Percy Haughton

Percy Duncan Haughton (July 11, 1876 – October 27, 1924) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He served as head football coach at Cornell University from 1899 to 1900, at Harvard University from 1908 to 1916, and at Columbia University from 1923 to 1924, compiling a career college football record of 97–17–6. The Harvard Crimson claimed national champions for three of the seasons that Haughton coached: 1910, 1912, and 1913. Haughton was also Harvard's head baseball coach in 1915[1] and part owner of the Boston Braves from 1916 to 1918.[2] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951.

Percy Haughton
Biographical details
Born(1876-07-11)July 11, 1876
Staten Island, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 27, 1924(1924-10-27) (aged 48)
New York, New York, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1898Harvard
Baseball
1899Harvard
Position(s)Tackle (football)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1899–1900Cornell
1908–1916Harvard
1917Camp Devens
1923–1924Columbia
Baseball
1915Harvard
Head coaching record
Overall97–17–6 (football)
23–7 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football
4 national (1908, 1910, 1912–1913)
Awards
Football
All-American, 1898
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1951 (profile)

Biography

Haughton was born on July 11, 1876. Haughton attended Groton School, graduating in 1895, and then went on to Harvard College, graduating in 1899.

Haughton and his wife owned Gould Island in Rhode Island where Haughton trained the Harvard football team.[3] Apocryphal tales assert that before the 1908 Harvard–Yale Game, Haughton strangled a bulldog in the locker room to motivate his players.

He bought the Boston Braves with Arthur Chamberlin Wise in 1916.[2] Haughton served as club president until the team was purchased by George Washington Grant in 1919.[4]

Haughton served as the head coach of Camp Devens football team in 1917.[5] In 1918 he was commissioned as a major in the United States Army's Chemical Warfare Service.[6] After Haughton's military service ended, he announced he would not return to Harvard, instead focusing on his work with White Weld & Co.[7]

Haughton became Columbia's football coach in spring 1923 as the school re-established a team that had been dissolved in 1905 following allegations that football had become too violent. To alleviate concerns that the game was still too violent, Haughton promised to instil discipline in his players, saying: "It will be my purpose to teach the men what they should learn in order to better prepare for life after the university. If I can do that, if I can contribute toward qualifying them for the finest type of citizenship, I will be satisfied."[8]

Haughton died at age 48 on October 27, 1924, after becoming ill on the Columbia football field. The cause of death was classified as acute indigestion.[9][10]

Head coaching record

Football
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Cornell Big Red (Independent) (1899–1900)
1899 Cornell 7–3
1900 Cornell 10–2
Cornell: 17–5
Harvard Crimson (Independent) (1908–1916)
1908 Harvard 9–0–1
1909 Harvard 8–1
1910 Harvard 9–0–1
1911 Harvard 6–2–1
1912 Harvard 9–0
1913 Harvard 9–0
1914 Harvard 7–0–2
1915 Harvard 8–1
1916 Harvard 7–3
Harvard: 72–7–5
Columbia Lions (Independent) (1923–1924)
1923 Columbia 4–4–1
1924 Columbia 4–1[n 1]
Columbia: 8–5–1
Total:97–17–6
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

Notes
  1. Paul Withington coached the last four games of the season after Haughton's death on October 27, 1924.

References
  1. "Harvard University Base Ball Club. Records of Organized Baseball at Harvard : an inventory". Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  2. "P. D. Haughton Buys Boston Nationals. Harvard Football Coach Heads Syndicate of Baseball Club Owners. Stallings As Manager. James E. Gaffney Surprises Sporting Circles by Disposing of Braves. Price Said to be $500,000". The New York Times. January 9, 1916. Retrieved August 8, 2008. Associated with him as head of a syndicate of Boston men is Arthur C. Wise, member of a local banking firm.
  3. "A Gould Island Chronology And Some Associated Historical Notes" By Captain Frank Snyder (USN Ret Naval War College Professor) Jamestown Historical Society "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2006. Retrieved January 4, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) (PDF)(Accessed January 4, 2009)
  4. "G. W. Grant Buys Braves". The New York Times. January 31, 1919.
  5. Webb, Melville (November 2, 1917). "76th Division, National Army, Football Team at Camp Devens". The Boston Daily Globe.
  6. "Percy Haughton Appointed Major". The Boston Daily Globe. July 27, 1918.
  7. "Haughton Lost to Harvard Football". The Boston Daily Globe. April 3, 1919.
  8. "Butler Attends Haughton Dinner: Columbia President Optimistic in Talk Before Enthusiastic Alumni", The New York Times. April 6, 1923. Page 13.
  9. "Percy D. Haughton Expires Suddenly. Famous Football Coach Taken Ill on Columbia Field, Dies Soon After Being Rushed To Hospital. Deep Sorrow at Harvard Associates Stunned by the Sad News. Preeminent In Modern Game. Last Words Said Jokingly To Dr Withington". Boston Daily Globe. October 28, 1924.
  10. "Percy Haughton Buried at Boston" (PDF). The New York Times. October 31, 1924.
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