To make the case for “the father of UW football,” I suppose the first thing that should be done is to define the phrase “the father of … .”
It is a symbolic phrase denoting an honorific title given to a man who has either started, invented or significantly advanced an endeavor.
To be sure, every athlete who has worn the brown and gold in competition or who has coached those who have, or who has administered or worked for UW’s football program, has contributed to its advancement.
But the “father of UW football” would have to be somebody very special; somebody who had a significant and lasting impact on the football program.
So, what are the criteria for selection?
The criteria, in no particular order, are as follows: success, ethics, influence and respect, both within his profession and within the state.
Pretty tall order? You bet.
My nomination for the “father of Wyoming football” presided over football programs coached by four winning coaches over 23 years of unparalleled excellence.
My nominee arrived at UW when its football program was at rock bottom.
The 1946 team’s record was a dismal 1-8-1. For the preceding 25 years, UW had managed to win only 48 games while losing 127 and tying 12.
My nominee was part of a team that included the president of UW and its board of trustees.
Together, the team engineered a turnaround that has seldom been duplicated in college football.
My nominee oversaw a program that earned first a regional and then a national reputation for its “toughness.”
My nominee, from personal observation and research, always carried himself with an aura of respectability and patina of civility.
He was admired by his colleagues, his coaches and other subordinates. He had influence with Wyoming’s political leaders (an important ingredient for developing a successful program), and the admiration and influence extended to the many fans and supporters of the university across the state and elsewhere.
My nominee is Glenn J. “Red” Jacoby, UW athletic director from 1946 until his death in 1973.
Jacoby grew up around the forests and sawmills of the Idaho Panhandle.
He attended, graduated from and played for the Vandals at the University of Idaho in Moscow, earning nine letters in three sports: football, basketball and track.
In 1927 he was named to the Pacific Coast Conference all-conference team as a halfback. That’s the year Idaho tied for the conference championship with USC and Stanford.
At Idaho, Red received an ROTC commission in the Army Reserve and, when World War II broke out, he was called to active duty and interrupted his nascent career as a coach and athletic administrator.
He was posted to Fort Warren in Cheyenne, Wyoming. There, although a “training officer,” he acted as an athletic director for Fort Warren and a backfield coach for its football team, the Broncos.
Red’s success managing the football program for Fort Warren was legendary.
He arranged for competition with other military football squads, surrounding colleges and universities, including UW and CU, and even an NFL team.
His scheduling philosophy, which would be followed at UW, was “anytime, anyplace.” With the help of Bronco football coach and former NFL great Wee Willie Smith, he scheduled a home exhibition game with the NFL Brooklyn Tigers, to be played at the Warren Bowl in Cheyenne on Sept. 10, 1944.
A reporter for the Wyoming Eagle, Curt Gowdy, reported on the 21-20 victory for the Broncos and attributed its upset to “team spirit and hustle” and declared the Broncos a “team that won’t be beat, can’t be beat.”
Brooklyn was the only NFL team ever to play in Wyoming.
In addition to the bold scheduling philosophy, Red managed program operations, including coordination of personnel.
It was fine training for a soon-to-be college athletic director.Col. Jacoby was discharged from the Army in 1946 and was immediately recruited by UW President Duke Humphrey, who was looking for an aggressive and experienced athletic director to guide UW to athletic excellence.
Red Jacoby was his man.
That the most successful period in the history of Wyoming football occurred during the tenure of “UW’s Redhead” is a historical fact.
The level of excellence, however, needs to be examined.Red’s first hire in 1947 was a Tennessee product, Bowden Wyatt.
During his career at UW, Wyatt compiled a record of 39-17-1 over six seasons, including two Skyline Conference championships and a first-ever trip to a bowl game — the Gator Bowl.
The bowl was played on Jan. 1, 1951, and featured Washington and Lee, ranked 18th nationally by the AP, against unranked but undefeated Wyoming.
The Pokes were ranked 12th by the AP after they beat Washington and Lee 20-7. After the season ended, Wyoming had two players honored as consensus All-Americans, Dewey McConnell and Eddie Talboom.
The Wyatt hire was a home run!In just four years, Red had presided over a change in the culture and reputation of Wyoming football. Would the success last after Wyatt departed Wyoming for Arkansas in 1952?
Was Wyoming’s success due to a lucky hire or did it signal a change in culture and commitment?Red’s second hire was Phil Dickens, who also played at Tennessee.
Dickens’ record during the four years he was Wyoming’s head coach was 29-11-1. He left Wyoming to become the head coach at Indiana, but while in Laramie, he took his team to the 1956 (1955 season) Sun Bowl, where it defeated Texas Tech 20-14.
Dickens’ 1956 team was even better. It won the Skyline Conference and had a perfect 10-0 record.
They were invited to the Sun Bowl again, but the team voted to decline, hoping for a New Year’s Day bowl game.
It didn’t happen.Red’s next hire was Bob Devaney, an assistant under legendary Duffy Daugherty at Michigan State.
If Wyatt and Dickens’ records at Wyoming were outstanding, Devaney’s was nothing short of spectacular.
Before leaving for Nebraska after five seasons in Laramie, he compiled a record of 35-10-5.
He won or shared the Skyline Conference championship four consecutive years and took the Pokes to the Sun Bowl in 1957, where they defeated Hardin-Simmons 14-7.
Devaney’s last Wyoming team (1961) was ranked 13th in the nation according to the final AP poll.
In 1962, Red hired Devaney’s defensive line coach/coordinator, Lloyd Eaton, to lead the Cowboys.
Before the Black 14 episode, Eaton built an elite record: 54-20-2.
His teams won three consecutive WAC titles (1966, 1967, 1968), defeated Florida State in the 1967 Sun Bowl (28-20) and accepted an invitation to a coveted New Year’s bowl game in New Orleans.
The Sugar Bowl ended with LSU the victor 20-13.
Wyoming finished sixth in the final AP poll.
Wyoming’s football fortunes nosedived after the Black 14 episode in October 1969.
Strange as it may seem, Red Jacoby played little role in the Black 14 incident and its aftermath. In my research of that episode, I could find no reference to Red’s involvement.
Gov. Hathaway and the board took charge.Red learned his trade in Idaho but refined it at Fort Warren in Wyoming. His success at UW is beyond question.
What is not revealed by the record of the UW teams during his tenure are the intangibles.
First, he and his coaches ran a clean and ethical program. There was not even a hint of impropriety during his 27 years as athletic director.
Second, he insisted that the athletes were there for an education, and he worked hard to see that they got one.
Jacoby was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Hall of Fame in 1973. He also served on the board of directors of the United States Olympic Committee.
He was inducted into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame as well as the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame. He was widely recognized as the primary moving force behind the establishment of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
Jacoby’s reputation and influence in the sports world was not only a testament to Red but was also of reputational benefit to UW and the state of Wyoming.
Besides the success of UW’s football (and basketball) programs under Red’s supervision, he is remembered in Wyoming for the athletic infrastructure program he superintended (along with Duke Humphrey).
War Memorial Stadium, War Memorial Fieldhouse and the Athletic Complex in the northeastern quadrant of the campus are lasting testaments to his vision and dedication in making UW athletically prominent.
Truly, Red Jacoby meets all the criteria for the “father of Wyoming football” — success, ethics, influence and reputation.
Red checks all the boxes. Glenn “Red” Jacoby is the “father of Wyoming football.”
Ray Hunkins can be reached at: Ray.Hunkins@RayHunkins.com
