Howard Harpster

Howard Harpster
Sport(s) Football
Biographical details
Born May 14, 1907
Salem, Ohio
Died March 9, 1980 (aged 72)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Playing career
1926–1928 Carnegie Tech
Position(s) Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1930–1932
1933–1936
Geneva
Carnegie Tech
Head coaching record
Overall 34–26–5
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1956 (profile)

Howard Harpster (May 14, 1907 – April 9, 1980) was an American football player and coach. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1956.

Playing career

Harpster played quarterback for the Carnegie Mellon University (then called "Carnegie Tech") from 1926 until 1928. The College Football Hall of Fame states that he was known as "one of the great Eastern quarterbacks of the late 1920s."[1] In 1926, Carnegie Tech's football team beat Knute Rockne's Notre Dame Fighting Irish.[2] The game was ranked the fourth-greatest upset in college football history by ESPN.[3]

Coaching career

Geneva

Harpster was the 15th head football coach for the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and he held that position for three seasons, from 1930 until 1932. His coaching record at Geneva was 22 wins, 6 losses, and 2 ties. As of completion of the 2007 season, this ranks him sixth at Geneva in total wins and third at Geneva in winning percentage (.767).[4]

Geneva College fans generally consider him among the best coaches in the history of the school.[5] His teams were considered among the leading small college teams in the country at the time.[6]

Carnegie Tech

In 1933, Harpster returned to Carnegie Tech and coached for four years where his teams produced a record of 12 wins, 20 losses, and 3 ties.[7]

References

  1. College Football Hall of Fame Howard Harpster
  2. "Tech's Greatest Victory". carnegiemellontoday.com. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  3. "Upset special: With Rockne gone, Irish took a Michigan-like tumble". sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  4. Geneva College coaching records
  5. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The Geneva Story: A Winning Fairy Tale" by MARINO PARASCENZO November 3, 1971
  6. The St. Petersburg Independent "Geneva Athlete to Assist Benn" September 7, 1936
  7. College Football Hall of Fame Howard Harpster

External links