Lester Michael Brumbelow (July 13, 1906 – August 11, 1977) 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 wi ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and coach. He played football and basketball for

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

from 1927 to 1929 and was the captain and most valuable player of the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

undefeated 1929 football team that won the school's first

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

championship. He later served as an assistant football coach and head basketball coach at TCU from 1936 to 1941. He served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in the athletics program at the Navy Pre-Flight School, and attained the rank of

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

. After the war, he served as an assistant football coach at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

from 1946 to 1948. From 1950 to 1956 he was the head football coach at Texas Western College, now the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

; he also served as the school's

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 an ...

from 1950 to 1959.

Early years

Brumbelow grew up in Jacksboro, Texas. He was the son of William Brumbelow and Alice Helton Brumbelow, a ranching and farming family in

Jack County, Texas Jack County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,472. Its county seat is Jacksboro. The county was created in 1856 and organized the next year. It is named for ...

Athlete at TCU

Brumbelow attended TCU. He played at the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

position from 1927 to 1929 and was selected as the captain and most valuable player on TCU's undefeated 1929 football team that won the school's first

championship. Brumbelow was selected as an All-American in 1929 and an All-Southwest Conference player in both 1928 and 1929. He also won the 1929 Rogers Trophy Award and played in the 1930 East–West Shrine Game. Brumbelow also played basketball at TCU and received two varsity letters in that sport. He was inducted into the TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame in 1970.

Coaching career

High school coach

Brumbelow began a coaching career as a high school football coach in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, from 1930 to 1931, and subsequently at

Lufkin, Texas Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas and the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and about 60 miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border. Its estimated population is 35,021 as of July 1, 2019. Lufkin was founded ...

TCU

In June 1936, Brumbelow was hired as the line coach at TCU. He continued to serve as TCU's line coach through the 1941 season. Brumbelow also served as the head coach of the basketball team at TCU from 1937 to 1941. In four seasons as TCU's head basketball coach, the team compiled a record of 22–64.

Military service

Brumbelow entered the

during

with the rank of lieutenant. In 1942, he served as the line coach of the football team at the Navy Pre-Flight School in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

. He was promoted to head coach in January 1943, and in April 1943 was placed in charge of the entire nine sport program for the 2,400 cadets at the Pre-Flight School. He was discharged from the Navy in November 1945 with the rank of lieutenant commander.

Mississippi and SMU

In August 1946, Brumbelow was hired as an assistant football coach at the

. He served as the line coach at Mississippi from 1946 to 1948. During the 1949 football season, he scouted opposing schools for

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

UTEP

In June 1950, Brumbelow was hired as the head football coach and athletic director

(then known as Texas Western College). He had been operating sporting goods stores at Midland and

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, ma ...

(in partnership with

Tex Carleton James Otto "Tex" Carleton (August 19, 1906 – January 11, 1977) was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1932 to 1940 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Brooklyn Dodgers. Carleton threw a no-hitter on April 30, 1940, against the R ...

) at the time of his hiring at UTEP. Brumbelow served as head football coach at UTEP from 1950 to 1956. He had a successful tenure as coach, guiding his teams to a 46–24–3 record. The team won eight or more games three times, in 1953, 1954 and 1956. He led UTEP to appearances in the

1954 Sun Bowl The 1954 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the Texas Western Miners and the Mississippi Southern Southerners. Background The Miners had a two game improvement while finishing third in the Border Intercollegiate ...

, 1955 Sun Bowl, and

1957 Sun Bowl The 1957 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the George Washington Colonials and the Texas Western Miners. Background The Miners were in their fourth Sun Bowl of the 1950s in the final year for coach Mike Brumbelow. Don ...

, two of which UTEP won. He is responsible for UTEP's only outright conference championship when his 1956 team went 5–0 in Border Conference play. Brumbelow retired as UTEP's football coach in July 1957 and as athletic director in 1959. He was inducted into El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in 1964, and the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.

Later years

After retiring as UTEP's athletic director in 1959, Brumbelow worked in the advertising and public relations department of the El Paso Natural Gas Co. He was one of the leaders in the effort to build the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso and helped get a bond issue passed to finance its construction. He later served as the president of Sun Travel. At the age of 71, Brumbelow died at Providence Memorial Hospital in El Paso after a long illness. He was survived by his wife Marjorie (Klein) Brumbelow and a daughter, Nancy (Brumbelow) Sisk.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brumbelow, Mike 1906 births 1977 deaths American football guards Georgia Pre-Flight Skycrackers football coaches Ole Miss Rebels football coaches TCU Horned Frogs football coaches TCU Horned Frogs football players TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball coaches TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball players UTEP Miners athletic directors UTEP Miners football coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States People from El Paso, Texas People from Jacksboro, Texas Players of American football from Texas Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from Texas American men's basketball players United States Navy officers Military personnel from Texas