Paul O. Bixler (January 25, 1907 – November 18, 1985) 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, and administrator 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. He served as the head football coach at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

for one season in 1946 and at

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

from 1947 to 1951, compiling a career record of 18–30–4. Bixler was also the head basketball coach at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

(1936–1939) and Colgate (1939–1941), tallying a mark of 52–27. He later served as director of player personnel for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Bixler was a 1929 graduate of

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private university in Alliance, Ohio. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2020, Mount Union had an enrollment of 1,958 undergraduate ...

where he was a member of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity and played

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 ...

and fullback on the football team. He started his coaching career in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

at Canton Central Junior High and then at

Canton McKinley High School McKinley Senior High School is a public high school in Canton, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Canton City School District and has two campuses: Downtown Campus (mostly known as Early College High School or Timken High ...

. He then became an assistant football coach at the

where he also served as head basketball coach. Bixler was the 24th head football coach at

located in

Hamilton, New York Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,690 at the 2010 census. The town is named after American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The Town of Hamilton contains a village also named Hamilton, the s ...

and he held that position for five seasons, from 1947 until 1951. His overall coaching record at Colgate was 14–27–2. Bixler died after suffering a heart attack in 1985."Former Buckeye coach dies, was 77", ''Gettysburg Times'', November 19, 1985, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Head coaching record

Football

References

1907 births 1985 deaths American football fullbacks American football guards Akron Zips football coaches Akron Zips men's basketball coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Cleveland Browns executives Colgate Raiders football coaches Colgate Raiders men's basketball coaches Mount Union Purple Raiders football players Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches High school football coaches in Ohio Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Basketball coaches from Ohio {{1940s-collegefootball-coach-stub