Thomas Cochran (March 20, 1871 – October 29, 1936) was an American banker and college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

for the 1894 Golden Gophers season, leading the team to a 3–1 record. He was the second

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

graduate to coach at

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, following his predecessor,

Wallie Winter Wallace Charles Winter Sr. (August 8, 1872 – May 10, 1947) was an American college football player and coach. He played tackle at Yale University from 1890 to 1892 and was selected to the 1891 College Football All-America Team. After graduati ...

. The Minnesota football program was suffering financially, so Cochran delivered lectures titled "Football as Played in the East" at locations around the nation to help raise money.

Life and career

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota on March 20, 1871, Cochran was the son of a lawyer and real-estate broker in New York and St. Paul. He was educated at

Phillips Academy Andover ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

and at

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 ...

, where he was an editor of campus humor magazine ''

The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it became the oldest humor magazine in the world when ''Punch'' folded in 2002."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/histo ...

'' and a member of the

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

society."Thomas Cochran". ''Obituary Record of Graduates Of Yale University: Deceased During the Year 1936-1937''. New Haven: Yale University. December 1, 1937. p. 64. Cochran was the vice-president of the

Astor Trust Company The Astor Trust Company was a historic American banking organization. The firm merged with Bankers Trust in 1917. History The Astor National Bank of New York was authorized to begin business on February 9, 1898, with initial capital of $300,000. ...

from 1906 to 1914, and president of the

Liberty National Bank of New York Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society f ...

from 1914 to 1916. He became a partner in J.P. Morgan & Company in 1917. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Cochran funded the creation of several buildings on the Phillips Academy campus, notably the

Addison Gallery of American Art The Addison Gallery of American Art is an academic museum dedicated to collecting American art, organized as a department of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. History Directors of the gallery include Bartlett H. Hayes, Jr. (1940– ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

* 1871 births 1936 deaths 19th-century players of American football American bankers American football fullbacks Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Yale Bulldogs football players Phillips Academy alumni Sportspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota Players of American football from Saint Paul, Minnesota {{US-business-bio-1870s-stub