Thomas Austin Barry ( – December 27, 1947) was an American

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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

coach and player, lawyer, and industrial adviser. He served as the head football coach 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 ...

, the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

, the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, and the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

. Barry attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

and

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where he played on the football team and was named an All-American in 1902.

Early life

A native of

Brockton, Massachusetts Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population is 105,643 as of the 2020 United States Census. Along with Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of Plymouth County. It is the sixth-largest city in Mas ...

,VET COACH DIES
''Schenectady Gazette'', December 27, 1947. Barry attended

, where he played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

, and received

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s in 1899, 1900, and 1902. He served as the team captain in 1902, and led Brown to its first win against

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, 15–6, in which he scored all of his team's points. Barry scored on a 50- and 31-yard

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

and a 28-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

. It was the first time he had ever attempted to kick a field goal. That season,

Caspar Whitney Caspar William Whitney (September 2, 1864 – January 18, 1929) was an American author, editor, explorer, outdoorsman and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for '' Harp ...

named him to his

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

first team and Walter Camp named him to his second team.Gordon M. Morton III
''Brown University Athletics from the Bruins to the Bears''
p. 23, Arcadia Publishing, 2003, . He also played on the

baseball team Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, and ''

The Boston Post ''The Boston Post'' was a daily newspaper in New England for over a hundred years before it folded in 1956. The ''Post'' was founded in November 1831 by two prominent Boston businessmen, Charles G. Greene and William Beals. Edwin Grozier bough ...

'' later wrote, "he became pioneer in the art of stealing home and not once in his college career did he fail to beat the throw to the plate. He stole home against

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, Dartmouth, and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

." Barry graduated from Brown in 1903. He later graduated from

.Barry to Coach Denver Athletes
''The New York Times'', January 24, 1911.

Coaching career

After graduation from Brown, Barry coached the football team at

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

in 1903. The following year, he played minor league baseball for Albany in the

Eastern League Eastern League may refer to: Baseball in the United States ''Most recent leagues listed first'' * Eastern League (1938–present), a minor league established in 1923 and renamed Eastern League in 1938, at the Double-A level * Eastern League (1916� ...

, and coached football at Tulane. During the 1904 season, he led the Olive and Blue to a 5–2 record. Barry coached Notre Dame from 1906 to 1907 and amassed a 12–1–1 record. Several years earlier the Western Conference (now the Big Ten) had denied Notre Dame admission because of its small enrollment. In hopes it would help gain an invitation, Barry ensured Notre Dame followed the Western Conference regulations, but to no avail. In a Notre Dame alumni publication in 1931, an article titled "Coaches Before Rockne" wrote of him:

Barry had a good system of coaching. He believed in leading his men, never in pushing them, and in giving every man a fair trial, playing no favorites ... A proof of Barry's football knowledge came forward in 1907. The material was terrible and things looked mighty gloomy. He knew his men, however ... the team was tied for championship honors
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
].

Barry left Notre Dame to take over as the coach of the Wisconsin Badgers football, football and Wisconsin Badgers baseball, baseball teams at Wisconsin Badgers, Wisconsin from 1908 to 1910. In football, he amassed a 9–4–3 record. Notre Dame invited Barry back as its head coach, but he declined to pursue his career in law. In January 1911, the

hired him as its head football and baseball coach, and Barry coached the football team to a 5–2–1 record in his only season there.

Later life and legacy

In 1944, Barry retired from practicing law and moved from

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, to

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is no ...

, where he remained until his death. He died in his home on December 27, 1947, at the age of 68. Barry has been inducted into the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame.Brown Hall of Fame
Brown University, retrieved December 10, 2010. In February 1947, ''

'' named him to the "All-Time Big Ten" of Brockton athletics, and the article's author wrote "Tom Barry was undoubtedly the most distinguished athlete Brockton has ever produced".''Brown Alumni Monthly, Volume XLVII''
p. 18, Brown University, March–April 1947. Fighting Irish football legend

Knute Rockne Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud ( Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used ...

called Barry "the man who laid the football foundation at Notre Dame."

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Thomas A. 1870s births 1947 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football halfbacks Bowdoin Polar Bears football coaches Brown Bears baseball players Brown Bears football players Denver Pioneers football coaches Denver Pioneers baseball coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches Wisconsin Badgers baseball coaches Wisconsin Badgers football coaches All-American college football players Harvard Law School alumni Sportspeople from Brockton, Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts Baseball players from Massachusetts