Boyd Blaine "Fox" Chambers (November 10, 1884 – April 26, 1964) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Marshall University from 1909 to 1916, at Bethany College in West Virginia in 1917, and at the University of Cincinnati from 1918 to 1921, compiling a career college football record of 50–44–7. Chambers was also the head basketball coach at Marshall during the 1908–09 season and at Cincinnati from 1918 to 1928, tallying a career college basketball mark of 122–97. In addition, he was the head baseball coach at Marshall (1910–1917), Cincinnati (1919–1928), and Miami University (1932), amassing a career college baseball record of 163–104–4.
 Chambers pictured in Cincinnatian 1919, Cincinnati yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 10, 1884 Chambersburg, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 1964 (aged 79) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Denison University (1906)[1] |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1909–1916 | Marshall |
| 1917 | Bethany (WV) |
| 1918–1921 | Cincinnati |
| Basketball | |
| 1908–1909 | Marshall |
| 1918–1928 | Cincinnati |
| Baseball | |
| 1910–1917 | Marshall |
| 1919–1928 | Cincinnati |
| 1932 | Miami (OH) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1909–1917 | Marshall |
| 1917–1918 | Bethany (WV) |
| 1918–1927 | Cincinnati |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 50–44–7 (football) 122–97 (basketball) 163–104–4 (baseball) |
Tower Play controversy
editIn 1915 Chambers was involved in a controversy with what would become known as a "Tower Play" during a game between West Virginia Mountaineers and the Marshall Thundering Herd. The Mountaineers were heavily favored and their head coach, Sol Metzger, told the media he would "eat his hat if Marshall scores." Chambers developed a special play to prevent the shutout. On the Thundering Herd fourth possession Marshall moved the ball down to the 15-yard line. Marshall back Dayton Carter came into the game. Marshall quarterback Brad Workman, took the snap and set up to pass. Marshall's tackle, Okey Taylor, and Carter ran toward the end zone. Carter was hoisted onto Taylor shoulders as Workman rifled a high pass in their direction. Carter caught the ball and fell into the end zone for a score. Metzger argued with the officials, but the referee and umpire could find no rule to discount the score. The Mountaineers won the game by a final score of 92–6.[2]
Head coaching record
editFootball
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall Thundering Herd (Independent) (1909–1916) | |||||||||
| 1909 | Marshall | 3–2–1 | |||||||
| 1910 | Marshall | 5–1–1 | |||||||
| 1911 | Marshall | 4–1–1 | |||||||
| 1912 | Marshall | 3–4 | |||||||
| 1913 | Marshall | 3–4 | |||||||
| 1914 | Marshall | 5–4 | |||||||
| 1915 | Marshall | 1–7 | |||||||
| 1916 | Marshall | 7–2–1 | |||||||
| Marshall: | 31–25–4 | ||||||||
| Bethany Bison (Independent) (1917) | |||||||||
| 1917 | Bethany | 7–4 | |||||||
| Bethany: | 7–4 | ||||||||
| Cincinnati Bearcats (Ohio Athletic Conference) (1918–1921) | |||||||||
| 1918 | Cincinnati | 3–0–2 | 0–0–2 | T–7th | |||||
| 1919 | Cincinnati | 3–4–1 | 1–3–1 | 12th | |||||
| 1920 | Cincinnati | 4–5 | 3–2 | T–6th | |||||
| 1921 | Cincinnati | 2–6 | 0–4 | 19th | |||||
| Cincinnati: | 12–15–3 | 4–9–3 | |||||||
| Total: | 50–44–7 | ||||||||
Basketball
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall Thundering Herd (Independent) (1908–1910) | |||||||||
| 1908–09 | Marshall | 6–2 | |||||||
| 1909–10 | Marshall | 3–3 | |||||||
| Marshall Thundering Herd (Independent) (1911–1914) | |||||||||
| 1911–12 | Marshall | 2–2 | |||||||
| 1912–13 | Marshall | 1–4 | |||||||
| 1913–14 | Marshall | 2–5 | |||||||
| Marshall: | 14–16 (.467) | ||||||||
| Cincinnati Bearcats (Ohio Athletic Conference) (1918–1925) | |||||||||
| 1918–19 | Cincinnati | 3–11 | 1–7 | — | |||||
| 1919–20 | Cincinnati | 5–9 | 4–6 | — | |||||
| 1920–21 | Cincinnati | 10–11 | 4–8 | — | |||||
| 1921–22 | Cincinnati | 15–8 | 8–4 | — | |||||
| 1922–23 | Cincinnati | 13–9 | 7–7 | — | |||||
| 1923–24 | Cincinnati | 11–8 | 10–4 | — | |||||
| 1924–25 | Cincinnati | 5–14 | 1–11 | — | |||||
| Cincinnati Bearcats (Buckeye Athletic Association) (1925–1928) | |||||||||
| 1925–26 | Cincinnati | 17–2 | 9–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1926–27 | Cincinnati | 13–5 | 5–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1927–28 | Cincinnati | 14–4 | 8–2 | 1st | |||||
| Cincinnati: | 106–81 (.567) | 57–55 (.509) | |||||||
| Total: | 120–97 (.553) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "The Phi Gamma Delta". 1956.
- ^ Woody Woodrum, "Marshall-WVU Series Has Great, Short History" Archived May 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine (Herd Insider Magazine) Posted June 10, 2006, accessed January 27, 2007