Paul Downing

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1873–1944)}}

{{About|the American football player and coach|the English soccer player|Paul Downing (footballer)}}

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

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Paul Downing

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1873|11|27}}

| birth_place = Newark, Missouri, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|12|11|1873|11|27}}

| death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1891–1894

| player_team1 = Stanford

| coach_years1 = 1895

| coach_team1 = Oregon Agricultural

| overall_record = 0–2–1

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

Paul Milton Downing (November 27, 1873 – December 11, 1944) was an American college football player and coach. He played at Stanford University and was the head coach at Oregon Agricultural College (today's Oregon State University).{{cite web|url=http://alumni.oregonstate.edu/eclips/carry/feb21_2003.html|accessdate=February 25, 2011|title=Up Close and Personal: Riley's return a repeat of the past|first=George|last=Edmonston|publisher=Oregon State University Alumni Association|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719015739/http://alumni.oregonstate.edu/eclips/carry/feb21_2003.html|archive-date=July 19, 2011}} While at Stanford, he was friends with classmate and future United States President Herbert Hoover.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eqJaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8E8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5610,1731826&dq=paul-downing+stanford+football&hl=en|accessdate=February 28, 2011|title=Hoover to talk over old football days|publisher=Prescott Evening Courier|date=November 12, 1931|page=5}}

After his football days, Downing went on to become a top executive at Pacific Gas and Electric Company.{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,742590,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215014032/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,742590,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 15, 2008|accessdate=February 28, 2011|date=November 16, 1931|title=THE PRESIDENCY: The Hoover Week: Nov. 16, 1931|publisher=Time}} He was actively involved in creation of hydroelectric power facilities.{{cite book|last=Estcourt|first=Doris|title=Stanford Vision in the Electrical Power Industry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMDmAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22paul+downing%22+stanford+football&pg=PA59|edition=2|series=The Stanford illustrated review|volume=22|date=November 1920|publisher=Stanford University Alumni Association|pages=58–59}} He died at the age of 71 on December 11, 1944, in San Francisco, California.{{cite news |title=Paul Downing, 71, Utility Executive; Official of the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. Since 1920 Dies—Classmate of Hoover |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/12/12/86738470.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 12, 1944 |accessdate=March 12, 2011}}