Harry Walker Hughes (October 9, 1887 – July 26, 1953) 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,

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 ...

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 ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

, and college athletics administrator. From 1911 to 1941, he served as the head football coach and

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 ...

at the Agricultural College of Colorado, renamed Colorado A&M in 1935 and now known as

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, compiling a record of 126–96–18.

Early life and playing career

Hughes was born in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

to Roland and Lena Walker Hughes and raised in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

. He played football for the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

from 1904 to 1907, and was coached by

Bennie Owen Benjamin Gilbert Owen (July 24, 1875 – February 26, 1970) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Washburn College, now Washburn University, in 1900, at Bethany C ...

in 1905, 1906 and 1907.

Coaching career

Hughes coached the Norman High School football team in 1907 and returned to the University of Oklahoma as assistant coach under Owen in 1910. He accepted the position of athletic director and head football coach at Colorado Agricultural University in 1911 and turned a winless team in 1911 into conference champions with an undefeated record in 1915. Hughes also helped build

Colorado Field Colorado Field was an outdoor college football stadium in the western United States, on the campus of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Opened in 1912, it was the home of the CSU Rams of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) t ...

, the first sodded football field in Colorado history, replacing Durkee Field (1899–1911). Colorado Field was the home of the Colorado Aggies and Colorado State Rams from 1912 to 1967. Harry Hughes won eight conference championships in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 1915, 1916, 1919, 1920, 1925, 1927, 1933, and 1934. He was a member of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

National Rules Committee beginning in 1926 until his retirement. Hughes coached the Aggies from 1911 to 1941 in football and remained as the Athletic Director until his retirement in 1953. In the early 1930s Hughes was given the nickname "Dean of American Football Coaches" by sportswriters and fellow coaches for his many seasons at one school. He was famously known as one of the most fair and sportsmanlike football coaches in America. He coached football from 1911 to 1941 and after resigning as football coach in 1946, he remained as the school's Athletic Director until 1953. Upon his retirement he was inducted into the Helms Football Hall of Fame on Harry Hughes Day, November 8, 1952. Known as a tough but fair coach, Hughes was a strict disciplinarian who developed a play in 1914 known as the Million Dollar Play. This triple pass was an end around play based on the single wing formation and helped Hughes lead his teams to national fame. Some of Hughes' greatest players were Ralph "Sag" Robinson (All-American Honorable Mention 1916), Kenneth Hyde (1925 All-American 3rd team) and Glenn Morris (1936 US Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal winner). Hughes broke the color barrier in modern Colorado football in 1939 when he played John Mosley between 1939 and 1942. Hughes retired from Colorado A&M College on July 1, 1953 after 42 years as Aggies coach and athletic director. He died 25 days later from a massive heart attack. When Colorado State University built their new football stadium in 1968, it was named Hughes Stadium in his honor and became known as Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium. The stadium included a Harry Hughes Memorial Room dedicated in his memory for alumni to visit before games. The final game in the stadium was held on November 19, 2016, where the Rams defeated

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

49-31. The

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

football program began play at on-campus

Canvas Stadium Canvas Stadium, officially Sonny Lubick Field at Canvas Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, Colorado. The home field of the CSU R ...

beginning with the 2017 season, replacing Hughes Stadium. A street on the Fort Collins campus was renamed from "South Drive" to "Hughes Way" upon the stadium's closure in 2016 in order to continue honoring Hughes' name. Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium was demolished in 2018.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links