1926 Brown Bears football team

{{short description|American college football season}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox college sports team season

| year = 1926

| team = Brown Bears

| sport = football

| image = Ironmen.gif

| image_size = 285

| caption = The "Iron Men" pose for a group photo.

| conference = Independent

| record = 9–0–1

| head_coach = Tuss McLaughry

| hc_year = 1st

| captain =

| stadium = Brown Stadium

}}

{{1926 Eastern college football independents records}}

The 1926 Brown Bears football team, often called "the Iron Men", represented Brown University in 1926 college football season. They were led by first-year head coach Tuss McLaughry. The Bears compiled a 9–0–1 record, outscored their opponents 223–36, and recorded seven defensive shutouts.[http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=1564&year=1926 1926 Brown Records], College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved June 19, 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121013205546/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=1564&year=1926 Archived] June 22, 2009.

The 1926 Bears were nicknamed the "Iron Men" because of the significant play time the first squad saw in several key games. Against Yale, Brown's starters played every minute of the game without substitution and won, 7–0. The following week, the same eleven played the duration of the 10–0 win over Dartmouth, another period powerhouse. In order to rest his starters, McLaughry fielded the second string the next weekend against {{cfb link|year=1926|team=Norwich Cadets|title=Norwich}}, and they won decisively, 27–0. A week later at Harvard Stadium, the Iron Men played 58 minutes of the 26–0 shutout of the Crimson, their third and final Ancient Eight opponent. McLaughry sent in the substitutes for the final two minutes so that they would earn their varsity letters.[http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=F0200 Football], Martha Mitchell’s Encyclopedia Brunoniana, Brown University, retrieved June 20, 2009. In the season's finale, Colgate held the Iron Men to a tie, 10–10.ESPN College Football Encyclopedia, p. 1037, New York: ESPN Books, 2005, {{ISBN|1-4013-3703-1}}.

The 9–0–1 record remains Brown's only undefeated season to date. Back Roy Randall and end Hal Broda were named first-team All-Americans by the Associated Press and United Press, respectively.ESPN, p. 1158. The Iron Men consisted of the following eleven players: Thurston Towle, {{alternate links|Paul Hodge (American football)|title=Paul Hodge|alt=Paul Hodge}}, {{alternate links|Orland Smith (American football)|title=Orland Smith|alt=Orland Smith}}, {{alternate links|Charles Considine|title=Charles Considine|alt=Charles Considine}}, {{alternate links|title=Lou Farber|alt=Lou Farber}}, {{alternate links|title=Ed Kevorkian|alt=Ed Kevorkian}}, Hal Broda, {{alternate links|Al Cornsweet|title=Al Cornsweet|alt=Al Cornsweet}}, {{alternate links|Dave Mishel|title=Dave Mishel|alt=Dave Mishel}}, Ed Lawrence, and Roy Randall.[http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/january/february-2002/farbers-fame.html Farber's Fame] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821190853/http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/january/february-2002/farbers-fame.html |date=August 21, 2008 }}, Brown Alumni Magazine, January/February 2002.