John Burt Longwell (1883 – ?) 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 and

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 dentist. He served as the head football coach at Howard College—now

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

—in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

during the 1909, 1911, 1916 and 1917 seasons and at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

(NYU) in 1919, 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 18–18–3. Longwell was also the head basketball coach at Howard during the 1916–17 season, tallying a mark of 3–5. Longwell took over the Howard football program from interim coach

W. A. Blount William Alexander Blount Jr. (May 23, 1879 – October 28, 1918) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama from 1903 to 1904, compiling a career record of 10–7. Head coaching record ...

in 1909. His first team went 5–2–1 and outscored opponents 82 to 30 over eight games. James C. Donnelly coached the next season. During the 1910 season, he served as an interim coach at

Wittenberg College Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Americ ...

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

after the ousting of head coach

Leo DeTray Leo Carter DeTray (November 20, 1888 – October 9, 1967) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football the Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio in 1910, University of Mississippi (Ole M ...

. When Longwell returned to Howard the following season, the 1–6–1 1911 Bulldogs only managed six points to their opponents' 158 in an eight-game season. B. L. Noojin coached the next three seasons, succeeded by

Eugene Caton Eugene Leon Caton (October 13, 1889 – March 12, 1979) was an American college football player and coach as well as an oil salesman. Early years Eugene Leon Caton was born on October 13, 1889 in Covington County, Alabama to Noah Dent Caton and ...

in 1915. Longwell returned in 1916 and guided the Bulldogs to a 6–4 record (146 points scored to 92 points against). He coached the first five games of the next season before resigning. C. W. Streit completed the 3–3–1 season. His overall record with the Bulldogs was 14–14–3 in 31 games. Longwell's Bulldogs averaged 8.74 points per game. Longwell was a graduate in medicine at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, class of 1909. He later worked as a dentist in New York.

Head coaching record

Football

Notes

References

1883 births Year of death missing American dentists NYU Violets football coaches Penn Quakers football players Samford Bulldogs football coaches Samford Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Wittenberg Tigers football coaches {{1900s-collegefootball-coach-stub