapolis'

Emmerich Manual High School Emmerich Manual High School is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It was a traditional high school in the Indianapolis Public Schools district. It is now one of the schools operated by Christel House Academy. History Establishm ...

; he was awarded three varsity letters in each of three high school sports and was a three-time All-State basketball player. During his intercollegiate career at Purdue, Harmeson was named all-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

in basketball, football, and baseball; he was a co-captain for the 1930 Big Ten champion basketball team with Stretch Murphy and a teammate of

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...

and was a member of the 1928 Big Ten champions. He led the Boilermakers to the 1929 Big Ten title in football, quarterbacking them to a perfect record of 8–0 (5–0 in conference), outscoring the opposition 187–44. He was the first Purdue athlete to play on two teams in same academic year that posted undefeated conference marks. As a freshman at Purdue, he was awarded four freshman letters. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Coaching career

Lehigh

Harmeson was the 18th head football coach at

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

and he held that position for eight seasons, from 1934 until 1941. His record at Lehigh was 23–42–5.

Wabash

Harmeson's next coaching move was to become the 23rd head football coach at

Crawfordsville, Indiana Crawfordsville is a city in Montgomery County in west central Indiana, United States, west by northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County, the only cha ...

and he held that position for five seasons, from 1946 until 1950. His coaching record at Wabash was 25–10–6.

Arkansas State

Harmeson coached the

football team for the 1954 season. After concluding with a record of 1–8, he retired from coaching.

Later life and death

Harmeson worked at the Indiana Veterans Home from 1966 until 1978. He died on June 23, 1983, at St. Elizabeth Hospital in

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, whi ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harmeson, Glen 1908 births 1983 deaths American football quarterbacks Baseball outfielders Arkansas State Red Wolves football coaches Lehigh Mountain Hawks athletic directors Lehigh Mountain Hawks football coaches Lehigh Mountain Hawks men's basketball coaches Purdue Boilermakers baseball players Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football players Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players Wabash Little Giants basketball coaches Wabash Little Giants football coaches Coaches of American football from Indiana Players of American football from Indianapolis Baseball players from Indianapolis Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indianapolis