Harry Joseph Costello (November 9, 1891 – August 24, 1968) 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 who later served as an officer in the

Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Leg ...

Early years

The son of Patrick Costello, he was born around 1892.

Georgetown University

He was an alumnus of

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 ...

, where he has been described as a "legendary quarterback."

1911

Costello was a halfback selected for ''

Outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

'' magazine's "Football Honor List for 1911" picked by coaches from the East and West. The only other southern player on the list was

Ray Morrison J. Ray Morrison (February 28, 1885 – November 19, 1982) was an American football and baseball player and a coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (1915–1916, 1922– ...

1912

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

Georgetown won the

South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association The South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SAIAA) was an intercollegiate athletic conference with its main focus of promoting track and arranging track meets. Its member schools were located in the states of Maryland, Virginia, North ...

(SAIAA) posting an 8–1 record with its only loss to

1912 Carlisle Indians football team The 1912 Carlisle Indians football team represented the Carlisle Indian Industrial School as an independent during the 1912 college football season. Led by 11th-year head coach Pop Warner, the Indians compiled a record of 12–1–1 and outscore ...

under first-year head coach

Frank Gargan John Francis Gargan (July 1, 1888 – August 18, 1960) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Georgetown University (1912–1913), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1914), Fordham University (1916–1 ...

Nathan Stauffer Nathan Pennypacker Stauffer (January 1, 1875 – June 5, 1959) was an American college football player and coach and physician. He served as the head football coach at Dickinson College from 1896 to 1899, at Pennsylvania Military College—now kno ...

of ''

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

'' selected Costello as his All-Southern quarterback.

1913

He was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in his final season of 1913.

Coaching career

Costello was the head football at the College of Detroit for the 1915 and 1916 seasons. His coaching record at Detroit was 4–7–2.

Soldier in Russia

Costello joined the

United States 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, cla ...

and trained at Fort Sheridan. Elements of the 85th Infantry Division, including Costellos formation, went to Russia as part of the

, where they were stationed in

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...

.Bert Ford: "''The Fighting Yankees Overseas''", Norman E. McPhail, Boston, 1919, page 198

Later life

In 1957, he was living in

Waterford, Virginia Waterford is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the Catoctin Valley of Loudoun County, Virginia, located along Catoctin Creek. Waterford is northwest of Washington, D.C., and northwest of Leesburg. The entire vil ...

. He died in Washington, D.C. in 1968.

Head coaching record

Publications

* Harry J. Costello:''Why Did We Go to Russia?'', University of Michigan Library , Detroit, 1920

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costello, Harry 1890s births 1968 deaths American football quarterbacks Detroit Titans football coaches Georgetown Hoyas football players South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches All-Southern college football players United States Army officers People from Meriden, Connecticut People from Waterford, Virginia Coaches of American football from Connecticut Players of American football from Connecticut