Mike Brumbelow
Biographical details
Born(1906-07-13)July 13, 1906
Jacksboro, Texas, U.S.
DiedAugust 11, 1977(1977-08-11) (aged 71)
El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1927–1929TCU
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1936–1941TCU (assistant)
1942Georgia Pre-Flight (line)
1946–1948Ole Miss (assistant)
1949SMU (scout)
1950–1956Texas Western
Basketball
1937–1941TCU
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1950–1959Texas Western
Head coaching record
Overall46–24–3 (football)
22–64 (basketball)
Bowls2–1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football
1 Border (1956)

Lester Michael Brumbelow (July 13, 1906 – August 11, 1977) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He played football and basketball for Texas Christian University from 1927 to 1929 and was the captain and most valuable player of the TCU Horned Frogs undefeated 1929 football team that won the school's first Southwest Conference championship. He later served as an assistant football coach and head basketball coach at TCU from 1936 to 1941. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the athletics program at the Navy Pre-Flight School, and attained the rank of lieutenant commander. After the war, he served as an assistant football coach at the University of Mississippi from 1946 to 1948. From 1950 to 1956 he was the head football coach at Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso; he also served as the school's athletic director from 1950 to 1959.

Early years

Brumbelow grew up in Jacksboro, Texas. He was the son of William Brumbelow and Alice Helton Brumbelow, a ranching and farming family in Jack County, Texas.[1]

Athlete at TCU

Brumbelow attended TCU.[2] He played at the guard position from 1927 to 1929 and was selected as the captain and most valuable player on TCU's undefeated 1929 football team that won the school's first Southwest Conference championship.[3] Brumbelow was selected as an All-American in 1929 and an All-Southwest Conference player in both 1928 and 1929. He also won the 1929 Rogers Trophy Award and played in the 1930 East–West Shrine Game.[2] Brumbelow also played basketball at TCU and received two varsity letters in that sport.[4] He was inducted into the TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame in 1970.[2]

Coaching career

High school coach

Brumbelow began a coaching career as a high school football coach in El Paso, Texas, from 1930 to 1931,[5] and subsequently at Lufkin, Texas.[6]

TCU

In June 1936, Brumbelow was hired as the line coach at TCU.[7][8] He continued to serve as TCU's line coach through the 1941 season.[9] Brumbelow also served as the head coach of the basketball team at TCU from 1937 to 1941.[10][11] In four seasons as TCU's head basketball coach, the team compiled a record of 22–64.[12]

Military service

Brumbelow entered the U.S. Navy during World War II with the rank of lieutenant. In 1942, he served as the line coach of the football team at the Navy Pre-Flight School in Athens, Georgia.[13] He was promoted to head coach in January 1943,[14][15] and in April 1943 was placed in charge of the entire nine sport program for the 2,400 cadets at the Pre-Flight School.[16] He was discharged from the Navy in November 1945 with the rank of lieutenant commander.[9]

Mississippi and SMU

In August 1946, Brumbelow was hired as an assistant football coach at the University of Mississippi.[9] He served as the line coach at Mississippi from 1946 to 1948.[4][17][18] During the 1949 football season, he scouted opposing schools for Southern Methodist University.[4][19]

UTEP

In June 1950, Brumbelow was hired as the head football coach and athletic director University of Texas at El Paso (then known as Texas Western College).[20] He had been operating sporting goods stores at Midland and Odessa, Texas (in partnership with Tex Carleton) at the time of his hiring at UTEP.[4] Brumbelow served as head football coach at UTEP from 1950 to 1956.[21][22][23] He had a successful tenure as coach, guiding his teams to a 46–24–3 record. The team won eight or more games three times, in 1953, 1954 and 1956.[21] He led UTEP to appearances in the 1954 Sun Bowl, 1955 Sun Bowl, and 1957 Sun Bowl, two of which UTEP won.[24] He is responsible for UTEP's only outright conference championship when his 1956 team went 5–0 in Border Conference play.[25] Brumbelow retired as UTEP's football coach in July 1957 and as athletic director in 1959.[5][26] He was inducted into El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in 1964,[5] and the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.[24]

