Dave Hart

{{Short description|American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Dave Hart

| image = David R. Hart.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Hart from The 1967 Owl, Pittsburgh yearbook

| birth_date = May 24, 1925

| birth_place = Connellsville, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = March 14, 2009 (aged 83)

| death_place =

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1950

| player_team1 = Saint Vincent

| coach_years1 = 1962–1963

| coach_team1 = Kentucky (assistant)

| coach_years2 = 1964–1965

| coach_team2 = Navy (DB)

| coach_years3 = 1966–1968

| coach_team3 = Pittsburgh

| admin_years1 = 1973–1978

| admin_team1 = Louisville

| admin_years2 = 1978–1986

| admin_team2 = Missouri

| admin_years3 = 1987–1991

| admin_team3 = SoCon (commissioner)

| overall_record = 3–27

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

David R. Hart (May 24, 1925 – March 14, 2009){{cite web|url=https://www.fold3.com/record/93149204-david-r-hart|title=David R Hart|publisher=Fold3|access-date=April 11, 2020}} was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 1966 to 1968, compiling a record of 3–27.

Biography

Hart was the athletic director at the University of Louisville from 1973 to 1978. He also served in the same capacity at the University of Missouri from 1978 to 1986, before he was appointed as the commissioner of the Southern Conference.

Hart was a native of Connellsville, Pennsylvania. He coached high school football in Pennsylvania for eleven years before moving to the college ranks in 1962, when he became an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky.

After two seasons at Kentucky, Hart moved to the United States Naval Academy, where he coached the defensive backfield in 1964 and 1965.{{cite news |title=Hart Named to Coach Football at Pitt; Jones Resigns at Oklahoma; EX-NAVY AIDE GETS 3-YEAR CONTRACT |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/12/07/96724179.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=December 7, 1965 |access-date=November 20, 2013 }}

Hart died on March 14, 2009, at the age of eighty-three.{{cite news |first=Dave |last=Matter |title=Dave Hart, former MU AD, dies at 83 |url=http://www.columbiatribune.com/blogs/behind_the_stripes/dave-hart-former-mu-ad-dies-at/article_9086f6b3-c154-5aa8-951f-8903aec2078c.html |newspaper=Columbia Daily Tribune |date=March 16, 2009 |access-date=November 20, 2013 }}

His son, Dave Hart Jr., was the vice chancellor and director of athletics at the University of Tennessee. Before, he was the executive director of athletics at his alma mater, assisting Alabama athletic director Mal Moore. Previously, he spent twelve years as Florida State's athletic director and at East Carolina University in the same role.{{cite news |title=Tennessee hires Dave Hart as new AD|url=https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6933615/tennessee-volunteers-hires-dave-hart-alabama-crimson-tide-new-athletic-director |newspaper=ESPN |date=September 5, 2011 |access-date=December 17, 2015 }}

His grandson, Rick Hart, is the athletic director at Southern Methodist University. Rick was previously athletic director at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.{{cite news |title=Rick Hart new SMU AD|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story?id=8168821&_slug_=smu-mustangs-name-rick-hart-new-athletic-director |newspaper=ESPN |date=July 16, 2012 |access-date=December 17, 2015 }}