Thomas Walter Alley (July 27, 1942 – February 5, 1993) 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 and coach. Alley was an All- Southern Conference tackle and 1964 graduate of The College of William and Mary. He held an M.Ed. from William and Mary, was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

and

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

, and played for two years with the Richmond Rebels of the Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) and

Continental Football League The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to beco ...

(COFL) before joining the coaching staff at Princess Anne High School in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

. In 1967 Alley became the line coach at Randolph–Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. In his first season, 1967, the Yellow Jackets finished 7–2 and won the

Mason–Dixon Conference The Mason–Dixon Conference is a defunct NCAA Division II (former ''NCAA College Division'') athletics conference, formed in 1936 and disbanded in October 1978. A track championship bearing the conference's name continued for several years after ...

and Virginia Small College League (VSCL) championships. In his second and final season, 1968, Randolph–Macon achieved the school's only undefeated, untied season, since the football program's inaugural campaign in 1881, and repeated as Mason–Dixon and VSCL champions. After serving as an assistant for three seasons, Alley was named as the head coach at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

for the 1973 season, succeeding Lee Corso. Alley's 1973 Cardinals team was 5–6 in his first year (3–2 in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). The team ended the year with a two-game winning streak, posting victories against Furman (35–14) and (21–9). Alley's 1974 Louisville team finished 4–7 (3–2 in the MVC). The team opened the season with three losses, to

Memphis State } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

(16–10),

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

(16–3) and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

(7–6). The Cardinals won their first two conference games, against

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

(14–7) and North Texas State (24–10), before losing to (38–35), Mississippi State (56–7) and the

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

(37–7). After a win against (20–15), Louisville lost to Vanderbilt (44–0) before closing with a victory against (10–8). Alley was fired after two seasons and replaced as Louisville's head coach by

Vince Gibson Vince Gibson (March 27, 1933 – January 10, 2012) was an American football player and coach. He served as head football coach at Kansas State University (1967–1974), the University of Louisville (1975–1979), and Tulane University (1980–198 ...

. Alley died of an apparent heart attack, on February 5, 1993, at a hospital in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Head coaching record

References

1942 births 1993 deaths American football defensive linemen American football tackles Continental Football League players Louisville Cardinals football coaches Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets football coaches William & Mary Tribe football players High school football coaches in Virginia People from Wytheville, Virginia Coaches of American football from Virginia Players of American football from Virginia {{ULouisville-stub