Norman Joseph Daniels (March 25, 1907 – May 11, 2009) was an American

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

and coach. He played basketball,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and baseball for the University of Michigan from 1928 to 1932. He served for 39 years as a professor of physical education and coach at Wesleyan University from 1934 to 1973, including 33 years as the school's head baseball coach, 19 years as the head football coach, nine years as the head wrestling coach, three years as the head basketball coach, and two years as the head squash coach. He led the Wesleyan football team to four consecutive undefeated seasons from 1945 to 1948.

Michigan

Daniels was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1907. He attended the University of Michigan where he received nine varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball. He won All-Big Ten and All-America honors in basketball and was the leading scorer for the 1930–31 and 1931–32 Michigan basketball teams with 152 and 148 points, respectively. He also held the second base position for the baseball team, and played at the right end and halfback positions for the football teams from 1929 to 1931. After graduating from Michigan in 1932, Daniels became a teacher and coach at a secondary school in Hillsdale, Michigan.

Wesleyan

In 1934, one of Daniels' coaches from the University of Michigan,

Jack Blott Jack Leonard Blott (August 24, 1902 – June 11, 1964) was an All-American football center and place kicker for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1922–1923. He was also a baseball catcher for the Wolverines from 1922–1924. After ...

, was hired as the head football coach at Wesleyan University. Daniels joined Blott at Wesleyan in 1934 as a physical education instructor and as an assistant football coach responsible for the ends and backs. Daniels remained at Wesleyan for 39 years, holding positions as the head coach of the football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, and squash teams. He was the school's head baseball coach for 33 years (1941 to 1973), the head football coach for 19 years (1945 to 1963), the head wrestling coach for nine years, the head basketball coach for three years (1944 to 1947), and the head squash coach for two years (1948 to 1950). He was named a full professor at Wesleyan in 1948. In his 19 years as the head football coach, Daniels compiled a record of 76–61–10. He led the football team to a 25-game win streak, including four consecutive undefeated seasons from 1945 to 1948. After the 1948 season, Associated Press sports writer Lou Black wrote: "Want to know who really is the coach of the year? He's mild mannered Norm Daniels, the wizard of Wesleyan." In 1959, Daniels traveled with the baseball team on preseason trip to the South. When Daniels was told that a black player, Lenny Moore, could not stay at a hotel in Georgia, Daniels took the team from the hotel. In Florida, an opposing school refused to play Wesleyan unless Moore was removed from the lineup; Daniels pulled his team from the field.

Later years and honors

Daniels retired after the baseball season in 1973. He was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1974. Daniels remained active in his later years, serving on the Middletown City Council in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He also drove a van for Kuhn Employment Opportunities, an organization that assists people with disabilities to secure employment. On April 5, 2007, Daniels celebrated his 100th birthday with a party in the lobby of Wesleyan's Freeman Athletic Center. In 2008, Daniels became one of the inaugural inductees into the Wesleyan University Athletics Hall of Fame. In May 2009, Daniels died at age 102 at the Kimberly Hall nursing home in Windsor, Connecticut. He was survived by a daughter, Diana Mahoney, a son, David, 10 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. A memorial service was held for Daniels at the South Congregational Church in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

, followed by a reception in the Coach Norm Daniels Lobby in the Freeman Athletic Center at Wesleyan.

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Norm 1907 births 2009 deaths American football ends American football halfbacks American men's basketball players American men centenarians Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Michigan Michigan Wolverines baseball players Michigan Wolverines football players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Wesleyan Cardinals baseball coaches Wesleyan Cardinals football coaches Wesleyan Cardinals men's basketball coaches Wesleyan University faculty Players of American football from Detroit Sportspeople from Middletown, Connecticut People from Hillsdale, Michigan