 McCoy pictured in The Cauldron 1934, Northeastern yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 7, 1899 Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 28, 1990 (aged 90) La Jolla, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Lafayette College |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1922 | Penn State |
| 1924–1926 | Lafayette |
| Position(s) | End |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1927–1928 | Hackettstown HS (NJ) |
| 1933–1936 | Northeastern |
| 1937–1940 | Colby |
| 1941–1946 | Harvard (backfield) |
| 1947–1948 | Boston Yanks (scout) |
| 1949–1950 | Washington (asst.) |
| Basketball | |
| 1929–1937 | Northeastern |
| Baseball | |
| 1930–1937 | Northeastern |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 35–16–8 (football) 62–58 (basketball) 59–68–1 (baseball) |
Alfred Mudge McCoy (October 7, 1899 – January 28, 1990) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as head football coach at Northeastern University and Colby College and was the head baseball and men's basketball coach at Northeastern.
Early life
A native of Brookline, Massachusetts, McCoy attended Newton High School and Dean Academy. As a youth he excelled in football, swimming, and baseball. He was awarded a medal from the Massachusetts Humane Society for saving a girl from drowning in Crystal Lake.[1] He attended the College of Holy Cross for one semester but had to leave due to poor health.[2] He enrolled at Pennsylvania State University in 1921.[1] He was a member of the Penn State team that played in the 1923 Rose Bowl.[3] After the game, McCoy missed his midterms due to a blizzard that trapped him in his wife's home town of Syracuse, New York. He could not afford the $5 an exam fee to retake the test so he dropped out of school and worked on a railroad. McCoy resumed his education after he was recruited to play football at Lafayette College by coach Jock Sutherland.[2]
Coaching
After graduating from Lafayette College in 1927, McCoy became the coach for all athletics at Hackettstown High School in Hackettstown, New Jersey.[4][3] In 1929 he joined the faculty of Northeastern University as an English professor and head baseball and men's basketball coach.[3] In 1932, with the assistance of engineering school dean Carl Ell and athletic director Putty Parsons, McCoy established a freshman football team at Northeastern. The following year the school began its varsity football program. After a 1-3-1 first season, McCoy would not have a losing season as Northeastern's football coach.[2]
In 1937, McCoy left Northeastern to become the head football coach at Colby College.[5] In 1941, he was hired as backfield coach for the Harvard Crimson football team.[6] In 1947 he became the chief scout for the Boston Yanks of the National Football League.[7] McCoy's final coaching position came as an assistant at the University of Washington.[8]
Later life
After his coaching career ended, McCoy moved to La Jolla, California, where he was a successful liquor store owner and a golf writer for the San Diego Tribune.[9][4] In 1982 he was inducted into Northeastern's Hall of Fame.[2] He died on January 31, 1990, in La Jolla. He was 90 years old.[4]
Head coaching record
Football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeastern Huskies (Independent) (1933–1936) | |||||||||
| 1933 | Northeastern | 1–3–1 | |||||||
| 1934 | Northeastern | 6–1–1 | |||||||
| 1935 | Northeastern | 5–0–3 | |||||||
| 1936 | Northeastern | 5–4 | |||||||
| Northeastern: | 17–8–5 | ||||||||
| Colby Mules () (1937–1940) | |||||||||
| Colby: | 18–8–3 | ||||||||
| Total: | 35–16–8 | ||||||||
References
- 1 2 "Al McCoy of Newton Enters Penn State". The Boston Daily Globe. September 14, 1921.
- 1 2 3 4 Roberts, Ernie (May 28, 1982). "NU Football Honors Its Father". The Boston Globe.
- 1 2 3 "Al McCoy to Coach N. U. Varsity Eleven". The Boston Daily Globe. December 3, 1932.
- 1 2 3 "Alfred McCoy, 90, Was NU's First Football Coach". The Boston Globe. February 2, 1990.
- ↑ "M'Coy to Coach at Colby". The New York Times. January 13, 1937.
- ↑ "Alfred McCoy named Harvard back coach". Lincoln Evening Journal. Lincoln, Nebraska. Associated Press. February 16, 1941. p. 8. Retrieved July 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com
. - ↑ Kaese, Harold (September 18, 1947). "Al McCoy, Chief Yank Scout, Returns to Seek Homes for His Players". The Boston Daily Globe.
- ↑ "Al McCoy Joins Odell at Washington". The Boston Daily Globe. June 4, 1949.
- ↑ Kaese, Harold (December 7, 1959). "B.C. Wanted Bowl Games". The Boston Daily Globe.