Joseph Howard McCulloch (April 5, 1886 – December 15, 1960) 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 ...

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

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 ...

coach, teacher 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 ...

. He played college football and baseball at

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...

from 1908 to 1910. He was the athletic director and coach of the baseball and basketball teams at 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 1911 to 1918. After service in the military during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he spent more than 30 years from 1919 through the mid-1950s as the athletic director at Michigan State Normal College—now known as

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

—and served stints as the head coach of the football, basketball and tennis teams.

Early years

McCulloch was born in the State of New York in approximately 1887. His father was an immigrant from Scotland. McCulloch attended

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. He was the captain of the Springfield College football and baseball teams in 1909 and 1910.

Coaching career

From approximately 1911 to 1918, McCulloch was professor, athletic director and coach of the basketball and baseball teams at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now known as

). In March 1918, he was also placed in charge of "soldiers' sports" at Carnegie Tech. Archie Weston

McCulloch's coaching career was interrupted during

when he served in the United States armed forces. As of September 1918, McCulloch was serving as an assistant flight officer with the rank of lieutenant at Chanute Aviation Field (later renamed

Chanute Air Force Base Chanute Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force facility, located in Champaign County, Illinois, south of and adjacent to Rantoul, Illinois, about south of Chicago. Its primary mission throughout its existence was Air Force t ...

) in

Rantoul, Illinois Rantoul is a village in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,371 at the 2020 census. History The community was named after Robert Rantoul, Jr., a U.S. representative from Massachusetts, and a director of the Illino ...

. He was also named as the coach of the base football team that included stars including former All-American

Archie Weston Archie Bruce "Beak" Weston (June 9, 1895 – April 1981) was an American football player who was a quarterback for the University of Michigan in 1917 and a halfback in 1919. He was selected as a first-team All-American in 1917 by ''Chicago ...

from Michigan, future All-American Jim Reynolds from Georgia, Kofed of Carnegie Tech, and Mackall of Virginia. After being discharged from the military in 1919, McCulloch was hired as the football, baseball and tennis coach at

Michigan State Normal College Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

located in

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti (), commonly shortened to Ypsi, is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Township and on the west, south, and ...

. He was the head basketball coach for the Normalites—now called the Eastern Michigan Eagles—from 1921 to 1925 and head football coach during the 1921 and 1922 seasons. His coaching record for the football program was 6–5–2. At the time of the 1920 U.S. Census, McCulloch was living in Ypsilanti, and his occupation was identified as the "athletic supervisor" at a school.Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Census Place: Ypsilanti Ward 1, Washtenaw, Michigan; Roll: T625_800; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 166; File: 382.

Later years and family

McCulloch retired from coaching at Michigan State Normal College in 1936, but he remained the school's athletic director for another 20 years. At the time of the 1930 U.S. Census, McCulloch remained in Ypsilanti, and his occupation was listed as a teacher at the Normal College.Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Census Place: Ypsilanti, Washtenaw, Michigan; Roll: 1030; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 46; File: 169.0. In 1951, the press reported on rumors that Michigan State Normal's football players had been "doped" with novocain to allow them to play through injuries. McCulloch, who was the head of the athletic department and a member of the school's board of athletic control, denied the rumors and told reporters, "We want to know who started these rumors." McCulloch was married to Katharine P. McCulloch in approximately 1913. They had two sons, Rudolph (born in Illinois in approximately 1914), Joseph Howard, Jr. (born in Pennsylvania in approximately 1915), and George M. (born in Michigan in approximately 1922), and a daughter, Charlotte Morrison (born in Illinois in approximately 1919). McCulloch died in December 1960 at age 74.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcculloch, Joseph 1886 births 1960 deaths Carnegie Mellon Tartans athletic directors Carnegie Mellon Tartans baseball coaches Carnegie Mellon Tartans men's basketball coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles athletic directors Eastern Michigan Eagles baseball coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball coaches Springfield Pride baseball players Springfield Pride football players Carnegie Mellon University faculty Sportspeople from Manhattan Players of American football from New York City Baseball players from New York City Coaches of American football from New York (state) Baseball coaches from New York (state) Basketball coaches from New York (state) American people of Scottish descent