Walter Anthony Comerford (January 25, 1898 – August 25, 1970) was an American college football and basketball coach, university athletic director, minor league baseball player, government official, and United States Marine. He served as the head football and basketball coach at the Loyola College of Maryland from 1928 to 1933.
 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 25, 1898 Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | August 25, 1970 (aged 72) Brighton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1919–1922 | Boston College |
| 1923 | Star Taxis |
| 1924 | Everett |
| Position(s) | End Centerfielder |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1923 | Dummer Academy |
| 1924 | Newport Naval Training Station |
| 1926 | Boston College (ends) |
| 1927 | Fordham (assistant) |
| 1928–1933 | Loyola (MD) |
| 1934–? | Canisius (assistant) |
| 1941 | Saint Anselm |
| Basketball | |
| 1928–1929 | Loyola (MD) |
| 1930–1934 | Loyola (MD) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1928–1933 | Loyola (MD) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 43–34 (college basketball) |
Early life
editA native of Worcester, Massachusetts,[1] Comerford served in the United States Marine Corps during World War I.[2] He attended Boston College, where he played on the football team as an end from 1919 to 1922, and was the team captain in 1921.[3][4] Comerford also played baseball and ran track for Boston College.[5][6]
Coaching career
editAfter graduating in 1923,[2] Comerford played minor league baseball for the Star Taxis club in Lewiston, Maine.[7] In the fall, he coached the football team at Dummer Academy in South Byfield, Massachusetts.[8] The following season, he played minor league baseball with the Everett club of the Boston Twilight League.[9]
In 1924, Comerford coached the Newport Naval Training Station football team.[10] In 1925 and 1926, he played center field for the Osterville town team in the Cape Cod Baseball League.[11][12][13]
He returned to his alma mater to coach the Boston College ends under Frank Cavanaugh during the 1926 season.[14] In 1927, he followed Cavanaugh to Fordham University to serve as an assistant coach and the freshman coach.[1]
In March 1928, Loyola College in Baltimore hired Comerford as its athletic director and coach.[15] He served as the school's football coach from 1928 to 1933 and basketball coach for the 1928–29 season and from 1930 to 1934. His basketball teams amassed a 43–34 record.[16] During the 1932 season, the football team traveled to his alma mater, Boston College, to play the dedication game at newly renovated Alumni Field. Boston College won, 14–0.[17] Loyola discontinued its football program after the 1933 season, and Comerford left the school.[18] In 1934, while an assistant at Canisius College, he filled in for head coach William Joy, who had been seriously injured in an automobile accident.[19] Saint Anselm College hired Comerford as its head football coach in 1941.[20] He remained there for one season and finished with a 1–6 record.[21]
Later life
editBy 1943, he was seated on the Massachusetts State Parole Board.[22] In 1951, he was appointed as the executive assistant to Boston Mayor John Hynes for Region Five of the Civil Defense Agency.[23] Comerford died at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1970, at the age of 72.[4] The Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame inducted him in 1982.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b TWO EX-B. C. PUPILS TO AID CAVANAUGH; Comerford and McNamara Get Fordham Posts Joy Also to Be an Assistant, but Doyle Declines., Boston Daily Globe, December 31, 1926.
- ^ a b c Tony Comerford, Boston College, retrieved August 16, 2011.
- ^ 2007 Boston College Football Media Guide (PDF), p. 157, Boston College, 2007.
- ^ a b Tony Comerford dies; BC football end, 1918-22, Boston Globe, August 26, 1970.
- ^ B.C. Sluggers Hit Three Circuit Swats, Boston Daily Globe, April 28, 1923.
- ^ Comerford Dies, Ex-College Gridder, Reading Eagle, August 26, 1970.
- ^ Former Boston College Stars Now With Taxis, Lewiston Evening Journal, July 6, 1923.
- ^ Comerford to Coach at Dummer Academy, Lewiston Evening Journal, September 13, 1923.
- ^ Opening of Interstate League at Dixfield and Berlin, N.H., Parks Today, The Lewiston Daily Sun, June 25, 1924.
- ^ Just an Earful, Evening Tribune, September 17, 1924.
- ^ "Osterville". Hyannis Patriot. Hyannis, MA. September 10, 1925. p. 4.
- ^ "Hyannis Takes Another From Osterville, 5-3". Hyannis Patriot. Hyannis, MA. July 29, 1926. p. 6.
- ^ Davis, Hartley R. (August 25, 1960). "Cape Cod League Yesteryears". Barnstable Patriot. Barnstable, MA. p. 4.
- ^ B. C. FOOTBALL MEN WILL REPORT TODAY; Candidates to Have Light Drill After Lunch Wealth of Backfield Material but Some Gaps In Line, Boston Daily Globe, Sep 7, 1926.
- ^ COMERFORD NAMED COACH AT LOYOLA; Ex-B. C. Three-Sport Star to Fill Baltimore Post Worcester Man Member of Famous 1920 Eagle Eleven, Daily Boston Globe, Mar 4, 1928.
- ^ 2010–2011 Loyola University Maryland Men's Basketball, p. 16, Loyola University Maryland, 2010.
- ^ Tales from the Boston College Sideline, p. 105, Sports Publishing LLC, 2004, ISBN 1-58261-546-2.
- ^ VARSITY VIEWS, The Baltimore Sun, January 7, 1935.
- ^ CANISIUS COACH INJURED; Joy Seriously Hurt in Automobile Accident Near Hamilton, The New York Times, September 25, 1934.
- ^ St. Anselm's Names Comerford, The New York Times, Feb 28, 1941.
- ^ Walter Commerford Records by Year Archived 2012-04-06 at the Wayback Machine, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved August 16, 2011.
- ^ 'Cav' Film Brings B. C. 1919 Team Together Again, Daily Boston Globe, Oct 20, 1943.
- ^ Comerford to Be Aid to Hynes in Civil Defense, Daily Boston Globe, Jan 20, 1951.