Larry Mullins

Larry Mullins
Sport(s) Football, track
Biographical details
Born June 13, 1908
South Pasadena, California
Died August 10, 1968 (aged 60)
Chicago, Illinois
Playing career
1928–1930 Notre Dame
Position(s) Fullback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1931 Kansas (backs)
1932–1936 St. Benedict's
1937–1939 Loyola (LA)
1940 Saint Ambrose
1941 Florida (backs)
1943 Iowa Pre-Flight (backs)
1945 NAS Corpus Christi
1947–1950 Saint Ambrose
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1931–1937 St. Benedict's
1944 Iowa Pre-Flight
1951–1956 Kansas State
1956–1962 Marquette
Head coaching record
Overall 89–28–3
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Dixie Conference (1939)
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1950)

Laurence A. "Moon" Mullins (June 13, 1908 – August 10, 1968) was an American college football player, coach and athletic director. He played fullback under Knute Rockne at the University of Notre Dame. He served as the head coach at St. Benedict's College from 1932 to 1936, Loyola University of New Orleans from 1937 to 1939, and Saint Ambrose University in 1940 and 1947 to 1950. Mullins was the athletic director at Kansas State University and Marquette University.

Early life

Mullins was born in South Pasadena, California on June 13, 1908.[1] He attended the University of Notre Dame, where he played on the football team under head coach Knute Rockne as a fullback from 1928 to 1930.[2] The 1929 and 1930 teams won consecutive national college football championships, and those teams finished with perfect untied and undefeated records.[1] He graduated from the school with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1931.[2]

Coaching career

After college, Mullins began his coaching career at the University of Kansas. His first position was as the backfield assistant under head coach H. W. Hargiss in 1931 for a salary of $4,000. The following season, he became head football coach and athletic director at St. Benedict's, a small college in Atchison, Kansas with 600 students at the time, for a salary of about $3,500.[3] While there, he led his teams to a 38–5–1 record.[4] Kansas accounted for two of the five losses.[3] His final season there in 1936, St. Benedict's finished undefeated and untied.[4]

In January 1937, the Loyola University of New Orleans hired Mullins as its head coach.[3] During his three-year tenure, he compiled an 11–16–1 record at Loyola. The Wolves finished the 1939 season with a 5–5 mark, which was sufficient to capture the Dixie Conference championship.[5] In December 1939, he announced that he would not seek renewal of his expiring contract. Two weeks later, the school discontinued its football program.[6] In 1940, he became head coach at Saint Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, where he led the football team to an undefeated season.[7][8]

After American entry into World War II, Mullins entered the United States Navy Reserve. He was sworn in as a lieutenant senior grade in Jacksonville, Florida on March 23, 1942 and then attended a month-long course in Annapolis, Maryland prior to service in the Navy's physical training program.[9] The following year, he assisted Lieutenant Colonel Bernie Bierman, the athletic director and football coach at the Iowa Preflight School.[10] During the 1943 season, he served as the Iowa Pre-Flight backfield coach.[1] By December 1944, Mullins had attained the rank of lieutenant commander and was Iowa Pre-Flight athletic director.[11] In August 1945, he was made a staff officer of the Naval Air Intermediate Training Command in Corpus Christi, Texas.[12] While there, Mullins coached the Naval Air Station football team.[1]

On November 5, 1945, Santa Clara University appointed him as its head coach of its football program, which had been temporarily suspended during the war.[1] However, Mullins tendered his resignation on May 7, 1946 after his abortive five-month search for a residence for his wife and six children in the midst of housing shortage.[13] Mullins returned to Corpus Christi to enter the sporting goods business,[14] but soon reentered the coaching ranks. In 1947, he returned to Saint Ambrose where he served for four more seasons. Mullins led the Bees to another undefeated finish in 1949 with an 8–0 record, and was named the "Little All-American Coach of the Year".[15] In 1950, Saint Ambrose finished 12–1. The grueling 13-game schedule culminated in a victory over Loras to capture the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.[16] Mullins' career total at the school was 40–7–1.[8]

In February 1951, Kansas State University appointed Mullins as its athletic director with a $9,000 salary.[17] In 1956, Mullins took the same position at Marquette University with a substantial pay raise.[18] The university, which discontinued football and track in 1960, dismissed Mullins on January 31, 1962.[19]

Mullins died of cancer in Chicago on August 10, 1968 at the age of 60. His body was interred in South Bend, Indiana.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Santa Clara Names Mullins, The Spokesman-Review, Nov 6, 1945.
  2. 1 2 3 Mullins, Irish star in 1929-30, dies, The Rochester Sentinel, Aug. 12, 1968.
  3. 1 2 3 Larry Mullins is Hired by Loyola, Lawrence Journal-World, January 19, 1937.
  4. 1 2 Moon Mullins Goes To Loyola, The Telegraph-Herald, January 20, 1937.
  5. ↑ Mullins to Quit as Loyola Coach, The Pittsburgh Press, Dec 6, 1939.
  6. ↑ Loyola of South Abandons Intercollegiate Grid Sport, The Los Angeles Times, Dec 19, 1939.
  7. ↑ Larry Mullins Steers Tiny St. Ambrose to Fine Record, Lawrence Journal-World, Nov 18, 1940.
  8. 1 2 Year-by-Year Coaching Records (PDF), St. Ambrose University, 2008.
  9. ↑ Larry Mullins In Naval Reserve, St. Petersburg Times, Mar 24, 1942.
  10. ↑ Detroit Ready for Comeback as Dark Horse, Daily Boston Globe, Mar 29, 1943.
  11. ↑ Service Department, The Southeast Missourian, Dec 7, 1944.
  12. ↑ In the Wake of the News, Chicago Daily Tribune, Aug 6, 1945.
  13. ↑ Mullins Quits for Want of a House, The Milwaukee Sentinel, May 8, 1946.
  14. ↑ Moon Mullins Back At Corpus Christi, The Victoria Advocate, Jun 16, 1946.
  15. ↑ Mullins Slated for MU Post, The Milwaukee Sentinel, Jan 19, 1956.
  16. ↑ No More 13 Tilts, The Telegraph-Herald, November 19, 1950.
  17. ↑ Mullins to Direct Kansas Athletics, The Milwaukee Journal, Feb 5, 1951.
  18. ↑ Mullins Leaves Kansas State To Take Job At Marquette, The Baltimore Sun, Jan 22, 1956.
  19. ↑ Mullins Dismissed As Marquette AD, The Washington Observer, May 13, 1961.
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