Howard Harpster

Howard Harpster
Biographical details

Sport(s)	Football
Born	(1907-05-14)May 14, 1907 Salem, Ohio
Died	March 9, 1980(1980-03-09) (aged 72) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Playing career
1926–1928	Carnegie Tech
Position(s)	Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1930–1932	Geneva
1933–1936	Carnegie Tech
Head coaching record
Overall	34–25–5
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Consensus All-American (1928)

College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1956 (profile)

Howard Harpster (May 14, 1907 – April 9, 1980) was an American football player and coach. He played college football as a quarterback at the Carnegie Institute of Technology—now known as Carnegie Mellon University—from 1926 to 1928. He was consensus selection to the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Harpster served as the head football coach at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania from 1930 to 1932 and at his alma mater, Carnegie Tech, from 1933 to 1936, compiling a career coaching record of 34–25–5. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1956.

Playing career

Harpster played quarterback for the Carnegie Mellon University (then called "Carnegie Tech") from 1926 until 1928. The College Football Hall of Fame states that he was known as "one of the great Eastern quarterbacks of the late 1920s."^[1] In 1926, Carnegie Tech's football team beat Knute Rockne's Notre Dame Fighting Irish.^[2] The game was ranked the fourth-greatest upset in college football history by ESPN.^[3]

Harpster was one of 11 All-American football players to appear in the 1930 film Maybe It's Love.^[4]

Coaching career

Geneva

Harpster was the 15th head football coach at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and he held that position for three seasons, from 1930 until 1932. His coaching record at Geneva was 22–6–2.^[5]

Geneva College fans generally consider him among the best coaches in the history of the school.^[6] His teams were considered among the leading small college teams in the country at the time.^[7]

Carnegie Tech

In 1933, Harpster returned to Carnegie Tech and coached for four years. His teams produced a record of 12–19–3.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall
Geneva Golden Tornadoes () (1930–1932)
1930	Geneva	9–1
1931	Geneva	6–2–2
1932	Geneva	7–3
Geneva:		22–6–2
Carnegie Tech Tartans () (1933–1936)
1933	Carnegie Tech	4–3–2
1934	Carnegie Tech	4–5
1935	Carnegie Tech	2–5–1
1936	Carnegie Tech	2–6
Carnegie Tech:		12–19–3
Total:		34–25–5

References

↑ College Football Hall of Fame Howard Harpster
↑ "Tech's Greatest Victory". carnegiemellontoday.com. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
↑ "Upset special: With Rockne gone, Irish took a Michigan-like tumble". sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
↑ "Maybe It's Love". American Film Institute.
↑ Geneva College coaching records
↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The Geneva Story: A Winning Fairy Tale" by MARINO PARASCENZO November 3, 1971
↑ The St. Petersburg Independent "Geneva Athlete to Assist Benn" September 7, 1936

External links

Howard Harpster at the College Football Hall of Fame

Geneva Golden Tornadoes head football coaches

William McCracken (1890–1896)
Ross Fiscus (1897–1899)
J. B. Craig (1900–1903)
Smith Alford (1904)
Archibald Leech (1905)
No team (1906)
Arthur McKean (1907–1911)
Graydon Long (1912)
Coligny Brainerd Metheny (1913–1916)
Phillip Henry Bridenbaugh (1917–1921)
Robert Park (1922)
Tom Davies (1923)
Jack Sack (1924)
Bo McMillin (1925–1927)
Mack Flenniken (1928–1929)
Howard Harpster (1930–1932)
Jimmy Robertson (1933)
Dike Beede (1934–1936)
Edgar P. Weltner (1937–1940)
Alured Ransom (1941)
Cal Hubbard (1942)
No team (1943–1945)
Alured Ransom (1946–1948)
Walter J. West (1949–1952)
Byron E. Morgan (1953–1962)
Donald Lederick (1963–1966)
Joe Banks (1967–1968)
Dan Frasier (1969–1971)
Max Holm (1972–1973)
Dick Lasse (1974–1975)
Gene Sullivan (1976–1992)
Geno DeMarco (1993– )

Carnegie Mellon Tartans head football coaches

Challinor (1906)
Joseph Thompson (1907)
William Knox (1908)
E. M. Enitzer (1909)
E. S. Dowling (1910)
E. R. Cozens (1911)
W. L. Marks (1912–1913)
Walter Steffen (1914–1917)
No team (1918)
Walter Steffen (1919–1932)
Howard Harpster (1933–1936)
Bill Kern (1937–1939)
Edward Baker (1940–1942)
Joe Skladany (1943)
No team (1944–1945)
William W. Donohoe (1946–1948)
Edward Baker (1949–1959)
Edward Hirshberg (1960–1962)
Joe Gasparella (1963–1975)
Chuck Klausing (1976–1985)
Rich Lackner (1986– )

1928 College Football All-America Team consensus selections

Backfield	QB Howard Harpster HB Chris Cagle HB Chuck Carroll HB Paul Scull FB Ken Strong

Line	E Wes Fesler E Irvine Phillips T Mike Getto T Otto Pommerening G Don Robesky G Edward Burke G Seraphim Post C Peter Pund

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