Thomas Joseph O'Boyle (August 21, 1917 – July 19, 2000) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player, coach, scout, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Southwest Missouri State College—now known as

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

—from 1947 to 1948 and at

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

from 1962 to 1965, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coaching record of 22–37–2. At Southwest Missouri State he was also the school's

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 a ...

. O'Boyle later worked an assistant coach and scout for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Biography

O'Boyle was born on August 21, 1917, in

Fort Dodge, Iowa Fort Dodge is a city in and the county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. F ...

, and was raised in

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

. He attended

and played

for the Green Wave as a guard from 1938 to 1940. O'Boyle was selected by

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the sixth round of the 1941 NFL draft, but remained at Tulane in 1941 as an assistant coach. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and returned to Tulane as an assistant coach in 1946. In 1947, O'Boyle was hired as head football coach and

at Southwest Missouri State College. He led the Southwest Missouri State Bears football team for two seasons, compiling a record of 16–4–1 and winning the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association title in 1948. O'Boyle worked as an assistant football coach at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

from 1949 to 1950, at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

from 1951 to 1958, and at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

from 1959 to 1960, before returning once more to his alma mater, in 1961. After one season as an assistant, he succeeded Andy Pilney as head football coach at Tulane. O'Boyle managed only a 6–33–1 record in four seasons before he quit his post at the end of the 1965 season, a campaign that ended with a 62–0 loss to the rival LSU Tigers (ironically, Pilney's tenure at Tulane ended in the exact same fashion four years earlier). The following year O'Boyle moved to the ranks of professional football, joining the

of the

(AFL) under head coach Hank Stram, with whom O'Boyle had worked as a fellow assistant at Miami. O'Boyle coached the Chiefs teams that appeared in the First AFL-NFL World Championship Game—later known as

Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at th ...

—and won Super Bowl IV. He remained a coach with the team through their merger into the

(NFL) until the end of the 1974 season. Thereafter, he worked as a scout with the Chiefs until his retirement in 1984. O'Boyle retired to

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

, where he died on July 19, 2000.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBoyle, Tommy 1917 births 2000 deaths American football guards Duke Blue Devils football coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Kansas City Chiefs scouts Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears athletic directors Missouri State Bears football coaches Tulane Green Wave football players Tulane Green Wave football coaches United States Navy personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Fort Dodge, Iowa Sportspeople from Gary, Indiana Players of American football from Gary, Indiana