Thomas Emmet Mills (April 5, 1883 – February 25, 1944) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Creighton University (1915–1919), Beloit College (1920–1925), Georgetown University (1930–1932), and Arkansas State College (1934–1935), compiling a career college football record of 63–45–12. Mills was the head baseball coach at the University of Notre Dame from 1927 to 1929, during which time he was also an assistant football coach at the school under Knute Rockne. In addition, Mills was the head basketball coach at Creighton (1916–1920), Beloit (1920–1926), and Arkansas State (1935–1936), amassing a career college basketball record of 119–41. Mills died at the age of 60 on February 25, 1944, of a heart attack at the Rockne Memorial Field House in Notre Dame, Indiana. He served as the director of the field house for the four years before his death.[1]
 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 5, 1883 Beloit, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | February 25, 1944 (aged 60) Notre Dame, Indiana, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| c. 1904 | Beloit |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1915–1919 | Omaha HS (NE) |
| 1915–1919 | Creighton |
| 1920–1925 | Beloit |
| 1926–1929 | Notre Dame (assistant) |
| 1930–1932 | Georgetown |
| 1934–1935 | Arkansas State |
| Basketball | |
| 1916–1920 | Creighton |
| 1920–1926 | Beloit |
| 1935–1936 | Arkansas State |
| Baseball | |
| 1921–1924 | Beloit |
| 1927–1929 | Notre Dame |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1920–1926 | Beloit |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 63–45–12 (college football) 119–41 (college basketball) 72–40–2 (college baseball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 2 MWC (1923, 1925) Basketball 2 MWC (1923–1924) | |
Head coaching record
editCollege football
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creighton Blue and White (Independent) (1915–1919) | |||||||||
| 1915 | Creighton | 3–3–1 | |||||||
| 1916 | Creighton | 4–1–2 | |||||||
| 1917 | Creighton | 6–2–1 | |||||||
| 1918 | Creighton | 3–0 | |||||||
| 1919 | Creighton | 4–0–2 | |||||||
| Creighton: | 20–6–6 | ||||||||
| Beloit Gold (Independent) (1920–1921) | |||||||||
| 1920 | Beloit | 5–3 | |||||||
| 1921 | Beloit | 5–2–1 | |||||||
| Beloit Gold / Blue Devils (Midwest Conference) (1922–1925) | |||||||||
| 1922 | Beloit | 3–3–1 | 0–1–1 | 7th | |||||
| 1923 | Beloit | 6–1–1 | 4–0 | T–1st | |||||
| 1924 | Beloit | 3–3–1 | 1–3–1 | 7th | |||||
| 1925 | Beloit | 6–2 | 3–0 | T–1st | |||||
| Beloit: | 28–14–4 | 8–4–2 | |||||||
| Georgetown Hoyas (Independent) (1930–1932) | |||||||||
| 1930 | Georgetown | 5–5 | |||||||
| 1931 | Georgetown | 4–5–1 | |||||||
| 1932 | Georgetown | 2–3[n 1] | |||||||
| Georgetown: | 11–13–1 | ||||||||
| Arkansas State Indians (Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference) (1934–1935) | |||||||||
| 1934 | Arkansas State | 2–5–1 | |||||||
| 1935 | Arkansas State | 2–7 | |||||||
| Arkansas State: | 4–12–1 | ||||||||
| Total: | 63–45–12 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
College basketball
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creighton Bluejays (Independent) (1916–1920) | |||||||||
| 1916–17 | Creighton | 17–3 | |||||||
| 1917–18 | Creighton | 11–0 | |||||||
| 1918–19 | Creighton | 10–0 | |||||||
| 1919–20 | Creighton | 15–3 | |||||||
| Creighton: | 53–6 | ||||||||
| Beloit Gold (Independent) (1920–1922) | |||||||||
| 1920–21 | Beloit | 5–8 | |||||||
| 1921–22 | Beloit | 12–0 | |||||||
| Beloit Gold / Blue Devils (Midwest Conference) (1922–1926) | |||||||||
| 1922–23 | Beloit | 13–2 | 9–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1923–24 | Beloit | 14–0 | 9–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1924–25 | Beloit | 7–5 | 5–4 | 4th | |||||
| 1925–26 | Beloit | 1–11 | 1–11 | 9th | |||||
| Beloit: | 52–26 | 24–15 | |||||||
| Arkansas State Indians (Independent) (1935–1936) | |||||||||
| 1935–36 | Arkansas State | 14–9 | |||||||
| Arkansas State: | 14–9 | ||||||||
| Total: | 119–41 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Notes
edit- ^ Mills resigned as head coach after five games. Jack Hagerty served as head coach for the final four games of the 1932 season, leading Georgetown to a record of 0–3–1. Georgetown finished the year with an overall record of 2–6–1.[2]
References
edit- ^ "Thomas E. Mills; Director of Rockne Field House at Notre Dame, Once Aide to Coach" (PDF). The New York Times. February 26, 1944. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "Mills Resigns Coaching Post at Georgetown". The Decatur Herald. Decatur, Illinois. Associated Press. October 31, 1932. p. 2. Retrieved April 24, 2019 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ 2012-13 Creighton Bluejays Men's Basketball Media Guide (PDF). Creighton University. 2012. p. 160. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2012.
- ^ 2012-13 Beloit College Men's Basketball Media Guide. Beloit College. 2012. p. 18.
- ^ 2012-13 Arkansas State Men's Basketball Reference Guide (PDF). Arkansas State University. 2012. p. 72.