John Joseph Harding (January 4, 1898 – February 24, 1963) 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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at St. Thomas College—now the

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...

—from 1926 to 1936 and at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

from 1937 to 1942 and 1945 to 1947, compiling a career

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 ...

record of 103–69–12. Harding was also the head basketball coach at St. Thomas from 1926 to 1937, amassing record of 119–56. He was the head

coach at Miami in 1940 and 1959, tallying a mark of 16–14–1. Harding 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 coach in 1980. During his two stints coaching football at Miami, Harding compiled a 54–32–3 (.624) record and led the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

to four seasons of eight or more wins (1938, 1941, 1945, 1946). After resigning from coaching football, he served as the

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 Miami for 15 years until his death from cancer, on February 24, 1963, in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Jack 1898 births 1963 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pennsylvania Miami Hurricanes athletic directors Miami Hurricanes baseball coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers baseball players Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players Pittsburgh Panthers football players Scranton Royals football coaches Scranton Royals men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Deaths from cancer in Florida

Head coaching record

Football

See also

References

External links