William J. Young (coach)

Young was born on September 9, 1881, in Boston, to James and Sarah Prouty Young.[1] He played football in 1899 and 1900 at Mechanic Arts High School—now known as John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science–in Boston and ran track in 1900 and 1901 before graduating in 1901. He then attend the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School—now known as Springfield College—in Springfield, Massachusetts. Young played for the Springfield Training School football team for three seasons, from 1904 to 1906 at the fullback, halfback, quarterback, and end positions. He also played on the school's baseball team as a third baseman in the spring of 1907 and graduated from the school that year.[2]

Young moved on the University of Pennsylvania to pursue of medical degree. There he played for three years on the Penn Quakers football as a halfback and three years on the Penn Quakers men's ice hockey at cover point. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine—now known as the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania—Doctor of Medicine degree in 1911.[2]

In the fall of 1911, Young was elected physical director, college physician, and coach at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.[3] In 1913, he was appointed the director of the physical department at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania and took charge of the school's basketball team that fall.[4] In July 1916, Young was elected professor of physical education and director of athletics at the University of Maine, succeeding Edgar Wingard.[2]

During World War I, Young commanded a United States Army field hospital in France, later retiring as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve.[1] In 1919, he was appointed as a professor at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas—now known as Texas A&M University–to teach a physical education course required for all first-year students.[5]

In the 1920s, Young was the health officer for the city of Waterville, Maine and later on staff at the Veterans' Hospital at Togus, Maine. He was the district health officer for Androscoggin, Franklin, and Somerset counties in Maine before his retirement in 1951.[6]

Young died on December 8, 1957, at Central Maine General Hospital in Lewiston, Maine, following a two-day-long illness.[1]