Fred Ewing

Fred E. "Buck" Ewing (October 23, 1880 – March 2, 1968) was an American football coach and physician. He coached the University of Oklahoma during the 1904 season and amassed a 4–3–1 record. He was the first Oklahoma football coach to require players to be academically eligible. Ewing coached Oklahoma in its first meeting against Oklahoma State University.

Early life A native of Arcola, Illinois,

Coaching career His coaching career began in 1903 at Fargo College in Fargo, North Dakota.

In 1904, Ewing took a hiatus from medical school to become the fifth head coach of the University of Oklahoma football team. He was the first coach at the school to insist upon fielding only academically eligible players, Ewing also introduced to Oklahoma the practice of ankle-taping and the "Minnesota shift", a maneuver attributed to Golden Gophers coach Henry L. Williams.

The Oklahoma Rough Riders (as they were then known) played Kingfisher College to a scoreless stalemate in the season opener.

Later life In 1912, Ewing moved back to Galesburg to work as a surgeon. Ewing lived in Oakland, California in the late 1930s and 1940s, and was an active member of the Kiwanis Club. In 1940, Ewing spoke at a Berkeley, California YMCA, and said attributes required of championship athletes included the "ability to rise to great heights in emergencies". Ewing was a lay leader of the Trinity Church. During the defense of the Philippines in World War II, Ewing addressed the Berkeley Kiwanis Club:"We need tough men today ... We cannot expect 100 per cent unity. There were Tories in the Revolutionary War, copperheads in the Civil War and slackers in the last war. But we can hope for that hardy leadership that characterizes our fight for freedom, our pioneering movements, our activities in World War I—yes, even the days of '49."

Ewing died in 1968 at the age of about 82 years.

Head coaching record