Hector William "Hec" Cowan (July 12, 1863 – October 19, 1941) 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 and coach, and an ordained

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister. He played

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 ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

from 1885 to 1889. He was team captain for Princeton and selected to the first College Football All-America Team in 1889. Cowan served as the head football coach at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

for two games during the 1888 season and at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

from 1894 to 1896, compiling a career coaching record of 18–8–1. 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 1951.

Playing career

Cowan played football for the

Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in ...

from

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – ...

1889 Events January–March * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the ...

. While at Princeton, he had several games against

Pudge Heffelfinger William Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger (December 20, 1867 – April 2, 1954), also spelled Hafelfinger, was an American football player and coach. He is considered the first athlete to play American football professionally, having been paid to pl ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

who said Cowan had "the strongest shoulders and arms I've ever been up against and his stubby legs drove like pistons when he carried the ball..." The 1885 season was notable for one of the most celebrated football plays of the 19th century - a 90-yard punt return by Henry "Tillie" Lamar of Princeton in the closing minutes of the game against

. In 1889, Princeton was national champion as in '85, and Cowan was selected for the inaugural All-America team.

Coaching career

North Carolina

Cowan was the head football coach at

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

for the last two games in their inaugural season of 1888 (i.e. 1889 calendar year). He was the school's first paid coach, and changed the style of play in that section in his two weeks spent training the team.

Ministry

After Cowan left Princeton in 1889 he became an ordained Presbyterian minister at Hope Presbyterian church in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

in 1891. While there the chancellor at the

, Francis H. Snow, began making contact with him in an effort to convince him to come to KU and become the new head football coach. KU's very first head football coach, E.M. Hopkins aided in the effort as he was a classmate with Cowan back at Princeton. Cowan was seen as a premiere football coach at the time despite only having coached a few games previously, but he also wanted to continue his ministerial pursuits and made one of his conditions on coming to KU that he be made chapel director at the university as well as professor of physical culture. In addition chancellor Snow promised Cowan a 1-year salary of $1,000 if he were to accept the offer from KU.

Kansas

Cowan was the fourth head football coach at the

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

and he held that position for three seasons, from 1894 until 1896. There he coached

John H. Outland John Henry Outland (March 17, 1871 – March 24, 1947) was an American football player and coach. He played football at Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa, the University of Kansas, and the University of Pennsylvania. He was twice named an All-Ame ...

and future Kansas head football coach,

A. R. Kennedy Albert Rutherford Kennedy (October 24, 1876 – September 5, 1969) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at both the University of Kansas for three seasons, from 1895 to 1897, including one as team captain, and at t ...

. His overall coaching record at Kansas was 15–7–1. In February 1894 Cowan agreed to the terms laid out and his $1,000 salary was raised with $400 in donations coming from the faculty at Kansas and the remaining $600 coming from a citizens committee in conjunction with area businessmen interested in athletics. Cowan arrived at KU on March 1, 1894 and thus became the very first paid head football coach in KU history. As a result of him being an ordained Presbyterian minister and his title of chapel director while at KU he was often referred to as Reverend Hector W. Cowan.

Later life and death

Cowan left his job as head coach at Kansas in 1896, but remained as chapel director, and professor of physical culture for 2 more years. Cowan later was replaced in his positions of chapel director and professor of physical culture at KU by

Dr. James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

in 1898. He moved from

to Spring Hill, Kansas in the summer of 1898 to become the minister of the local Presbyterian church there. In 1905 Cowan moved back to just outside

Stamford, New York Stamford is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 2,000 at the 2020 census. The town is in the eastern part of the county and has a village called Stamford. Geography The northeastern town line is the border o ...

to take over his parents' dairy farm. He worked the remainder of his life as a dairy farmer from this point on. Cowan returned to KU several times over the years to visit his former players and friends, and was an honored guest of the University of Kansas athletic association at the 1925

Kansas Relays The Kansas Relays are a three-day track meet every April, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Since 1923, the Kansas Relays have attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States of America, bringing in a ...

Death

Hector died on October 19, 1941 on his farm in

Delaware County, New York Delaware County is a county located in the US state of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 44,308. The county seat is Delhi. The county is named after the Delaware River, which was named in honor of Thomas West, ...

. He was survived by his wife, Anna Louise Smith (November 3, 1864 – October 20, 1945), four sons, Hector Edmund Cowan (July 2, 1893 – January 2, 1974), Walter Griffen Cowan (June 26, 1895 – July 28, 1982), John Mark Cowan (April 26, 1900 – June 16, 1978) and William Howard Cowan (May 9, 1908 – August 1, 2002), and 3 daughters, Mrs. Helen Louise Leete (August 2, 1897 – September 29, 1992), Mrs. Frances Petit Beddow (November 25, 1901 – July 8, 1998), and Mrs. Annie Smith Turnbull (August 9, 1905 – April 18, 1990).

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Hector 1863 births 1941 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football tackles Kansas Jayhawks football coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Princeton Tigers football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Hobart, New York Players of American football from New York (state) People from Lawrence, Kansas People from Spring Hill, Kansas