Harry Sullivan McDevitt (June 5, 1885 – January 30, 1962) was an American college football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at the Catholic University of America in 1912 and Colgate University in 1917. He coached baseball at Colby College. McDevitt played as a quarterback at Dartmouth College in 1906, where he also later served as an assistant football coach.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 5, 1885 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 30, 1962 (aged 76) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
| Playing career | |
| 1906 | Dartmouth |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1907 | Newton HS (MA) |
| 1908–1911 | Colby |
| 1909 | Newton HS (MA) |
| 1912 | Catholic University |
| 1913–1914 | Salem HS (MA) |
| 1915 | English HS (MA) |
| 1917 | Colgate |
| 1921–1922 | Salem HS (MA) |
| 1923–1926 | Boston College (Backfield) |
| Baseball | |
| 1909 | Colby |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 7–7 (football, excluding Colby) |
Playing career
editMcDevitt was born on June 5, 1885, in Boston,[1][2] and attended Brighton High School.[3] He then went on to Dartmouth College, where he played baseball from 1905 to 1907[4] and as a reserve quarterback on the 1906 football team.[5] He was also a member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity and the College Glee Club.[6][7] McDevitt graduated in 1907.[7]
Coaching
editIn 1907, McDevitt was hired as the head coach at Newton High School in Newton, Massachusetts.[8] He coached football at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, from 1908 to 1911 and coached the school's baseball team in 1909.[9][10] In November 1909, he returned to Newton High School to coach the remainder of the football season after head coach Wendell P. Holman resigned.[11]
In 1912, McDevitt served as the head coach at the Catholic University of America and compiled a 3–5 record.[12] The following year, he returned to Massachusetts as the coach at Salem High School, where he was charged with rebuilding the team.[13] In 1915, McDevitt coach English High School in Lynn, Massachusetts.[14] In September 1917, Colgate University hired McDevitt as its 18th head football coach to replace E.C. Huntington who had joined the U.S. Army.[15] He held that post for one season and amassed a 4–2 record. [16]
In 1921 and 1922, McDevitt again coached football at Salem High School.[17]In 1923 he became an assistant coach under Frank Cavanaugh at Boston College.[18]
Later life
editDuring the 1920s, McDevitt owned a The Chateau, a dance club on Huntington Avenue in Boston. He retired from coaching after the 1926 season and became a furniture salesman for the Rapids Furniture Co. He never married and spent his later years living with his brother and sister in Allston. He died on January 30, 1962, at the Veterans Hospital in Boston. He was buried in Holyhood Cemetery.[19]
References
edit- ^ Emerson, Charles Franklin (1911). General Catalogue of Dartmouth College and the Associated Schools 1769-1910. Concord, New Hampshire: Rumford Press. p. 437. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
- ^ The Dartmouth, Volume 30, p. 504, Dartmouth College, 1908.
- ^ MANY OUT FOR SCHOOL TEAM. English High Has 40 Players on Field. About That Number Report at Somerville High. Harry Heneage to Coach Newton High Squad., The Boston Daily Globe, September 15, 1908.
- ^ 2010 Dartmouth Baseball Media Guide Archived 2012-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, p. 66, Dartmouth College, 2010.
- ^ Brown Victorious Over Dartmouth, The St. John Sun, November 26, 1906.
- ^ The Shield: Official Publication of the Theta Delta Chi Fraternity, Volume 27, p. 352, Theta Delta Chi, February 1911.
- ^ a b The Dartmouth, p. 357.
- ^ "McDevitt to be in Charge". The Boston Globe. September 19, 1907.
- ^ "Many Out for School Team". The Boston Globe. September 15, 1908.
- ^ COLBY COLLEGE NOTES, Lewiston Saturday Journal, April 14, 1909.
- ^ McDEVITT IS CHOSEN. Old Dartmouth Man Will Coach Newton High, Football Team Given a Stiff Day's Work by New Teacher. HARVARD GETS LARGE. Three Other Regulars of the Phillips- Andover Eleven to Go to Yale. CORNELL CHOSEN CAPTAIN. Freeport, Penn, Man Will Lead the Exeter Football Team Next Year. Wendell Acad 5, Arlington H. S. 2d 0 Woburn H. S. 46, Reading H. S. 0., The Boston Daily Globe, November 9, 1909.
- ^ Varsity success (1910-50) Archived 2007-08-13 at the Wayback Machine, All-time Football Results, The Catholic University of America, retrieved February 13, 2009.
- ^ Other Football Activities, Boston Evening Transcript, September 17, 1913.
- ^ WALTHAM HIGH SWAMPS LYNN ENGLISH H.S., 81-0, The Boston Daily Globe, September 26, 1915.
- ^ McDEVITT TO COACH COLGATE, Christian Science Monitor, September 15, 1917.
- ^ 2007 Colgate Football Media Guide, Colgate University, 2007.
- ^ "M'Devitt, Ousted, Demands Back Pay". The Boston Globe. January 24, 1923.
- ^ "Drill B. C. Men for Holy Cross". The Boston Globe. November 15, 1923.
- ^ "Deaths". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. April 1962. Retrieved April 20, 2023.