Later years

After retiring as UTEP's athletic director in 1959, Brumbelow worked in the advertising and public relations department of the El Paso Natural Gas Co.[5] He was one of the leaders in the effort to build the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso and helped get a bond issue passed to finance its construction.[5] He later served as the president of Sun Travel.[1][5]

At the age of 71, Brumbelow died at Providence Memorial Hospital in El Paso after a long illness.[5] He was survived by his wife Marjorie (Klein) Brumbelow and a daughter, Nancy (Brumbelow) Sisk.[1]

Head coaching record

Football

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Texas Western Miners (Border Conference) (1950–1956)
1950 Texas Western 7–34–23rd
1951 Texas Western 3–73–45th
1952 Texas Western 5–5–12–3–15th
1953 Texas Western 8–24–23rdW Sun
1954 Texas Western 8–34–23rdW Sun
1955 Texas Western 6–2–23–2–14th
1956 Texas Western 9–25–01stL Sun
Texas Western: 46–24–325–15–2
Total:46–24–3

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Brumbelow". El Paso Herald-Post. 1977-08-11.
  2. 1 2 3 "TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame". TCU Athletics. Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  3. ↑ "Tex. Christian Horned Frogs All Delerious". Miami Daily News and Metropolis. 1929-12-02.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Mike Brumbelow Appointed Coach At Texas Western: Former E.P. High Mentor Succeeds Curtice". El Paso Herald-Post. 1950-06-23.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bob Ingram (1977-08-11). "Mike Brumbelow dies; services set tomorrow". El Paso Herald-Post.
  6. ↑ "DCTF History Log". Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  7. ↑ "Brumbelow to Coach Line". The Christian Science Monitor. 1936-06-03.
  8. ↑ "Trailing World Sports Events". The Southwest Missourian. 1936-09-11.
  9. 1 2 3 "Joins Mississippi Staff". Reading Eagle. 1946-08-27.
  10. ↑ "Sports Roundup". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 1939-04-03.
  11. ↑ "T.C.U. COACH DROPPED; Basketball Mentor Deposed but Gets Rise as Football Aide". The New York Times. 1941-02-23.
  12. ↑ "Mike Brumbelow College Basketball Coaching Record". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  13. ↑ "Navy School Coach Hunts Second Team". The Palm Beach Post-Times. 1942-08-29.
  14. ↑ "BRUMBELOW HEAD COACH; Ambrose Also Elevated in Shift of Naval Pre-Flight Mentors". The New York Times. 1943-01-20.
  15. ↑ "New Athens Coach". The Christian Science Monitor. 1943-01-19.
  16. ↑ "Handles Cadet Program". Lodi News-Sentinel. 1943-04-09.
  17. ↑ Bern Gantner (1950-06-30). "The Background of Sports". Clovis News-Journal.
  18. ↑ "Brumbelow To Coach Ole Miss Grid Team". Brownsville Herald. 1947-05-22.
  19. ↑ "Mike Brumbelow Is Named Coach At Texas Western". Corsicana Daily Sun. 1950-06-24.
  20. ↑ Bob Ingram (1950-06-24). "Brumbelow Fills All the Requirements". El Paso Herald-Post.
  21. 1 2 "Mike Brumbelow Records by Year". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  22. ↑ "Football Coach Retires". The Deseret News. 1957-07-03.
  23. ↑ "Texas Western Coach Happy". The Milwaukee Sentinel. 1957-02-17.
  24. 1 2 "UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame". UTEP Athletics. Archived from the original on 2010-04-13. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  25. ↑ "UTEP Miners Football History Database". www.nationalchamps.net. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  26. ↑ Bob Ingram (1977-08-12). "Mike did lot in athletics at UTEP with little money". El Paso Herald-Post.
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