Howard Harpster (May 14, 1907 – April 9, 1980) 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. He played football 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 ...

at the Carnegie Institute of Technology—now known as

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

—from 1926 to 1928. He was consensus selection to the

1928 College Football All-America Team The 1928 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1928. The seven selectors recognized by the ...

. Harpster served as the head football coach at

Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergra ...

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 9,005 at the 2020 census. Located 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, the city lies along the Beaver River, six miles (9 km) north of its co ...

from 1930 to 1932 and at his alma mater, Carnegie Tech, from 1933 to 1936, compiling a career coaching record of 34–25–5. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a player in 1956.

Playing career

Harpster played

for the

(then called "Carnegie Tech") from 1926 until 1928. The College Football Hall of Fame states that he was known as "one of the great Eastern quarterbacks of the late 1920s." In 1926, Carnegie Tech's football team beat

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

. The game was ranked the fourth-greatest upset in

history by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. Harpster was one of 11 All-American football players to appear in the 1930 film '' Maybe It's Love''.

Coaching career

Geneva

Harpster was the 15th head football coach at

and he held that position for three seasons, from 1930 until 1932. His coaching record at Geneva was 22–6–2. Geneva College fans generally consider him among the best coaches in the history of the school. His teams were considered among the leading small college teams in the country at the time.The St. Petersburg Independent
"Geneva Athlete to Assist Benn" September 7, 1936

Carnegie Tech

In 1933, Harpster returned to Carnegie Tech and coached for four years. His teams produced a record of 12–19–3.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harpster, Howard 1907 births 1980 deaths American football quarterbacks Carnegie Mellon Tartans football coaches Carnegie Mellon Tartans football players Geneva Golden Tornadoes football coaches All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Salem, Ohio Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Ohio