Howard Hancock

Howard Hancock
	Hancock pictured in The Index 1932, Illinois State yearbook
Biographical details
Born	December 20, 1894; Shullsburg, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	February 12, 1978 (aged 83); Colfax, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin (1918); Indiana University
Playing career
Football
1916–1917	Wisconsin
Baseball
c. 1917	Wisconsin
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1921–1928	Oshkosh Normal/State
1930	Oshkosh State
1931–1944	Illinois State Normal
Baseball
1933–1946	Illinois State Normal
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1921–1931	Oshkosh Normal/State
1931–1963	Illinois State Normal
Head coaching record
Overall	95–65–29 (football); 120–112–2 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	Football; 2 INACW/WSTCC (1923, 1928); 3 IIAC (1937, 1940–1941)

Howard Joseph Hancock (December 20, 1894 – February 12, 1978) was an American football and baseball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Oshkosh State Normal School—now known as the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh from 1921 to 1928 and again in 1930 and at Illinois State Normal University—now known as Illinois State University—in Normal, Illinois, from 1931 until 1944, and compiling a career college football coaching record of 95–65–29. Hancock was the head baseball coach at Illinois State from 1933 to 1946, tallying a mark of 120–112–2, and also coached golf at the school. He was the athletic director at Oshkosh State from 1921 to 1931 and Illinois State from 1931 to 1961. Hancock Stadium, the home venue for the Illinois State Redbirds football team is named for him.

Hancock was born on December 20, 1894, in Shullsburg, Wisconsin. He was captain of the football team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before graduating in 1918. Hancock died on February 12, 1978, while visiting his wife at the Octavia Manor Nursing Home in Colfax, Illinois.^[2]

Including his records from other schools, Hancock leads college football with the highest tie percentage in varsity play. Hancock's overall record was 91–63–25, a tie percentage of 14.4%.^[3]^[4]

Head coaching record

Football


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
Oshkosh Normal/State Titans (Inter-Normal Athletic Conference of Wisconsin / Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference) (1921–1928)
1921	Oshkosh Normal	5–2	3–1	2nd
1922	Oshkosh Normal	4–1–3	3–1–3	3rd
1923	Oshkosh Normal	7–0	5–0	1st
1924	Oshkosh Normal	5–3	3–2	5th
1925	Oshkosh Normal	5–2–1	3–0–1	2nd
1926	Oshkosh State	3–3–1	2–1–1	T–4th
1927	Oshkosh State	2–3–1	1–2–1	7th
1928	Oshkosh State	5–1–2	3–0–2	T–1st
Oshkosh State Titans (Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference) (1930)
1930	Oshkosh State	2–4–2	2–2–1	5th
Oshkosh Normal/State:		38–19–10	25–9–9
Illinois State Normal Redbirds (Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1931–1944)
1931	Illinois State Normal	1–6–1	1–6–1	20th
1932	Illinois State Normal	7–2	6–2	4th
1933	Illinois State Normal	6–3	5–2	9th
1934	Illinois State Normal	2–4–2	2–3–2	12th
1935	Illinois State Normal	5–2–2	4–2–1	T–7th
1936	Illinois State Normal	3–4–2	2–3–1	13th
1937	Illinois State Normal	5–1–2	4–0–2	T–1st
1938	Illinois State Normal	5–4–1	4–1	3rd
1939	Illinois State Normal	4–2–3	3–0–2	2nd
1940	Illinois State Normal	5–3–1	4–0	1st
1941	Illinois State Normal	3–4–2	3–1	T–1st
1942	Illinois State Normal	2–5–1	2–1–1	3rd
1943	Illinois State Normal	6–2–1	1–0	NA
1944	Illinois State Normal	3–4–1	1–0	2nd
Illinois State Normal:		57–46–19	42–21–10
Total:		95–65–29
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth

References

^ "The Index". Illinois State Normal University, Normal IL. 1945.
^ "ISU hall of famer, coach dies at 83". The Pantagraph. Bloomington, Illinois. February 13, 1978. p. 2. Retrieved July 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "NCAA Coaching Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2008. pp. 189, 192.
^ "All-Time Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 19, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2010.