Enoch Josiah "Joe" Mills (July 23, 1880 – October 3, 1935) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach, college athletics administrator, author, naturalist, and hotelier. He served as the head football coach at Fort Worth University from 1904 to 1906, Polytechnic College—now known as Texas Wesleyan University—in 1907, Baylor University from 1908 to 1909, and the University of Colorado Boulder from 1918 to 1919.
 Mills pictured in The Round Up-1911, Baylor yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 23, 1880 Pleasanton, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | October 3, 1935 (aged 55) Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1899–1901 | Colorado Agricultural |
| 1903 | Denver |
| 1904 | Fort Worth |
| Baseball | |
| 1899 | Colorado Agricultural |
| 1901 | Colorado Agricultural |
| Position(s) | Quarterback (football) Center fielder (baseball) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1904–1906 | Fort Worth |
| 1907 | Polytechnic (TX) |
| 1908–1909 | Baylor |
| 1918–1919 | Colorado |
| Basketball | |
| 1907–1908 | Polytechnic (TX) |
| 1908–1910 | Baylor |
| 1918–1924 | Colorado |
| Baseball | |
| 1907–1908 | Polytechnic (TX) |
| 1909 | Baylor |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1907–1908 | Polytechnic (TX) |
| 1908–1911 | Baylor |
Early life and athletics career
editMills was born and raised on farm near Pleasanton, Kansas.[1] He was the brother of Enos Mills, naturalist, author, and homesteader. Mills played college football at Colorado Agricultural College—now known as Colorado State University— from 1899 to 1901. He also played baseball at Colorado Agricultural as a center fielder in 1899 and 1901. Mills moved on to the University of Denver, quarterbacking the football team in 1903. He was elected captain for following season, but left for Fort Worth University in 1904, where he served as captain and coach of the football team.[2][3] He remained as football coach at Fort Worth for the 1905 and 1906 seasons before leaving in 1907 for Polytechnic College—now known as Texas Wesleyan University—to serve as athletic director.[4]
Mills married Ethel Steele, a former public school teacher in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 18, 1908.[5]
Mills was hired as the athletic director at Baylor University in 1908.[6] He was the eighth head football coach at Baylor University, serving for two seasons, from 1908 to 1909, and compiling a record of 8–8. He was also the second head basketball coach at Baylor, coaching two seasons, from 1908 to 1910, and tallying a mark of 19–10. In addition, he was the head baseball coach at Baylor in 1909, amassing a record of 9–12.
Later life, death, and honors
editMills worked as a reporter for the Fort Worth Telegram and operated a number of resort hotels in Colorado. He helped to establish Rocky Mountain National Park in north-central Colorado.[7] Mills died on October 3, 1935, in Denver, Colorado, after suffering a skull fracture in an automobile crash six days earlier.[8] Joe Mills Mountain near Estes Park, Colorado in Rocky Mountain National Park is named for him.
Head coaching record
editFootball
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor (Independent) (1908–1909) | |||||||||
| 1908 | Baylor | 3–5 | |||||||
| 1909 | Baylor | 5–3 | |||||||
| Baylor: | 8–8 | ||||||||
| Colorado Silver and Gold (Rocky Mountain Conference) (1918–1919) | |||||||||
| 1918 | Colorado | 2–3 | 1–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1919 | Colorado | 2–3–1 | 2–3–1 | 6th | |||||
| Colorado: | 4–6–1 | 3–5–1 | |||||||
| Total: | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ Mills, Joe (1988). A Mountain Boyhood. University of Nebraska Press. p. xi. ISBN 0-8032-3126-1. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
a mountain boyhood joe mills.
- ^ "Enoch Mills Honored". Pleasanton Enterprise. Pleasanton, Kansas. June 19, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved August 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ "University Coach Here For Season". Fort Worth Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. September 12, 1905. p. 5. Retrieved August 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "To Direct Athletics". Fort Worth Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. January 19, 1907. p. 2. Retrieved August 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Prominent Couple Springs Surprise". Fort Worth Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. May 19, 1908. p. 7. Retrieved August 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Brown, Al (April 26, 1908). "Baylor Gets Coach Mills". Fort Worth Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. p. 11. Retrieved August 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Enoch Mills Funeral Is Likely". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. October 5, 1935. p. 7. Retrieved August 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Joe Mills, Hurt in Denver Auto Accident, Dies". Greeley Daily Tribune. Greeley, Colorado. October 3, 1935. p. 9. Retrieved December 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com .
