Oliver Cutts
 Cutts pictured in Debris 1917, Purdue yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 6, 1873 North Anson, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | August 4, 1939 (aged 65) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1893–1895 | Bates |
| 1901 | Harvard |
| Position(s) | Guard, tackle |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1902 | Bates (assistant) |
| 1903–1904 | Purdue |
| 1905 | Washington |
| 1906–1907 | Harvard (assistant) |
| 1922–1924 | Bates |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1904–1905 | Purdue |
| 1915–1918 | Purdue |
| 1922–1938 | Bates |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 26–23–3 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| Consensus All-American (1901) | |
Oliver Frost Cutts (August 6, 1873 – August 4, 1939) was an American college football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Purdue University (1903–1904), the University of Washington (1905), and Bates College (1922–1924), compiling a career head coaching record of 23–18–3. Cutts was also the athletic director at Purdue (1904–1905 and 1915–1918) and Bates (1922–1938).
Playing career
[edit]Cutts attended Bates College and played for the school's football team in 1893. He was a member of the track and baseball teams the following spring, but a leg injury forced him to miss the 1894 football season. He played both baseball and football in 1895. He attended Harvard Summer School at the end of his sophomore year and was Bates' gymnasium leader during his junior and season years. From 1896 to 1900, he was a mathematics teacher and athletic coach at the Haverford School. In 1901, Cutts enrolled in Harvard Law School. He had one year of college athletic eligibility remaining and played tackle for the 1901 Harvard Crimson football team.[1]
Coaching career
[edit]In 1902, Cutts assisted Bates football coach Royce Purinton when it didn't interfere with his studies.[2] From 1903 to 1904, he was the head coach at Purdue University.[1] His 1903 football team was involved in a train wreck that killed 14 of its players. Cutts suffered crushed bones in both of his ankles but spent a day tending to his fellow injured passengers before going to the hospital.[3] The following season, the Boilermakers 9–3 and outscored opponents 176–66. In 1905, he moved to Seattle to practice law.[1] That year, he coached at the University of Washington football team, where he compiled a 4–2–2 record.
Administration
[edit]From 1911 to 1914, Cutts did recruiting for the YMCA in New York City. In 1915, he returned to Purdue as director of athletics. From 1919 to 1922, Cutts was out of athletics, instead working for Dungan, Hood & Company, a Philadelphia-based manufacturer of glazed kid leather. In 1922, Cutts returned to Bates as athletic director.[1] Cutts took over as head football coach shortly before the 1922 season due to the resignation of Raymond A. Watkins.[4] He stepped down as football coach after the 1924 season but continued to serve as athletic director until his retirement in 1938.[5][6]
Personal life
[edit]In 1909, Cutts married Eugenia Ayer of Dorchester, Massachusetts. They had two daughters.[1]
Cutts died on August 4, 1939, at his home in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.[7]
Head coaching record
[edit]| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purdue Boilermakers (Western Conference) (1903–1904) | |||||||||
| 1903 | Purdue | 4–2 | 0–2 | 9th | |||||
| 1904 | Purdue | 9–3 | 1–2 | T–5th | |||||
| Purdue: | 13–5 | 1–4 | |||||||
| Washington (Independent) (1905) | |||||||||
| 1905 | Washington | 5–2–2 | |||||||
| Washington: | 5–2–2 | ||||||||
| Bates Bobcats (Independent) (1922–1923) | |||||||||
| 1922 | Bates | 2–6–1 | |||||||
| 1923 | Bates | 3–5 | |||||||
| 1924 | Bates | 3–5 | |||||||
| Bates: | 8–16–1 | ||||||||
| Total: | 26–23–3 | ||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Oliver Cutts To Direct Bates College Sports". The Lewiston Daily Sun. August 19, 1922. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- ^ "Football At Bates". The Lewiston Daily Sun. September 19, 1902. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
- ^ "Death List Is 16". Dubuque Telegraph-Herald. November 2, 1903. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- ^ "Bates Best Athlete of Recent Years to Join the Coaching Staff: Carl Wiggin to Coach at Bates". Lewiston Evening Journal. August 30, 1922. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- ^ "Wildcats Are To Have New Master Next Fall: Carl Wiggin to Head Coach for Bates Grid Men". Lewiston Evening Journal. December 24, 1924. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- ^ "Ernest M. Moore To Succeed Cutts". Evening Express. April 22, 1938. p. 20. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
- ^ "Oliver Frost Cutts, Ex-Star At Harvard; Also Was on the Coaching Staff—Athletic Instructor at Bates" (PDF). The New York Times. August 8, 1939. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
External links
[edit]
- 1873 births
- 1939 deaths
- All-American college football players
- American football guards
- American football tackles
- Bates Bobcats athletic directors
- Bates Bobcats baseball players
- Bates Bobcats football coaches
- Bates Bobcats football players
- Bates Bobcats men's track and field athletes
- Bates College faculty
- Coaches of American football from Maine
- Harvard Crimson football coaches
- Harvard Crimson football players
- Harvard Law School alumni
- People from Anson, Maine
- People from Jamaica Plain
- Players of American football from Maine
- Purdue Boilermakers athletic directors
- Purdue Boilermakers football coaches
- Survivors of railway accidents or incidents
- Washington Huskies football coaches