Thomas J. Davies (October 14, 1896 – February 29, 1972) 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 ...

player and coach. He played as a halfback at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

and was a consensus All-American in 1918 and 1920. After retiring as a player, Davies worked as a football coach for the next 26 years, including stints at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional under ...

Allegheny College he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" (2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 ...

, the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

, the

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

, the

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...

, and

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1970.

Playing career

Davies was a native of Gas City, Indiana. He moved to

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...

when he was 11 years old. Davies played high school football at Aliquippa High School in

Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Aliquippa is the largest city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, located on the Ohio River about northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 9,238 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Formerly the loc ...

, and at The Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. Davies was working in a Washington factory when he got the chance to play football at Kiski. A friend refused to accept a football scholarship there unless Davies went along. Davies enrolled at the

where he played four seasons (1918–1921) of football under coach Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner. Davies played in 31 games for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

and averaged 150 yards per game over his four-year career. He was selected as a first-team All-American in his freshman season of 1918 and again as a junior in 1920. As a freshman in 1918, Davies weighed only 142 pounds. In his first carry for Pitt, he ran for 13 yards against Washington & Jefferson—then a national power. Three plays later, he ran for 38 yards, "setting the pace for a stellar playing career." DaviesPittGT1918

Davies helped Pitt to an undefeated season and a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in 1918, as he led the team in rushing, passing and receiving. He led Pitt in all-purpose yards all four years that he played. In a 1918 game against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, the freshman Davies accounted for five touchdowns—running 50 yards for a touchdown, returning two punts for touchdowns (a 60-yard and a 50-yard return), and passing for two more touchdowns. After watching Davies run back a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in 1918, one writer noted:

"When Brother Tom Davies caught the kickoff on the ten-yard line at Franklin Field in Philadelphia one Saturday in November, we saw the prettiest piece of open field work not off at an angle, Tommie ran the length since the days of
Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Nativ ...
. On a bee line of the gridiron, and in so doing he personally took care of seven men! Then just for fun he added two more. The papers said, 'Tom Davies Beats Penn.' It has been the same against Syracuse, Lafayette and Georgia Tech. And now Pitt is counting on another All-American."

As a junior in 1920, Davies led Pitt to another big win over the

. In what some called Davies' finest game, he threw a touchdown pass, ran 80 yards for a touchdown, returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown. Also in 1920, he led Pitt to a 35–0 win over Syracuse, as he rushed for 255 yards and scored 16 points in only three quarters of play. In December 1920, Davies was elected by his teammates to be captain of Pitt's 1921 football team. Davies was selected as team captain at a team banquet at which the entire team gave Davies "a thunderous cheer." The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Davies was so affected by the demonstration that he stammered only a few words of appreciation and left the hall saying, "I'm going to phone my mother and tell her all about it." Davies continues to rank among Pitt's all-time leaders in scoring with 181 points and all-purpose yards with 3,931 yards. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

Coaching career

After graduating from Pitt, Davies began a long career as a college football coach. His first coaching position was as an assistant to the legendary John Heisman at the

in 1922. At the time of his hiring at Penn, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' noted: "Tom Davies, former Pitt captain and all-American halfback, makes his debut as a Penn coach. The versatile Davies, who raised havoc with a number of Penn elevens in recent years, will instruct in forward passing, punting and straight arming, and will also help Tom McNamara with the scrubs." Davies received his first head coaching job in 1923 when he was hired as the head football coach for the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes located in

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 9,005 at the 2020 census. Located 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, the city lies along the Beaver River, six miles (9 km) north of its c ...

. He spent only one season at Geneva, compiling a record of 6–2–1. In 1924, he was hired by

where he remained for two seasons. In 1926, Davies was hired as the head football coach at the

, where he spent nine years, coaching until 1934. After leaving Rochester, he spent one season as a coach at Carnegie Tech and another at Kiski Prep School. In 1937, Davies took over as head football coach at St. Thomas College. In his first season, he led the Tomcats to a 6–1–1 record. Prior to the start of the 1938 season, St. Thomas College changed its name to the

. Davies's 1938 team finished with a record of 7–2. The team improved in 1939 and completed an undefeated 7–0–2 season. Davies resigned as Scranton's coach in March 1940 with a three-year record of 20–3–3. After leaving Scranton, Davies went into the insurance business in the

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

area. Although Davies insisted at the time of his resignation at Scranton that he was done with coaching, he was hired in March 1941 to take over as the head football coach for the

Red Cats. Davies served seven years as head coach at Western Reserve, although there was no team from 1943 to 1945 due to

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 ...

, but was discharged in October 1947 by the University Board of Athletics. The dismissal came 24 hours after members of the team demanded that they finish the year under another coach.

Later years

After permanently retiring from football in 1947, Davies returned to the insurance business in the Pittsburgh area. Davies was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970. He died of a heart attack in February 1972 at age 75. He died at his home in Pittsburgh's Highland Park district.

Head coaching record

College

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Tom 1896 births 1972 deaths American football halfbacks Allegheny Gators football coaches Carnegie Mellon Tartans football coaches Case Western Spartans football coaches Geneva Golden Tornadoes football coaches Penn Quakers football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football players Rochester Yellowjackets football coaches Scranton Royals football coaches High school football coaches in Pennsylvania All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Beaver County, Pennsylvania People from Grant County, Indiana People from Washington County, Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania