Ralph Fielding "Hutch" Hutchinson (February 19, 1878 – March 30, 1935) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player. He served as the head football coach at Dickinson College (1901), the University of Texas at Austin (1903–1905), the University of New Mexico (1911–1916), Washington & Jefferson College (1918), the University of Idaho (1919), and the Idaho Technical Institute (now Idaho State University) (1920–1927), compiling a career college football record of 62–55–6. Hutchinson was also the head basketball coach at New Mexico (1910–1917), Idaho (1919–1920), and Idaho Technical (1926–1927), amassing a career college basketball record of 56–18, and the head baseball coach at Texas from 1904 to 1906 and at New Mexico from 1910 to 1917, tallying a career college baseball mark of 69–44–2.
 Wickiup 1923, Idaho State yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 19, 1878 Elmira, New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 30, 1935 (aged 57) Moscow, Idaho, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1898–1899 | Princeton |
| 1900 | Greensburg A. A. |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1900 | Greensburg A. A. |
| 1901 | Dickinson |
| 1902 | Princeton (backs) |
| 1903–1905 | Texas |
| 1911–1916 | New Mexico |
| 1918 | Washington & Jefferson |
| 1919 | Idaho |
| 1920–1927 | Idaho Technical / Idaho Southern Branch |
| Basketball | |
| 1910–1917 | New Mexico |
| 1919–1920 | Idaho |
| 1926–1927 | Idaho Technical |
| Baseball | |
| 1904–1906 | Texas |
| 1910–1917 | New Mexico |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1911–1917 | New Mexico |
| 1928–1929 | Idaho |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 62–55–6 (college football) 3–6–1 (pro football) 56–18 (college basketball) 69–44–2 (college baseball) |
Playing career
editBorn in Elmira, New York, Hutchinson played varsity football and baseball and ran track at Princeton University.[1] In football, he was a quarterback and later played the position as a player-coach for the Greensburg Athletic Association, an early professional football team out of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1900.[2]
Hutchinson also played minor league baseball. He played for the 1902 Flandreau Indians of the Iowa-South Dakota League. There, his manager was Art Hillebrand, who played college football with Hutchinson at Princeton and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.[3][4]
Coaching career
editDickinson
editHutchison was the third head football coach at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, serving for one season, in the 1901.[5][6][7]
Texas
editFrom 1903 to 1905, Hutchinson coached at Texas, where he compiled a 16–7–2 record.
New Mexico
editHutchinson was the first basketball coach at the University of New Mexico, compiling a 32–8 record from 1910 to 1917. New Mexico played games only sporadically before the 1920s, with no regular schedule.
Washington & Jefferson
editHutchinson was hired in August 1918 as head coach at Washington & Jefferson, south of Pittsburgh.[8]
Idaho
editHutchinson was the head football coach at the University of Idaho for the 1919 season. A "shorter than normal" season, his team posted a 2–3 record. He also coached the basketball team for the 1919–20 season.
Idaho Technical Institute
editIn 1920, Hutchinson moved south to the Idaho Technical Institute in Pocatello. He coached through the 1927 season, tallying a 25–22–2 (.531) record at the two-year school, which was renamed the "University of Idaho–Southern Branch" in 1927. It was renamed "Idaho State College" in 1947 after gaining four-year status and became Idaho State University in 1963.
