Harry Sullivan McDevitt (June 5, 1885 – January 30, 1962) 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 ...

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 tea ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in 1912 and

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

in 1917. He coached baseball at

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...

. McDevitt 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 ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1906, where he also later served as an assistant football coach.

Playing career

McDevitt was born on June 5, 1885, in

Boston 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- mo ...

, and attended Brighton High School. He then went on to

, where he played baseball from 1905 to 1907 and as a reserve

on the 1906

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-st ...

. He was also a member of the

Theta Delta Chi Theta Delta Chi () is a social fraternity that was founded in 1847 at Union College, New York, United States. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are TDX, Thete, Theta Delt, and Thump ...

fraternity and the College Glee Club.''The Shield: Official Publication of the Theta Delta Chi Fraternity, Volume 27''
p. 352, Theta Delta Chi, February 1911.''The Dartmouth'', p. 357. McDevitt graduated in 1907.

Coaching

In 1907, McDevitt was hired as the head coach at Newton High School in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. He coached football at

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. The city is home to Colby College and Thomas College. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the populatio ...

, from 1908 to 1911 and coached the school's baseball team in 1909. In November 1909, he returned to Newton High School to coach the remainder of the football season after head coach Wendell P. Holman resigned.McDEVITT IS CHOSEN. Old Dartmouth Man Will Coach Newton High, Football Team Given a Stiff Day's Work by New Teacher. HARVARD GETS LARGE. Three Other Regulars of the Phillips- Andover Eleven to Go to Yale. CORNELL CHOSEN CAPTAIN. Freeport, Penn, Man Will Lead the Exeter Football Team Next Year. Wendell Acad 5, Arlington H. S. 2d 0 Woburn H. S. 46, Reading H. S. 0.
''The Boston Daily Globe'', November 9, 1909. In 1912, McDevitt served as the head coach at the

and compiled a 3–5 record. The following year, he returned to Massachusetts as the coach at Salem High School, where he was charged with rebuilding the team. In 1915, McDevitt coach English High School in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

. In September 1917,

hired McDevitt as its 18th head football coach to replace E.C. Huntington who had joined the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. He held that post for one season and amassed a 4–2 record. In 1921 and 1922, McDevitt again coached football at Salem High School.In 1923 he became an assistant coach under Frank Cavanaugh 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 ...

Later life

During the 1920s, McDevitt owned a The Chateau, a dance club on

Huntington Avenue Huntington Avenue is a secondary thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, beginning at Copley Square, and continuing west through the Back Bay, Fenway, Longwood, and Mission Hill neighborhoods. Huntington Avenue is signed as Route 9 ...

. He retired from coaching after the 1926 season and became a furniture salesman for the Rapids Furniture Co. He never married and spent his later years living his brother and sister in

Allston Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part ...

. He died on January 30, 1962, at the Veterans Hospital in Boston. He was buried in

Holyhood Cemetery Holyhood Cemetery is a cemetery located in Brookline, Massachusetts. Description Laid out in 1857, the cemetery was designed to reflect the rural cemetery movement begun at Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery. It was the first such cemetery in B ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDevitt, Harry 1885 births 1961 deaths American salespeople Boston College Eagles football coaches Brighton High School (Brighton, Massachusetts) alumni Burials at Holyhood Cemetery (Brookline) Catholic University Cardinals football coaches Colby Mules baseball coaches Colby Mules football coaches Colby College faculty Colgate Raiders football coaches Dartmouth Big Green football players Dartmouth Big Green football coaches High school football coaches in Massachusetts Sportspeople from Boston Players of American football from Boston