Glen Gray (American football)

{{Short description|American athlete and coach (1888–1921)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Glen Gray

| image = Glen Gray in 1907.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Gray during the 1907 season at Oberlin

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1888|12|27}}

| birth_place = Charlotteville, Ontario, Canada

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1921|6|7|1888|12|27}}

| death_place = Duchesne, Utah, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_sport1 = Football

| player_years2 = 1907–1909

| player_team2 = Oberlin

| player_sport3 = Basketball

| player_years4 = 1907–1910

| player_team4 = Oberlin

| player_positions = Halfback (football)

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1910

| coach_team2 = Oberlin (assistant)

| coach_years3 = 1911–1912

| coach_team3 = Oberlin

| coach_years4 = 1913–1915

| coach_team4 = Washburn

| coach_sport5 = Basketball

| coach_years6 = 1910–1911

| coach_team6 = Oberlin

| coach_years7 = 1912–1913

| coach_team7 = Oberlin

| admin_years1 = 1913–1916

| admin_team1 = Washburn

| overall_record = 23–13–4 (football)
17–7 (basketball)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships = Football
1 OAC (1911)
1 KCAC (1914)

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

Glen Carlton Gray (December 27, 1888 – June 7, 1921) was an American college football and college basketball player and coach. He served as the Head football coach at Oberlin College from 1911 to 1912 and at Washburn College—now known as Washburn University—from 1913 to 1915, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 23–13–4. Gray was also the head basketball coach at Oberlin in 1910–11 and 1912–13, tallying a mark of 17–7.

Gray was born in Charlotteville, Ontario, Canada, and attended North Tonawanda High School in North Tonawanda, New York, from which he graduated in 1906. He was a quarterback and placekicker on the football team coached Ben Hinkey. "Glen Gray as I remember him was not the agile, hip-swiveling runner many people might imagine," Hinkey recalled. "He had, I believe, a wonderful change of pace and an ability to stop short when travelling at top speed, and then sidestepping a tackler quickly. He was an awfully hard man to tackle, because his speed and stopping ability were so hard to judge."{{cite news |author= |title=Glen C. Gray (continued) |url=https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2011/North%20Tonawanda%20NY%20Evening%20News/North%20Tonawanda%20NY%20Evening%20News%201947%20Grayscale/North%20Tonawanda%20NY%20Evening%20News%201947%20Grayscale%20-%200442.pdf |newspaper=The News of the Towandas |location=North Tonawanda, New York |date=February 20, 1847 |page=8 |access-date=October 15, 2024 |via=Fultonhistory.com }}

Gray attended Oberlin, where played football as a halfback, and was a member of the basketball and baseball teams.{{cite news |author= |title=Washburn's New Coach |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-topeka-daily-capital/157211427/ |newspaper=The Topeka Daily Capital |location=Topeka, Kansas |date=April 6, 1913 |page=2 |access-date=October 15, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} He also starred on the track team as a long jumper before graduating in 1911. He was inducted in the Oberlin College Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.{{cite web |author= |title=Glen C. Gray (1986) - Hall of Fame |url=https://goyeo.com/hof.aspx?hof=2 |publisher=Oberlin College |access-date=October 15, 2024 }}

Gray was the head football coach at Oberlin 1911 and 1912, lead his teams to a record of 13–2–1 in two seasons.{{cite web |author= |title=Yeomen Football Record Book Through 2023 |url=https://goyeo.com/documents/2024/2/27/Football_Record_Book_End_2023.pdf |publisher=Oberlin College |page=4 |access-date=October 15, 2024 }} He was the 13th head football coach at Washburn, serving for three seasons, from 1913 to 1915, and compiling a record of 11–10–3.{{cite web |author= |title=2024 Ichabod Football Media Guide |url=https://wusports.com/documents/2024/8/8/2024_WUfbmedia_FINAL.pdf |publisher=Washburn Athletics |page=186 |access-date=October 15, 2024 }} Gray resigned from his post at Washburn in 1916.{{cite news |author= |title=Coach Glen Gray Has Resigned |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-washburn-review/157225420/ |newspaper=Washburn Review |location=Topeka, Kansas |date=April 5, 1916 |page=1 |access-date=October 15, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}

After leaving coaching, Gray worked in banking as well as film, newspaper, and oil businesses.{{cite news |author= |title=Glenn Gray, Former Football Star, Dies At Duchesne, Utah |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/buffalo-courier/157224657/ |newspaper=Buffalo Courier |location=Buffalo, New York |date=June 7, 1921 |page=9 |access-date=October 15, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} He was accidentally shot to death on June 7, 1921, in Duchesne, Utah, when he was mistaken for a bear during an assessment work party.{{cite news |author= |title=Oberlin Star Was Mistaken For Bear |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/dayton-daily-news/157224742/ |newspaper=Dayton Daily News |location=Dayton, Ohio |date=June 14, 1921 |page=11 |access-date=October 15, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} His demise was described in 1947 by The News of the Towandas: "Clad in a brown khaki shirt and trousers, Glen had gone into the brush to inspect one of his outlying oil lands. An itinerant hunter who was stalking games in the nearby desert country mistook Gray's moving shape for game and shot him. The great Glen Gray fell dead."