Robert Harry Stiteler (September 19, 1909 – July 17, 1994) was an American athlete and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. While attending

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, he set a

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

record in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and played football at the quarterback position for the Aggies football team in 1930. From 1931 to 1945, Stiteler was a high school football coach in Texas, leading teams from Corpus Christi and

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

to state championships. He was the head football coach at Texas A&M from 1948 to 1950.

Athlete

Stiteler attended

from 1927 to 1931. He lettered in track three times and broke the

record in the

. He tried out for the football team in his senior year and, despite weighing only 137 pounds, became the number two

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 the Aggies in 1930.

Coaching career

High school football coach

After graduating from Texas A&M, Stiteler served as a high school football coach from 1931 to 1945. He began his coaching career at Smithville, Texas (1931–1933), and later coached high school teams in Bellville (1934–1937), Corpus Christi (1938–1941), and

(1942–1945). In 15 years as a high school football coach, Stiteler's teams won ten district championships, two regional championships, a Texas state championship with Corpus Christi in 1938, and a tie for another state championship with Waco in 1945. His 1938 Corpus Christi team finished the season 13–0–1, outscored opponents 466–85, and won the state championship in front of 21,000 spectators at the Cotton Bowl. His record from 1934 to 1938 was 55–1–2. He was the president of the Texas High School Coaches Association in 1942.

Rice Institute

In February 1946, after leading Waco to the Texas football co-championship in 1945, Stiteler was hired by

Rice Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI is known for its work ...

as an assistant football coach. Rice head coach

Jess Neely Jesse Claiborne Neely (January 4, 1898 – April 9, 1983) was an American football player and a baseball and football coach. He was head football coach at Southwestern University (now Rhodes College) from 1924 to 1927, at Clemson University f ...

hired Stiteler to fill a vacancy created when backfield coach

Buster Brannon Byron Scott "Buster" Brannon (October 21, 1908 – April 14, 1979) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a pri ...

resigned to take a position at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. Stiteler helped lead the 1946

Rice Owls football The Rice Owls football program represents Rice University in the sport of American football. The team competes at the NCAA Division I FBS level and compete in the American Athletic Conference. Rice Stadium, built in 1950, hosts the Owls' home f ...

team to a 9–2 record and a victory over the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

on January 1, 1947.

Texas A&M

Stiteler returned to his alma mater in July 1947 as the backfield coach for the

Texas A&M Aggies football The Texas A&M Aggies football program represents Texas A&M University in the sport of American football. The Aggies compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Divisio ...

team. In December 1947, he was hired as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for the Texas A&M football team following the resignation of

Homer Norton Homer Hill Norton (December 30, 1896 – May 26, 1965) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Centenary College of Louisiana from 1919 to 1921 and 1926 to 1933 and at Texas A&M ...

. In his first season as head coach, the Aggies failed to win a game, accumulating a record of 0–9–1. For the 1949 season, the Aggies won only one game and had a record of 1–8–1. Despite the poor record in his first two seasons, Stiteler developed a reputation as a good recruiter. In 1950, Stiteler turned the program around with a 7–4 record, including impressive wins over

Arkansas 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 ...

(42–13) and SMU (25–20) and a 40–20 win over Georgia in the Presidential Cup Bowl at

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The 1950 team had the best record of any Texas A&M football team in the first decade after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(1945–1954). In December 1950, Stiteler reported that he had been attacked and beaten by a stranger near the Shamrock Hotel in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, where Stiteler had been scheduled to address a group of Texas A&M alumni. Stiteler tried to downplay the incident, but the press reported Stiteler declined to provide details to the police and that there were conflicting versions as to what had happened. The ''San Antonio Light'' reported the incident under a banner headline, "MYSTERY SHROUDS STITELER BEATING." In March 1951, Stiteler admitted that he had misrepresented the facts concerning the assault. He reported that he had known his attacker and "the affair was a personal one." Stiteler submitted his letter of resignation to the President of Texas A&M upon revealing the true facts concerning "my affair in Houston." Following the resignation, the members of the football team issued a statement in support of their former coach:

"We believe that whatever happened to Mr. Stiteler was a personal matter and it should have remained that. A lot of us boys came to A. and M. in 1948 not because A. and M. had won games but simply because of Harry Stiteler and his character. He has never ceased to set us that same example in the years we have played and worked for him."

In three years as the head coach at Texas A&M, Stiteler compiled a record of 8–21–2.

Later years

As of February 1953, Stiteler was reported to be selling stainless steel in Houston. He died in July 1994.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stiteler, Harry 1909 births 1994 deaths American football quarterbacks American male pole vaulters Rice Owls football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football players Texas A&M Aggies men's track and field athletes High school football coaches in Texas People from Smithville, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Texas Track and field athletes from Texas