On November 4, 1922, the Idaho Tech football team played its first game on Hutchinson Field, named in his honor.[9][10] The field was used until partway through the 1936 season, when football games moved to the "Spud Bowl".[11][12] The former Hutchinson Field area continues to be known as the Hutchinson Memorial Quadrangle.[13]
After coaching
editAfter eight years in Pocatello, Hutchinson returned to the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1928, where he was the athletic director for a year, as well as the head track coach and an assistant football coach.[14] After the hiring of Leo Calland in 1929, Hutchinson was the athletic trainer and a professor of physical education,[1] and the head coach of minor sports.[15] Following a brief illness, he died at the age of 57 on March 30, 1935, of a heart attack at his Moscow home.[16] In 1980, Hutchinson was inducted to Idaho State's athletic hall of fame.[17]
Head coaching record
edit
College football
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dickinson (Independent) (1901) | |||||||||
| 1901 | Dickinson | 4–6 | |||||||
| Dickinson: | 4–6 | ||||||||
| Texas Longhorns (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1903–1905) | |||||||||
| 1903 | Texas | 5–1–2 | 1–0–1 | T–5th | |||||
| 1904 | Texas | 6–2 | 1–0 | 4th | |||||
| 1905 | Texas | 5–4 | 2–1 | 5th | |||||
| Texas: | 16–7–2 | 4–1–1 | |||||||
| New Mexico (Independent) (1911–1916) | |||||||||
| 1911 | New Mexico | 1–3–1 | |||||||
| 1912 | New Mexico | 0–4 | |||||||
| 1913 | New Mexico | 3–2 | |||||||
| 1914 | New Mexico | 3–1–1 | |||||||
| 1915 | New Mexico | 3–1 | |||||||
| 1916 | New Mexico | 3–2 | |||||||
| New Mexico: | 13–13–2 | ||||||||
| Washington & Jefferson Red and Black (Independent) (1918) | |||||||||
| 1918 | Washington & Jefferson | 2–2 | |||||||
| Washington & Jefferson: | 2–2 | ||||||||
| Idaho Vandals (Independent) (1919) | |||||||||
| 1919 | Idaho | 2–3 | |||||||
| Idaho: | 2–3 | ||||||||
| Idaho Technical / Idaho Southern Branch Tigers (junior college) (1920–1927) | |||||||||
| 1920 | Idaho Technical | 3–3 | |||||||
| 1921 | Idaho Technical | 6–2 | |||||||
| 1922 | Idaho Technical | 4–3 | |||||||
| 1923 | Idaho Technical | 3–2–1 | |||||||
| 1924 | Idaho Technical | 5–2 | |||||||
| 1925 | Idaho Technical | 2–4 | |||||||
| 1926 | Idaho Technical | 1–4 | |||||||
| 1927 | Idaho Southern Branch | 1–4–1 | |||||||
| Idaho Technical / Idaho Southern Branch: | 25–24–2 | ||||||||
| Total: | 62–55–6 | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b "Ralph Hutchinson Summoned by Death". Spokane Daily Chronicle. April 1, 1935. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
- ^ Van Atta, Robert (1983). "The History of Pro Football At Greensburg, Pennsylvania (1894-1900)" (PDF). Coffin Corner (Annual). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–14. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2010.
- ^ "Register Team Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Art "Doc" Hillebrand (1970) - Hall of Fame". National Football Foundation.
- ^ "Ralph Hutchinson to coach Dickinson". Pittsburgh Press. May 7, 1901. p. 8.
- ^ Centennial Conference Archived October 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine "2008 Centennial Conference Football Prospectus"
- ^ "Dickinson College Football Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 13, 2008.
- ^ "Ralph F. Hutchinson is eighteenth head coach..." Washington (PA) Reporter. August 21, 1918. p. 10.
- ^ "Dedicate Field Saturday". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. AP. November 3, 1922. p. 6. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Athletics: Field Dedication" (PDF). Wickiup. Idaho Technical Institute. 1923. pp. 58–60. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via ISU.edu.
- ^ "Workmen Speed up Job of Building Stadium". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. AP. November 9, 1936. p. 6. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Montana Wins from Branch". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. AP. November 12, 1936. p. 11. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "From Bantams to Tigers to Bengals". Idaho State Journal. Pocatello, Idaho. March 7, 1976. p. A-3. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Director of Athletics". Gem of the Mountains. 1929. p. 159.
- ^ "Minor sports". Gem of the Mountains. 1933. p. 230.
- ^ "Ralph F. Hutchinson" (PDF). The New York Times. Associated Press. April 1, 1935. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
- ^ "Ralph Hutchinson". isubengals.com. Retrieved March 21, 2022.