Russ Peterson was an American college

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 ...

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 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 ...

coach. He served as a multi-sport coach at

American International College American International College (AIC) is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885, as the French Protestant College by Rev. Calvin E. Amaron, who sough ...

and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

Early life

Peterson was a native of

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 ...

, where he attended the High School of Commerce. He then continued on to

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 ...

, where he played football and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

.AIC athletics program builds on storied past
''The Republican'', March 27, 2011. He graduated as a member of the class of 1928.

Coaching career

In 1933, American International College president Chester McGown hired Peterson as the school's first

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 ...

. Peterson established the American International basketball program in 1933, and its football, baseball, and soccer programs in 1934. On October 13, 1939, Peterson coached American International to perhaps its greatest victory, a 7–6 upset of heavy favorites

Saint Anselm Anselm of Canterbury, OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also called ( it, Anselmo d'Aosta, link=no) after his birthplace and (french: Anselme du Bec, link=no) after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the ...

at Pynchon Park. Trailing 6–0 with 1:30 remaining, American International elected to punt, but the

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

dropped the wet ball, and was forced to

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

. A

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

gave him an opening and he ran 60 yards for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

. Future American International coach Henry Butova kicked the

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

to seal the victory.Richard Bedard continuing tradition of athletic excellence at American International College
MassLive.com, December 24, 2010. Peterson served as both the head football and basketball coach at American International. From 1934 to 1940, his football teams compiled a 16–27–2 record. As the basketball coach from 1933 to 1941, he compiled a 45–59 record. In 1941, he was hired by

as the line coach for its

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

and as the freshman coach for its basketball program. In 1943, Boston University also appointed Peterson as its head baseball coach. That year, he temporarily left the school to take a commission in the

United States 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 ...

as a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

instructor 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 opposin ...

. Peterson returned to Boston and served as the head coach of the

basketball team 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 ...

from 1945 to 1948 and compiled a 36–18 record. In 1948, he was promoted to the position of freshman football coach. In August 1949, Peterson resigned from his posts at Boston in order to take an athletic director position in Arlington. In 1953, he took over as head football coach at Springfield Technical High School, where he remained until 1958, when he resigned in order to become athletic director for

public schools.West Springfield and Springfield Tech coach Eddie Mason taught lessons about football, life
MassLive.com, January 26, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Russ Year of birth missing Year of death missing American International Yellow Jackets athletic directors American International Yellow Jackets football coaches American International Yellow Jackets men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Massachusetts Boston University Terriers men's basketball coaches Boston University Terriers football coaches Boston University Terriers baseball coaches Springfield Pride football players Springfield Pride men's lacrosse players High school football coaches in Massachusetts United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts Military personnel from Massachusetts