John Esten "Billick" Whelchel (April 1, 1898 – November 5, 1973) was a decorated officer 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 ...

with the rank of Vice Admiral,

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, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

from 1942 to 1943, compiling a record of 13–5. In 1949, he was the head coach for 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 ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, tallying a mark of 3–3–1.

Early life

Whelchel was born on April 1, 1898, in

Hogansville, Georgia Hogansville is a city in Troup County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,060 at the 2010 census. Since 1998, Hogansville has held an annual Hummingbird Festival in October. It is located approximately halfway between Atlanta and Columbu ...

, but he spent his childhood in Washington, D.C., where he was interested in athletics. Whelchel attended the

in Annapolis, Maryland and graduated in 1919. During his studies at Academy, he also served in European water during World War I as a midshipman.

Navy coaching career

Upon his return to the United States and graduation, Whelchel was assigned to the football coaching staff. He served there until 1927, when he was transferred to the battleship . He also coached their football squad. In 1930, his next service assignment was Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where he became coach of the local Navy football team. Subsequently, coached football team on the board of . On June 22, 1938, now Lieutenant Commander Whelchel was appointed a Commanding Officer of newly commissioned Destroyer . McCall was assigned to the patrol duty in the Pacific and Whelchel spent next two years at sea with Destroyer Squadron Six, Battle Force, under the command of Freeland A. Daubin. He was finally succeeded by Lieutenant Commander Edwin G. Fullinwider on June 15, 1940. Whelchel returned to the Naval Academy in 1941, where he became backfield coach of local football team. Next year he succeeded main coach Swede Larson. Whelchel led the Navy team to a 5–4 record in season 1942 and an 8–1 record. He also won the Lambert Trophy in season 1943.

Sea duties during World War II

Whelchel was transferred to the Pacific Theater in 1944 and subsequently took command of heavy cruiser on March 10, 1945, where he succeeded another

player Harvey Overesch. Whelchel commanded that ship during the Battle of Okinawa and was subsequently awarded with Legion of Merit with

"V" Device A "V" device is a metal capital letter "V" with serifs which, when worn on certain decorations awarded by the United States Armed Forces, distinguishes an award for heroism or valor in combat instead of for meritorious service or achievement. ...

and Bronze Star Medal for his leadership of the ship. Whelchel continued in command of the USS San Francisco and sailed toward the Philippines to prepare for an invasion of the Japanese home islands. The cessation of hostilities in mid-August, ceased any combat operations, and Whelchel began to prepare San Francisco for occupation duty. During August 1945, Whelchel commanded the ship during the show of force in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour ter ...

and Gulf of Pohai areas and subsequently covered minesweeping operations. On 27 November 1945, ''USS San Francisco'' was ordered back to the United States, arriving at San Francisco in the middle of December. Then Whelchel commanded the ship to the East coast, where she arrived at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

for inactivation on 19 January 1946. Whelchel was subsequently assigned to the Naval Station Pearl Harbor and promoted to the rank of Rear admiral in 1947. He also received his second Legion of Merit during this assignment.

Washington Redskins

In 1948 the owner and president of the

of the

George Preston Marshall George Preston Marshall (October 11, 1896 – August 9, 1969) was an American businessman best known for founding the Washington Commanders, an American football franchise belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He founded the team as ...

became unhappy with the work of Redskins head coach

Turk Edwards Albert Glen "Turk" Edwards (September 28, 1907 – January 12, 1973) was an American professional football player who was a tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career for the Washington Redskins, starting with th ...

. He offered the positions of head coach to Whelchel, who was still on active duty with the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

. Upon permission to retire from the Navy

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing ...

, Whelchel finally retired from the active service in 1949. Upon his retirement from the Navy, Whelchel was advanced to the rank of Vice admiral on the basis of combat citations.

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a safety and punter. He ...

, Redskins

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, described Whelchel in

Myron Cope Myron Sidney Kopelman (January 23, 1929 – February 27, 2008), known professionally as Myron Cope, was an American sports journalist, radio personality, and sportscaster. He is best known for being " the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers". Cope ...

's book, ''The Game that was'':

Marshall thought the admiral would put a lot of discipline in the ball club. Well he showed up, and he looked like anything but an admiral. He was just a kind of average-looking guy, not very impressive. And the funny thing was, he turned out to be a real nice fellow. All the player liked him, although he wasn't as up on his football as he should have been.

Another Washington Redskins player,

John Koniszewski John Edward Koniszewski (August 29, 1921 – December 30, 2003) was an American football and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He also served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and received the Purple He ...

, described his experiences with Whelchel at training camp:

He's using psychology on us, and I like it. Take that first day of camp, for example, when he let us play tough football and left us completely alone. We did more work than we would have done with routine stuff.

Whelchel's Redskins opened the 1949 season with a 38–7 loss to the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

. Spending only seven games with the Redskins, Whelchel was dismissed by Marshall after a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before his final game, Whelchel told his players:

Gentlemen, this is my last game as coach of the Redskins. You are a fine group of men and a good football team. I wish you all success in the world in your future games. Washington will be proud of you." After a pause, he added: "I'd like to win this last game."

The Redskins beat the Steelers, 27–14. Whelchel's record with the Redskins was 3–3–1. He was replaced by his assistant, Herman Ball. The Redskins finished the 1949 season with a record of 4–7–1.

Later life

After his dismissal from Redskins, Whelchel worked in real estate and then in farming. Vice admiral John Esten Whelchel died on November 5, 1973, in Portsmouth, Virginia at the age of 75. He was buried together with both his wives Virginia D. Hoover Whelchel (1897–1941) and Marion Payne Whelchel (1900–1980) at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. He also had a son from his first marriage with Virginia D. Hoover, John Esten Whelchel, Jr. (1935–2008).

Wartime decorations

Here is the ribbon bar of Vice admiral John E. Whelchel:

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelchel, John 1898 births 1973 deaths American football guards Navy Midshipmen athletic directors Navy Midshipmen football coaches Navy Midshipmen football players Washington Redskins coaches United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy World War II admirals United States Navy admirals Recipients of the Legion of Merit People from Hogansville, Georgia Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Washington Redskins head coaches