Charles N. Shira (September 23, 1926 – January 2, 1976) 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 rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach and

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 and ...

. He served as head coach of

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 ...

from 1967 to 1972 and compiled a combined record of 16–45–2. Shira received the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

award in 1970, the only season of his tenure in which his team finished with a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

above .500. He also served as the Mississippi State University athletic director, at first concurrent with his head coaching duties, and then as his sole responsibility until his death in 1976.

Early life

Shira attended college at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, where he played football as a tackle from 1943 to 1944. He received an appointment to attend the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

, and was admitted as a Cadet in 1948.''1999 Register of Graduates and Former Cadets'', United States Military Academy, 1999, p. 4-225. Shira played football for

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

under

Earl Blaik Earl Henry "Red" Blaik (February 15, 1897 – May 6, 1989) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at ...

from 1949 to 1950. In 1950, he was named Army's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and to several All-America teams, including the

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

first team. After the season, he appeared in the Blue–Gray Classic all-star game. Shira did not remain at West Point to graduate, however, and the following year, he served as an assistant coach at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

before moving on to a position at

Mississippi State 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 Univers ...

in 1952. There, he worked alongside fellow assistant

Darrell Royal Darrell K Royal (July 6, 1924 – November 7, 2012) was an All-American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Mississippi State University (1954–1955), the University of Washington (1956), and the University of Texas (1957� ...

under head coach

Murray Warmath Murray Warmath (December 26, 1912 – March 16, 2011) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi State University from 1952 to 1953 and at the University of Minnesota from 1954 to 1971, compili ...

.Burial to be in Starkville; Shira Funeral Services Today
''Florence Times-Tri Cities Daily'', January 3, 1976.

Coaching career

Shira received a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

from

in 1954. When Royal took over as head coach at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, he hired Shira as his top defensive assistant, in which role he remained from 1957 to 1966. In 1967, he was hired by Mississippi State as its head football coach and

.Shira New Coach At Mississippi State
''Sarasota Journal'', January 11, 1967.As Shira Takes Over, Getting Staff State's Big Problem
''The Tuscaloosa News'', January 14, 1967. In his first season, his team won two games, followed by none the following year. Mississippi State improved to 3–7 in 1969. That year, Shira served as the coach for the Gray squad in the

Blue-Gray Classic Livid is a medium bluish-gray color. This color name comes from the Latin color term ''lividus'' meaning "'a dull leaden-blue color', and also used to describe the color of contused flesh, leading to the English expression 'black and blue'". ...

. Mississippi State posted a surprising six-win season in 1970, including a victory over their intrastate rival, Ole Miss. For the accomplishment, the

named Shira its

.Michael B. Ballard
''Maroon and White: Mississippi State University, 1878–2003''
p. 201, University Press of Mississippi, 2008, . In 1972, having compiled a combined record of 16–45–2, Shira resigned as head coach to focus on his duties as athletic director. In 1975, the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

imposed a two-year probation on Mississippi State for possible rule violations. He suffered a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

on November 20, 1975, and died on January 2, 1976 in a

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

hospital two days after suffering a second

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. A Mississippi State athletic facility, Shira Complex, is named in his honor. It was originally built in the 1970s for the football team, and now houses an indoor FieldTurf surface used by the

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 ...

teams. One of his sons, William G. Shira, graduated from Mississippi State in 1979 with an

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

degree and, as of 2006, was a vice president of

Gulfstream Aerospace Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is an American aircraft company and a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics. Gulfstream designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and services business jet aircraft. Gulfstream has produced more than 2,000 ...

.Engineering college honors 2006 Distinguished Fellows Thursday
Mississippi State University, February 21, 2006, retrieved June 2, 2010.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shira, Charles 1926 births 1976 deaths American football tackles Army Black Knights football players Edmonton Elks coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs athletic directors Texas Longhorns football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football players Mississippi State University alumni