Thomas Joseph O'Boyle (August 21, 1917 – July 19, 2000) 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, coach, scout, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Southwest Missouri State College—now known as Missouri State University—from 1947 to 1948 and at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

from 1962 to 1965, compiling a career college football coaching record of 22–37–2. At Southwest Missouri State he was also the school's

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 an ...

. O'Boyle later worked an assistant coach and scout for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

of the American Football League (AFL) and 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).

Biography

O'Boyle was born on August 21, 1917 in

Fort Dodge, Iowa Fort Dodge is a city in, and the county seat of, Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Cen ...

and was raised in

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the sou ...

. He attended

and played college football for the

Green Wave A green wave occurs when a series of traffic lights (usually three or more) are coordinated to allow continuous traffic flow over several intersections in one main direction. Any vehicle traveling along with the green wave (at an approximate spee ...

as a

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 ...

from 1938 to 1940. O'Boyle was selected by Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the

1941 NFL draft The 1941 National Football League Draft was held on December 10, 1940, at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Bears selected halfback Tom Harmon. Player selections Round 1 Round 2 R ...

, but remained at Tulane in 1941 as an assistant coach. He served 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 ...

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 opposing ...

and returned to Tulane as an assistant coach in 1946. In 1947, O'Boyle was hired as head football coach and

Southwest Missouri State College Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

. He led the Southwest Missouri State Bears football team for two seasons, compiling a record of 16–4–1 and winning the

Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen me ...

title in 1948. O'Boyle worked as an assistant football coach at Kansas State University from 1949 to 1950, at Duke University from 1951 to 1958, and at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

from 1959 to 1960, before returning once more to his alma mater, in 1961. After one season as an assistant, he succeeded Andy Pilney as head football coach at Tulane. O'Boyle managed only a 6–33–1 record in four seasons before he quit his post at the end of the 1965 season, a campaign that ended with a 62–0 loss to the rival

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

(ironically, Pilney's tenure at Tulane ended in the exact same fashion four years earlier). The following year O'Boyle moved to the ranks of professional football, joining the

of the American Football League (AFL) under head coach

Hank Stram Henry Louis Stram (; January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NF ...

, with whom O'Boyle had worked as a fellow assistant at Miami. O'Boyle coached the Chiefs teams that appeared in the First AFL-NFL World Championship Game—later known as

Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at the ...

—and won Super Bowl IV. He remained a coach with the team through their merger into the

(NFL) until the end of the 1974 season. Thereafter, he worked as a scout with the Chiefs until his retirement in 1984. O'Boyle retired to

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

, where he died on July 19, 2000.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OBoyle, Tommy 1917 births 2000 deaths American football guards Duke Blue Devils football coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Kansas City Chiefs scouts Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears athletic directors Missouri State Bears football coaches Tulane Green Wave football players Tulane Green Wave football coaches United States Navy personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Fort Dodge, Iowa Sportspeople from Gary, Indiana Players of American football from Gary, Indiana