| Rex Enright | |
| File:Rex Enright.png Enright pictured in Garnet & Black 1939, South Carolina yearbook | |
| Sport(s) | Football, basketball |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born | March 19, 1901 Rockford, Illinois |
| Died | April 6, 1960 (aged 59) |
| Playing career | |
| Football 1923 1925 1926–1927 Basketball 1922–1924 1925–1926 | Notre Dame Notre Dame Green Bay Packers Notre Dame Notre Dame |
| Position(s) | Fullback (football) Forward (basketball) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football 1930 1931–1937 1938–1942 1943 1946–1955 Basketball 1931–1938 1942–1943 | North Carolina (assistant) Georgia (assistant) South Carolina Georgia Pre-Flight South Carolina Georgia South Carolina |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1938–1959 | South Carolina |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 64–69–7 (football) 82–62 (basketball) |
| Statistics College Football Data Warehouse | |
Rex Edward Enright (March 19, 1901 – April 6, 1960) was an American football and basketball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football and college basketball at the University of Notre Dame in the 1920s. After graduating from Notre Dame in 1926, he played professional football in the National Football League with the Green Bay Packers for two seasons. Enright served as the head football coach at the University of South Carolina from 1938 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1956, compiling a record of 64–69–7. He was also the head basketball coach at the University of Georgia from 1931 to 1938 and at South Carolina for one season in 1942–43, tallying a career college basketball coaching record of 82–62.
Early life and playing career[]
Enright was the son of James E. Enright (March 1871 – ?) and May C. Billick (January 1882 – ?). He was born in Rockford, Illinois. He graduated from Central High School in Rockford, where he played on the 1918 state champion basketball team, and was team captain and played running back on the football team. He then graduated from Notre Dame University where he played running back for Knute Rockne on the football team, and also played on the Irish basketball team. He married Alice ? (1903 – ?), they had daughters Eugenia M. (born 1927), Alice E. and Joyce. Enright played fullback for the Green Bay Packers in 1926 and 1927.
Coaching career[]
In the early 1930s Enright was an assistant football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 1931 to 1938, he was the head basketball coach at the University of Georgia and assistant football coach. In 1938, he was hired as head football coach and athletic director at the University of South Carolina. After the 1942 season, he joined the United States Navy serving as a lieutenant and working mostly in their athletic program in the United States. He returned to the Gamecocks in 1946 as head football coach succeeding John D. McMillan, and remained until 1955 when he resigned for health reasons. He hired Warren Giese as his successor, and continued as athletic director until 1960. The Rex Enright Athletic Center on the South Carolina campus was named for him and the Rex Enright Award (also known as the Captain's Cup) given to the football captains of the previous season. He was considered one of the "ring leaders" in the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. He is a member of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame. He died in 1960 of peptic ulcers and a rheumatic heart.
In 2009, the University of South Carolina recognized Enright as the winningest football coach in school history. His record 64 wins was highlighted during the halftime show of South Carolina's football game versus Florida Atlantic on September 19, where Enright's daughter, Jean Smith, and great-grandson, Brian Garrett, accepted the presentation in his memory.
Head coaching record[]
Football[]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina Gamecocks (Southern Conference) (1938–1942) | |||||||||
| 1938 | South Carolina | 6–4–1 | 2–2 | T–6th | |||||
| 1939 | South Carolina | 3–6–1 | 1–3 | T–11th | |||||
| 1940 | South Carolina | 3–6 | 1–3 | 13th | |||||
| 1941 | South Carolina | 4–4–1 | 4–0–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1942 | South Carolina | 1–7–1 | 1–4 | 14th | |||||
| South Carolina Gamecocks (Southern Conference) (1946–1952) | |||||||||
| 1946 | South Carolina | 5–3 | 4–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1947 | South Carolina | 6–2–1 | 4–1–1 | 3rd | |||||
| 1948 | South Carolina | 3–5 | 1–3 | 13th | |||||
| 1949 | South Carolina | 4–6 | 3–3 | T–7th | |||||
| 1950 | South Carolina | 3–4–2 | 2–4–1 | 12th | |||||
| 1951 | South Carolina | 5–4 | 5–3 | 7th | |||||
| 1952 | South Carolina | 5–5 | 2–4 | T–10th | |||||
| South Carolina Gamecocks (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1953–1955) | |||||||||
| 1953 | South Carolina | 7–3 | 2–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1954 | South Carolina | 6–4 | 3–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1955 | South Carolina | 3–6 | 1–5 | 7th | |||||
| South Carolina: | 64–69–7 | 36–43–3 | |||||||
| Total: | 64–69–7 | ||||||||
See also[]
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