Donald Russell (American football)

Last updated

Donald M. Russell
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1964–1970 Wesleyan
Head coaching record
Overall37–19

Donald M. Russell is a former American football coach. He was the head football coach at Wesleyan University from 1964 to 1970 and has the highest winning percentage (.661) of any Wesleyan football coach with more than two years as head coach.

Contents

Early years

A native of Quincy, Massachusetts, Russell graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in 1951. He played offensive and defensive tackle for the Bates College football team. [1] After graduating from Bates, Russell spent nine years as a high school teacher and football coach at Hollis High School in Hollis, Maine, Thornton Academy in Saco, Maine, and Turner Falls High School in Turners Falls, Massachusetts. [1]

Wesleyan football coach

In 1960, Russell joined the coaching staff at Wesleyan University as an assistant football coach under Norm Daniels. [1] After Daniels took a sabbatical, Russell took over as the head football coach in June 1964. [2] He also became Wesleyan's athletic director and chairman of the physical education department in 1968. [3] His best season at Wesleyan was in 1969 when he led the Wesleyan Cardinals football team to an undefeated, untied 8–0 record and a Little Three championship. [4] The 1969 Cardinals also shared the Lambert Cup with Delaware as the best small college team in the East, and Russell was selected as the 1969 New England small college coach of the year. [5] He also led Wesleyan to Little Three football championships in 1966 and 1970. [4] In seven years as the head football coach at Wesleyan, Russell compiled a record of 37–19. [6] His winning percentage of .661 is the highest among all Wesleyan football coaches with more than two years on the job and is the highest among all football coaches since 1920. [6] In November 1970, Russell announced his intention to retire from active coaching at the end of the year in order to allow him to devote full time to his job as chairman of the university's physical education department. [5] [7]

Related Research Articles

Mike Whalen is an American college athletics administrator and former college football and collegiate wrestling coach. He is the athletic director at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, a position he has held since 2013. Whalen served as the head football coach at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts from 2004 to 2009 and at Wesleyan from 2010 to 2014, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 64–24. He was also the head wrestling coach at Williams from 1996 to 2004. Whalen played football and wrestled at Wesleyan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Drew</span> American sports coach (1894–1979)

Harold Delbert "Red" Drew was an American football, basketball, and track and field coach for over 40 years. He was the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team from 1947 to 1954, compiling a 54–28–7 record and leading the team to appearances in the Sugar, Orange and Cotton Bowls. He also served as an assistant football coach at Alabama from 1931 to 1941, including the undefeated 1934 team that won the national championship and played in the 1935 Rose Bowl. Drew also served as Alabama's track and field coach for 23 seasons continuing into the mid-1960s. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.

Emil Smith "Liz" Liston was an American athletic coach and administrator. He coached basketball, football and baseball at Wesleyan University and Baker University. He was the founder of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, organized the NAIA college basketball tournament in 1937 and served as the first executive director of the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball from 1940 to 1949. He was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975.

Jake C. High was an American college football player and coach. He played football at the fullback position for Brown University. He was the head football coach at Wesleyan University in 1912 and has the distinction of having the highest career winning percentage (.778) in the 127-year history of the Wesleyan Cardinals football program. He was also the head football coach at New York University (NYU) in 1913 and holds the distinction of having the lowest career winning percentage (.000) in the history of the NYU Violets football program.

The Hartford Hawks baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Hartford, located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The program is a member of the NCAA Division III Commonwealth Coast Conference. The program had been a member of the NCAA Division I America East Conference from 1985 to 2022. It has played home games at Fiondella Field since the venue opened at the start of the 2006 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norm Daniels (American football)</span> American athlete and coach (1907–2009)

Norman Joseph Daniels was an American athlete and coach. He played basketball, football and baseball for the University of Michigan from 1928 to 1932. He served for 39 years as a professor of physical education and coach at Wesleyan University from 1934 to 1973, including 33 years as the school's head baseball coach, 19 years as the head football coach, nine years as the head wrestling coach, three years as the head basketball coach, and two years as the head squash coach. He led the Wesleyan football team to four consecutive undefeated seasons from 1945 to 1948.

Bill MacDermott was an American gridiron football coach. He played college football at Trinity College. After graduating from Trinity, he spent the next 50 years as a football coach at the college and professional levels. He was the head football coach at Wesleyan University from 1971 to 1986 and has also held coaching positions with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the Orlando Thunder, San Diego Chargers, Montreal Alouettes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts, and Edmonton Eskimos.

