Dave Puddington
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 9, 1928 Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | October 18, 2023 (agedย 95) Gainesville, Georgia, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1947โ1949 | Ohio Wesleyan |
| Basketball | |
| 1946โ1950 | Ohio Wesleyan |
| Positions | Center, linebacker (football) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| c.โ1957 | Fairmont HS (OH) (assistant) |
| 1958 | Fairmont HS (OH) |
| 1959โ1961 | Kent State (backfield) |
| 1962โ1967 | Washington University |
| 1968โ1970 | Kent State |
| 1977 | Lake Braddock SS (VA) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 45โ37โ3 (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 CAC (1964, 1966) | |
David George Puddington (July 9, 1928 โ October 18, 2023) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Washington University in St. Louis from 1962 to 1967 and at Kent State University from 1968 to 1970, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 45โ37โ3. Puddington was a native of Canton, Ohio. He played football and basketball at Ohio Wesleyan University. After serving in the United States Navy, Puddington began his coaching career as an assistant to Jack Fouts at Fairmont High School in Kettering, Ohio. He was appointed head football coach there in 1958 and led his team to a 9โ0 record and a seventh-place ranking among high schools in the state that season. In 1959, Puddington moved to Kent State, where he served as backfield coach under Trevor J. Rees for three seasons.[1]
Puddington resigned as head coach at Kent State following the 1970 season, noting "the prevailing contagious negativism on campus and in the community". Four students had been killed that May in the Kent State shootings.[2] Puddington returned to coaching for one season in 1977 at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia.[3]
Following his coaching career, Puddington worked in fundraising and public relations for Ohio University, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Thomas Edison State University, and Morrisville State College. He and his wife, Jean, moved to Lowville, New York in 2009.[4] Puddington died on October 18, 2023, at the home of his son, Jim, in Gainesville, Georgia. He was 95.[5]
Head coaching record
[edit]College
[edit]| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington University Bears (College Athletic Conference) (1962โ1967) | |||||||||
| 1962 | Washington University | 5โ3 | 0โ0 | NA | |||||
| 1963 | Washington University | 6โ2โ1 | 1โ1 | 3rd | |||||
| 1964 | Washington University | 6โ3โ1 | 3โ1 | Tโ1st | |||||
| 1965 | Washington University | 7โ2 | 3โ1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1966 | Washington University | 7โ2 | 4โ0 | 1st | |||||
| 1967 | Washington University | 5โ4โ1 | 2โ2 | Tโ2nd | |||||
| Washington University: | 36โ16โ3 | 13โ5 | |||||||
| Kent State Golden Flashes (Mid-American Conference) (1968โ1970) | |||||||||
| 1968 | Kent State | 1โ9 | 1โ5 | 6th | |||||
| 1969 | Kent State | 5โ5 | 1โ5 | 7th | |||||
| 1970 | Kent State | 3โ7 | 1โ4 | Tโ5th | |||||
| Kent State: | 9โ21 | 3โ14 | |||||||
| Total: | 45โ37โ3 | ||||||||
References
[edit]- โ "Dave Puddington Is Washington Bear Grid Coach". Edwardsville Intelligencer. Edwardsville, Illinois. March 20, 1960. p.ย 6. Retrieved October 18, 2016 โ via Newspapers.com
. - โ "Puddington To Quit At Kent State". Reading Eagle. Reading, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. November 13, 1970. p.ย 20. Retrieved October 18, 2016 โ via Google News.
- โ Cascio, Chuck (December 15, 1977). "Lake Braddock School Is Seeking New Head Football Coach". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
- โ "Puddingtons to celebrate 65th anniversary". Observer-Dispatch. Utica, New York: GateHouse Media. August 22, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- โ "David Puddington Obituary". Gainesville, Georgia: Memorial Park Funeral Home - Main Chapel. October 20, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- 1928 births
- 2023 deaths
- American men's basketball players
- American football centers
- American football linebackers
- Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches
- Ohio University people
- Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops football players
- Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops men's basketball players
- Washington University Bears football coaches
- High school football coaches in Ohio
- High school football coaches in Virginia
- United States Navy officers
- Coaches of American football from Ohio
- Players of American football from Canton, Ohio
- Basketball players from Canton, Ohio
- Military personnel from Ohio
- 20th-century American sportsmen