American Football Database
American Football Database
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Not to be confused with Tom Eck, the first head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team.
Thomas Eck
Sport(s)Football
Biographical details
Born(1914-03-29)March 29, 1914
DiedJune 21, 1988(1988-06-21) (aged 74)
Head coaching record
Overall17–23–4 (college)

Thomas Woodrow[1] Eck (March 29, 1914 – June 21, 1988) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst—known as Massachusetts State College until 1947—in 1945 and from 1947 to 1951, compiling a record of 17–23–4. Eck was the head coach when the Redmen, not known as the Minutemen until 1972, transitioned from independent status to their first official football conference, the Yankee Conference, in 1947.

Eck played college football for three years at Colgate University, from which he graduated in 1938. After coaching high school football in Massachusetts, he served as a special projects officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. From 1952 to 1955, he coached football at Thornton Academy in Saco, Maine, tallying a mark of 33–4–2 that featured a 24-game winning streak. His teams at Thornton won two Western Maine Conference titles and two State of Maine Class FFF titles.[2]

Head coaching record[]

College[]

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Massachusetts State Aggies (Independent) (1945)
1945 Massachusetts State 2–1–1
UMass Redmen (Yankee Conference) (1947–1951)
1947 UMass 3–4–1 0–1–1
1948 UMass 3–4–1 2–0
1949 UMass 3–5 1–1
1950 UMass 3–5 1–1
1951 UMass 3–4–1 2–0
UMass: 17–23–4 6–3–1
Total: 17–23–4
Indicates BCS bowl, Bowl Alliance or Bowl Coalition game.

See also[]

References[]

  1. University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook - Class of 1949, Page 275
  2. "TA Hall of Fame 2010". Thornton Academy. October 11, 2010. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110727013906/http://www.thorntonacademy.org/podium/default.aspx?t=204&tn=TA+Hall+of+Fame+2010&nid=567038&ptid=110882&sdb=False&pf=pgt&mode=0&vcm=False. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
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