Dan C. Kenan was an American football player and coach. He played football for Wesleyan University in 1913 and 1914 and served as the head coach of the Wesleyan football team in 1916 and 1920. His .750 winning percentage as Wesleyan's head football coach ranks third in the 127-year history of Wesleyan football.

Abraham Barr Snively II was an American football player and coach of lacrosse, football, and ice hockey. He played football for Princeton University from 1921 to 1923 and was captain of the 1923 team. He held coaching positions at Williams College in lacrosse, football and hockey from 1928 to 1948 and at the University of New Hampshire from 1953 to 1964.

The 1929 Connecticut Aggies football team was an American football team that represented Connecticut Agricultural College, now the University of Connecticut, in the New England Conference during the 1929 college football season. The Aggies were led by seventh year head coach Sumner Dole, and completed the season with a record of 4–4. The team played its home games at Gardner Dow Field in Storrs, Connecticut.

The 1925 Maine Black Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of Maine as a member of the New England Conference during the 1925 college football season. In its fifth season under head coach Fred Brice, the team compiled a 5–2–1 record, going 1–0–1 against conference opponents.

The 1934 Maine Black Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of Maine as a member of the New England Conference during the 1934 college football season. In its 14th season under head coach Fred Brice, the team compiled a 4–3 record. The team played its home games at Alumni Field in Orono, Maine. George Cobb was the team captain.

The 1936 Maine Black Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of Maine as a member of the New England Conference during the 1936 college football season. In its 16th season under head coach Fred Brice, the team compiled a 4–3 record. The team played its home games at Alumni Field in Orono, Maine. Morris Procter was the team captain.

The 1942 Maine Black Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of Maine as a member of the New England Conference during the 1942 college football season. In its first season under head coach William C. Kenyon, the team compiled a 2–4 record. The team played its home games at Alumni Field in Orono, Maine. Ray Neal and Robert Nutter were the team captains.

The 1948 Maine Black Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of Maine as a member of the Yankee Conference during the 1948 college football season. In its fourth and final season under head coach George E. Allen, the team compiled a 4–3 record and finished fifth in the conference. Alton Sproul Jr. was the team captain. The team played its home games at Alumni Field in Orono, Maine.

The 1946 Little Three Conference football season was the season of college football played by the three member schools of the Little Three Conference as part of the 1946 college football season.

The 1946 Maine Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football season was the season of college football played by the four member schools of the Maine Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) as part of the 1946 college football season. The 1946 season was the first since 1942 in which the four conference teams competed for the MIAC championship.

The 1947 Wesleyan Cardinals football team, also known as the Wesleyan Methodists, was an American football that represented Wesleyan University as an independent during the 1947 college football season. In their third season under head coach Norm Daniels, the Cardinals compiled a perfect 7–0 record, won the Little Three championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 141 to 28.

The 1948 Wesleyan Cardinals football team, also known as the Wesleyan Methodists, was an American football that represented Wesleyan University as an independent during the 1948 college football season. In their fourth season under head coach Norm Daniels, the Cardinals compiled a perfect 8–0 record, won the Little Three championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 224 to 34.

The 1969 Wesleyan Cardinals football team, also known as the Wesleyan Methodists, was an American football that represented Wesleyan University as a member of the Little Three during the 1969 college football season. In their sixth season under head coach Donald Russell, the Cardinals compiled a perfect 8–0 record, won the Little Three championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 170 to 106. It was Wesleyan's first perfect season since 1948.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Former Bates Grid Star Wesleyan Coach". Lewiston Evening Journal. December 31, 1964.
  2. ↑ Bill Newell (June 28, 1964). "Daniels and Wood Out, Russell in at Wesleyan". The Hartford Courant.
  3. ↑ "Don Russell Succeeds McCurdy As Wesleyan's Athletic Director". The Hartford Courant. March 7, 1968.
  4. 1 2 "127 SEASONS OF WESLEYAN FOOTBALL". Wesleyan University. Archived from the original on June 1, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Don Russell Retiring As Coach At Wesleyan". The Day, New London, Conn. November 18, 1970.
  6. 1 2 "ALL-TIME COACHING RECORDS". Wesleyan University. Archived from the original on June 1, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Wesleyan's Don Russell Retires As Grid Coach". The Hartford Courant. November 18, 1970.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.