William McAvoy

For the American civilian test pilot, see William H. McAvoy.

William James McAvoy (October 16, 1884 – September 17, 1956) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Delaware (1908–1916, 1922–1924), Drexel University (1920–1921), and the University of Vermont (1925–1927), compiling a career college football head coaching record of 52–70–14.

William McAvoy

McAvoy pictured in The Blue Hen 1913, Delaware yearbook
Biographical details
Born	(1884-10-16)October 16, 1884 Hazleton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	September 17, 1956(1956-09-17) (aged 71) Burlington County, New Jersey, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1902–1903	Bloomsburg Normal
1904–1906	Lafayette
Baseball
1903–1904	Bloomsburg Normal
1905–1907	Lafayette
1908	Rochester Bronchos
1909	Syracuse Stars
1910	Reading Pretzels
1910	Northampton Meadowlarks
Position(s)	Fullback (football) Left fielder (baseball)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1908–1916	Delaware
1920–1921	Drexel
1922–1924	Delaware
1925–1927	Vermont
Basketball
1909–1918	Delaware
1919–1920	Lafayette
1920–1922	Drexel
1922–1925	Delaware
1925–1928	Vermont
1928–1929	Haverford
Baseball
1909–1914	Delaware
1923–1925	Delaware
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1908–1917	Delaware
1922–1925	Delaware
Head coaching record
Overall	52–70–14 (football) 108–137 (basketball) 36–77–3 (baseball)

A native of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, McAvoy attended Lafayette College, where he played football as a fullback and baseball as a left fielder. In the fall of 1906, he was elected captain of the 1907 Lafayette football team, but did not return to school the following year, instead going into business.^[1][2] In 1908, he played as a left fielder for the Rochester Bronchos of the Eastern League.^[3]

Head coaching record

Football

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (Independent) (1908–1916)
1908	Delaware	3–4–1
1909	Delaware	1–6–1
1910	Delaware	1–2–2
1911	Delaware	2–5–2
1912	Delaware	1–6–1
1913	Delaware	2–4–2
1914	Delaware	7–1–1
1915	Delaware	6–3
1916	Delaware	4–3–1
Drexel (Independent) (1920–1921)
1920	Drexel	0–6
1921	Drexel	2–3–1
Drexel:		2–9–1
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (Independent) (1922–1924)
1922	Delaware	6–3
1923	Delaware	5–3–1
1924	Delaware	4–3–1
Delaware:		42–43–13
Vermont Green and Gold / Catamounts (Independent) (1925–1927)
1925	Vermont	3–6
1926	Vermont	3–6
1927	Vermont	2–6
Vermont:		8–18
Total:		52–70–14

Basketball

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Delaware (Independent) (1909–1918)
1909–10	Delaware	5–7
1910–11	Delaware	7–6
1911–12	Delaware	2–10
1912–13	Delaware	1–6
1913–14	Delaware	3–6
1914–15	Delaware	5–7
1915–16	Delaware	7–4
1916–17	Delaware	8–6
1917–18	Delaware	5–6
Lafayette (Independent) (1919–1920)
1919–20	Lafayette	3–7
Lafayette:		3–7 (.300)
Drexel Blue and Gold (Independent) (1920–1922)
1920–21	Drexel
1921–22	Drexel
Drexel:		12–14 (.462)
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (Independent) (1922–1925)
1922–23	Delaware	7–6
1923–24	Delaware	6–8
1924–25	Delaware	2–11
Delaware:		58–83 (.411)
Vermont Green and Gold / Catamounts (Independent) (1925–1928)
1925–26	Vermont	12–9
1926–27	Vermont	11–5
1927–28	Vermont	10–9
Vermont:		33–23 (.589)
Haverford (Independent) (1928–1929)
1928–29	Haverford	2–10
Haverford:		2–10 (.167)
Total:		108–137 (.441)

See also

• List of college football head coaches with non-consecutive tenure

References

1. "Fullback M'Avoy Chosen Captain". The Wilkes-Barre News. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. December 3, 1906. p. 2. Retrieved August 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
2. "Lafayette To Lose M'Avoy". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. September 7, 1907. p. 4. Retrieved August 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
3. "McAvoy Lafayette's Coach". The Wilkes-Barre Record. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. September 3, 1908. p. 12. Retrieved August 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)
• William McAvoy at Find a Grave