James Ebenezzar "Possum Jim" Pixlee (March 29, 1889 – February 17, 1967) was an American college football and college basketball coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Missouri Wesleyan College from 1914 to 1916, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College—now known as Oklahoma State University–Stillwater— frin 1919 to 1920, Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri from 1922 to 1928, and George Washington University from 1929 to 1937. Pixlee was also the head basketball coach at Oklahoma A&M (1919–1921), Westminster (1922–1929), and George Washington (1930–1932).
 Pixlee pictured in The Redskin 1920, Oklahoma A&M yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 29, 1889 Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | February 17, 1967 (aged 77) Cameron, Missouri, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1909 | Missouri |
| 1911–1912 | Missouri |
| Position(s) | End |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1914–1916 | Missouri Wesleyan |
| 1919–1920 | Oklahoma A&M |
| 1922–1928 | Westminster (MO) |
| 1929–1937 | George Washington |
| Basketball | |
| 1919–1921 | Oklahoma A&M |
| 1922–1929 | Westminster (MO) |
| 1930–1932 | George Washington |
| 1934–1935 | George Washington |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1914–1917 | Missouri Wesleyan |
| 1929–1938 | George Washington |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 1 MIAA (1914) 2 MCAU (1924, 1926) | |
Pixlee attended the University of Missouri, where he lettered in football during the 1909, 1911, and 1912 seasons. He was head coach of the Oklahoma A&M Aggies for the 1919 and 1920 football seasons. During this period, the team won three of their 16 games.[1] By 1929 Pixlee was director of athletics at Missouri's Westminster College.[2]
In 1929, Pixlee took over the head coaching position of the George Washington Colonials, starting with an 0–8 season. He went on to win more football games than any other coach in George Washington's history, leading the Colonials to records crowds and coaching Alphonse "Tuffy" Leemans, whom David Holt described as "perhaps GW's greatest athlete ever".[3] Pixlee left that position in 1937.
Pixlee was married to Blossom Pixlee. He died on February 17, 1967, at his home in Cameron, Missouri.[4]
Head coaching record
editFootball
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri Wesleyan Owls (Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1914–1916) | |||||||||
| 1914 | Missouri Wesleyan | 6–2 | |||||||
| 1915 | Missouri Wesleyan | 2–1–1 | 4th | ||||||
| 1916 | Missouri Wesleyan | 2–3 | 5th | ||||||
| Missouri Wesleyan: | |||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M Aggies (Southwest Conference) (1919–1920) | |||||||||
| 1919 | Oklahoma A&M | 3–3–2 | 0–2 | 8th | |||||
| 1920 | Oklahoma A&M | 0–7–1 | 0–4 | T–7th | |||||
| Oklahoma A&M: | 3–10–3 | 0–6 | |||||||
| Westminster Blue Jays (Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1922–1923) | |||||||||
| 1922 | Westminster | 0–5–2 | |||||||
| 1923 | Westminster | 3–5 | |||||||
| Westminster Blue Jays (Missouri College Athletic Union) (1924–1928) | |||||||||
| 1924 | Westminster | 9–0 | 7–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1925 | Westminster | 5–2 | 5–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1926 | Westminster | 7–1 | 7–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1927 | Westminster | 2–4–1 | 2–1 | 4th | |||||
| 1928 | Westminster | 6–2–1 | 3–1–1 | 3rd | |||||
| Westminster: | 32–19–4 | ||||||||
| George Washington Colonials (Independent) (1929–1937) | |||||||||
| 1929 | George Washington | 0–8 | |||||||
| 1930 | George Washington | 4–4–1 | |||||||
| 1931 | George Washington | 5–2–1 | |||||||
| 1932 | George Washington | 6–2–1 | |||||||
| 1933 | George Washington | 5–3–1 | |||||||
| 1934 | George Washington | 6–3–1 | |||||||
| 1935 | George Washington | 6–3 | |||||||
| 1936 | George Washington | 7–1–1 | |||||||
| 1937 | George Washington | 3–4–1 | |||||||
| George Washington: | 42–30–7 | ||||||||
| Total: | |||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "James e Pixlee Coaching Record - databaseFootball.com/College". Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
- ^ ""Possum" Pixlee's Plan". The Harvard Crimson. Cambridge, Massachusetts. January 10, 1929. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
- ^ "When we played football: The GW boys of fall, 1890-1966 - Sports". Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
- ^ "Long Career As Coach". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. February 19, 1967. p. 26A. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com
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