Stewart Ferguson (January 27, 1900 – December 29, 1955) was an American football and basketball coach.[1] He served as the head football coach at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota from 1929 to 1933 and at Arkansas Agricultural and Mechanical College—now known as the University of Arkansas–Monticello—in 1934 and from 1938 to 1941, compiling a career college football coaching record of 20–69–2.[2] As a college football coach, he was credited with inventing the Swinging gate formation.[3] Ferguson was also the head basketball coach at Dakota Wesleyan from 1929 to 1934, tallying a mark of 65–17.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 27, 1900 Carthage, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | December 29, 1955 (aged 55) Deadwood, South Dakota, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| c. 1920 | Dakota Wesleyan |
| Position(s) | End |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1929–1933 | Dakota Wesleyan |
| 1934 | Arkansas A&M |
| 1938–1941 | Arkansas A&M |
| 1944–1954 | Deadwood HS (SD) |
| Basketball | |
| 1929–1934 | Dakota Wesleyan |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1929– | Dakota Wesleyan |
| 1934–? | Arkansas A&M |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 20–69–2 (college football) 65–17 (college basketball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 1 SDIC (1929) Basketball 4 SDIC regular season (1930–1933) | |
A native of Carthage, Missouri, Ferguson played college football at Dakota Wesleyan, starting as an end on teams coached by Bud Daugherty.[4][5] He died of a heart attack, on December 29, 1955, in Deadwood, South Dakota.[6]
Ferguson was humorously profiled by Frank X. Tolbert in his collection, Tolbert's Texas. [7]
Head coaching record
editCollege football
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota Wesleyan Tigers (South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference) (1929–1933) | |||||||||
| 1929 | Dakota Wesleyan | 5–2–1 | 4–0–1 | T–1st | |||||
| 1930 | Dakota Wesleyan | 6–3 | 3–1 | 4th | |||||
| 1931 | Dakota Wesleyan | 2–6–1 | 2–3–1 | T–7th | |||||
| 1932 | Dakota Wesleyan | 3–5 | 2–3 | 6th | |||||
| 1933 | Dakota Wesleyan | 1–6 | 1–6 | 9th | |||||
| Dakota Wesleyan: | 17–22–2 | 12–13–2 | |||||||
| Arkansas A&M Boll Weevils (Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference) (1934) | |||||||||
| 1934 | Arkansas A&M | 0–8 | |||||||
| Arkansas A&M Boll Weevils (Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference) (1938–1941) | |||||||||
| 1938 | Arkansas A&M | 0–9 | |||||||
| 1939 | Arkansas A&M | 1–9 | |||||||
| 1940 | Arkansas A&M | 2–9 | |||||||
| 1941 | Arkansas A&M | 0–12 | |||||||
| Arkansas A&M: | 3–47 | ||||||||
| Total: | 20–69–2 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
Basketball
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota Wesleyan Tigers (South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference) (1929–1934) | |||||||||
| 1929–30 | Dakota Wesleyan | 10–6 | 9–2 | 1st | |||||
| 1930–31 | Dakota Wesleyan | 13–2 | 10–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1931–32 | Dakota Wesleyan | 19–1 | 11–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1932–33 | Dakota Wesleyan | 12–4 | 10–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1933–34 | Dakota Wesleyan | 11–5 | 9–2 | 2nd | |||||
| Dakota Wesleyan: | 65–17 | 49–5 | |||||||
| Total: | 65–17 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "basketball". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
- ^ "All Time Year-by-Year" (PDF). UAM. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- ^ "Stewart Ferguson". South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
- ^ "Stewart Ferguson Chosen To Coach Wesleyan Teams". Argus Leader. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. February 28, 1929. p. 8. Retrieved April 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ "Stewart Ferguson To Coach Monticello Aggies". The Town Talk. Alexandria, Louisiana. August 28, 1934. p. 7. Retrieved April 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Stewart Ferguson, Deadwood Football Coach, Dies at 55". Argus Leader. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. December 29, 1955. p. 9. Retrieved November 26, 2018 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Tolbert, Frank X. (1983). Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company. ISBN 0-385-08582-6. "Tolbert's Texas," page 169-174: "Winning Wasn't Everything"
