Earl B. Thompson (died 1924) was an American football coach, and the very first football coach of Harding College, in 1924.
According to the Harding yearbook The Petit Jean, he was killed in a car wreck 3 or 4 games into the season. Afterward, the team dissolved for the year:
"Our coach was killed in a car wreck... For this reason we did not play anymore. He was a competent Coach and loved by all of us, we did not feel disposed to play after that. Next year we hope to have a strong team, with the ones who are here his year that expect to be back." [1]
It is not known if that statement was written by representatives of the team itself, or by editors of the yearbook staff. Thompson's name was not mentioned in the entry. He was referred to as "our coach."
The first game in Harding football history was a 0–38 loss to College of the Ozarks. The next two games were a win over Dardanelle High School and a 10–7 victory over Arkansas Tech University's third string team. Arkansas Tech would still be a Harding rival a century later.
John Franklin Broyles was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach for one season at the University of Missouri in 1957 and at the University of Arkansas from 1958 to 1976, compiling a career coaching record of 149–62–6. Broyles was also the athletic director at Arkansas from 1974 to 2007. His mark of 144–58–5 in 19 seasons at the helm of the Arkansas Razorbacks football gives him the most wins and the most coached games of any head coach in program history. With Arkansas, Broyles won seven Southwest Conference titles and his 1964 team was named a national champion by a number of selectors including the Football Writers Association of America.
Harding University is a Christian private university with its main campus in Searcy, Arkansas. It is the largest private university in Arkansas. Established in 1924, the institution offers undergraduate, graduate, and pre-professional programs. The university also includes the Harding School of Theology, located in Memphis, Tennessee, which was formerly known as Harding Graduate School of Religion. Harding is one of several institutions of higher learning associated with the Churches of Christ.
Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-time All-American at quarterback, and led the Centre Praying Colonels to an upset victory over Harvard in 1921. McMillin was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player as part of its inaugural 1951 class.
The Ramblin' Reck from Georgia Tech is the 1930 Ford Model A Sport coupe that serves as the official mascot of the student body at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Reck is present at all major sporting events and student body functions. Its most noticeable role is leading the football team into Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, a duty which the Reck has performed since 1961. The Ramblin' Reck is mechanically and financially maintained on campus by students in Ramblin' Reck Club.
Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate is the name given to the Georgia–Georgia Tech football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry between the Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The two Southern universities are located in the U.S. state of Georgia and are separated by 70 miles (110 km). They have been heated rivals since 1893.
Daniel Earle McGugin was an American college football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from 1919 to 1934, compiling a record of 197–55–19. He is the winningest head coach in the history of the university. McGugin was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951 as part of its inaugural class. He was the brother-in-law of University of Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football program represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in the sport of American football. The Yellow Jackets college football team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Georgia Tech has fielded a football team since 1892 and as of 2023, it has an all-time record of 757–540–43. The Yellow Jackets play in Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field in Atlanta, Georgia, holding a stadium max capacity of 51,913.
The Harding Bisons football program represents Harding University in college football as a Division II member of the Great American Conference. Harding is located in Searcy, Arkansas. The Bisons are led by head coach Paul Simmons, a former Harding linebacker, with a record of 65–13. They were NCAA Division II national champions in 2023.
Chad Allen Morris is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2015 to 2017 and the University of Arkansas from 2018 to 2019.
Shannon Kelley is a former American football quarterback, coach and businessman. He was the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns at the beginning of 1988. After graduating, he married Olympian and popular American gymnast Mary Lou Retton and after pursuing a business career, went into college coaching. He last served as the assistant head football coach at Houston Christian University, before returning to the business world working for NETSYNC.
David Argillus "Gil" Reese nicknamed "the Tupelo Flash" was an American football, basketball, and baseball player for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. He was captain of all three his senior year, the first to do so at Vanderbilt. Gil was the brother of baseball player Andy Reese, playing with him on the Florence Independents in Alabama.
The 1925 Pittsburgh Panthers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Pittsburgh as an independent during the 1925 college football season. In its second season under head coach Jock Sutherland, the team compiled an 8–1 record and outscored opponents by a total of 151 to 34. The team was ranked No. 10 in the nation in the Dickinson System ratings released in January 1926. This was the Panthers' first season at Pitt Stadium, and the team played eight of its nine games there.
The 1924 Pittsburgh Panthers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Pittsburgh as an independent during the 1924 college football season. In its first season under head coach Jock Sutherland, the team compiled a 5–3–1 record and outscored opponents by a total of 98 to 43. The team played its home games at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
Paul Idell Fiser was an American football coach. He was the head coach at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, for one season in 1931, compiling a record of 4–3, after which the school shut down the program until 1959.
The Georgia Tech–Vanderbilt football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Vanderbilt Commodores. Both universities are founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Southern Conference (SoCon), and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA). Georgia Tech leads the series all time 20–15–3.
The 2021 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at the Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. The team was led by third-year head coach Chris Klieman.
Clint Kercheville was an American football coach, and the second football coach of Harding College, in 1925.
The 1926 Harding Bisons football team represented Harding College as an independent dring the 1926 college football season. Led by player-coach Clyde "Doc" Matthews, a third-year junior, the Bisons compiled an overall record of 1–5. Matthews return to playing only in 1927, but for 1926, he not only coached while playing on the field, but he posed for team pictures in a coaching uniform instead of a player's uniform. Harding's yearbook The Petit Jean also hints at other players besides Matthews helping the team along as coaches during the year.
"the team was handicapped all year by the lack of an experienced coach. Although the boys in charge did admirable work considering their lack of experience, they could not have been expected to develop a team in one year that could cope with so stiff a schedule."
W. T. Henry was an American football coach, and the fourth head coach of Harding College, in 1927. The season was a disastrous 0-8-1.
The Kent State football program represented Kent State Normal College in American football during its first decade from 1920 to 1929. The team was known as the Silver Foxes from 1920 to 1926 and as the Golden Flashes from 1927 forward. The team operated as an independent and compiled a record of 10–41–7 for the decade.