John W. Hancock (April 13, 1901 – 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,

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete, coach of football,

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 ...

, track, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, and college athletics administrator. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

Playing career

Hancock played football at the

from 1922 to 1924. He played a significant role on Iowa’s 1922

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship team. As a senior, Hancock played both the tackle and end positions and kicked five field goals for the Hawkeyes. He was named all-Big Ten and a second team All-American after the 1924 season. He also won three letters in track with the Hawkeyes, capturing a title in the discus event at the 1925 Big Ten championships.

Coaching career

Hancock went into college coaching after graduation. He coached football at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

for three years from 1927 to 1929. While working as an assistant at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

, Hancock served as head coach of the ice hockey team for two seasons. He went to the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

in 1932 and began a long coaching career. Hancock served as their athletic director for 34 years and coached football and track for decades as well. Hancock was the head football coach at Northern Colorado for 20 seasons, from 1932 until 1953. His football coaching record at Northern Colorado was 75–78–5. In 1950, he led his team to the

Bean Bowl The Bean Bowl was a non-NCAA-sanctioned American college football bowl game played in Scottsbluff, Nebraska Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, in the western part of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United S ...

. Hancock is best known as a college wrestling coach at Northern Colorado. He originated the Mountain Intercollegiate Wrestling Association and proceeded to lead UNC to 30 consecutive conference championships. He served on the NCAA rules committee for 16 years and chaired it in 1962–63. Hancock has been nicknamed “the father of Colorado high school wrestling”. He helped start the Colorado High School Wrestling Tournament in Greeley in 1936 by going door-to-door in the community to find families that could house the visiting high school wrestlers. Two of his sons became well-known wrestling coaches as well.

Honors

Hancock was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1998. The

Butler–Hancock Sports Pavilion Bank of Colorado Arena at Butler-Hancock Athletic Center is a 2,992-seat multi-purpose arena in Greeley, Colorado, United States. It was built in 1974 and is home to the University of Northern Colorado Bears men's and women's basketball teams, as ...

at the University of Northern Colorado was named in honor of Hancock and Pete Butler, baseball coach.Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion

Head coaching record

Football

Ice hockey

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, John W. 1901 births 1993 deaths American football ends American football tackles Iowa Hawkeyes football players College track and field coaches in the United States Marquette Golden Avalanche football coaches Marquette Golden Eagles men's ice hockey coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Northern Colorado Bears athletic directors Northern Colorado Bears football coaches Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball coaches Northern Colorado Bears wrestling coaches People from Marshfield, Wisconsin Coaches of American football from Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin Basketball coaches from Wisconsin