Stub Allison
American football, basketball, baseball coach
About Stub Allison
Lived 1892 – 1961 (aged 69). Stub Allison was an American basketball coach and american football player.
Leonard Blaine "Stub" Allison (November 15, 1892 – December 12, 1961) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Washington, the University of South Dakota (1922–1926), at the University of California, Berkeley (1935–1944), compiling a career college football record of 80–66–5. At California, Allison amassed a 58–42–2 record. In 1937 and 1938, he guided the Bears to back-to-back ten-win seasons, which was at the time the only such occurrence in school history. His 1937 squad, dubbed the "Thunder Team", won the 1938 Rose Bowl, was named the national champions by a number of selectors, and is considered by some sportswriters to have been the best team in school history. While at Washington, Allison also coached the baseball team, in 1920 and 1921, and the basketball team, in 1920.
Early life Allison was born in Mazeppa, Minnesota and raised in Anoka, Minnesota by Alexander J. & Elizabeth Hauxhurst Allison. He attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he played football. He graduated from Carleton in 1917. The following season, he took over as head coach, and his team amassed a 1–5 record. and in 1920 and 1921, he led the baseball team to 7–4–1 and 8–4 records, respectively.
Allison served as head coach at the University of South Dakota from 1922 to 1926 and compiled a 21–19–3 mark.
He became the head coach at California for the 1935 season. Allison led the "Thunder Team" (a play on California's "Wonder Teams" of the 1920s) to the Rose Bowl, where they defeated Alabama, 13–0, to finish with a 10–0–1 record. Aside from being named national champions in 1937, under Allison, California captured a share of the Pacific Coast Conference title in 1935 and 1938, and outright in 1937.
In April 1945, after Allison declined the opportunity to resign, California notified him that they would not renew his expiring contract. The Pittsburgh Press noted that after peaking in 1937, "five dismal years were climaxed last fall" in 1944, and that his firing was "no surprise since it was well known that an influential alumni bloc was lobbying against him on grounds that he shackled good material with a dull offense." He was 69 years old and survived by his wife Ethyl.
Head coaching record Football
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Stub Allison's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Stub Allison?
American football, basketball, baseball coach (1892-1961)
When was Stub Allison born?
Stub Allison was born on 15 November 1892 in Mazeppa.
When did Stub Allison die?
Stub Allison died on 12 December 1961 in Oakland.
What was Stub Allison's occupation?
Stub Allison was a basketball coach and american football player.
What nationality was Stub Allison?
Stub Allison was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Stub Allison. https://biography.guide/stub-allison/
MLA: "Stub Allison." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/stub-allison/.
Chicago: "Stub Allison." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/stub-allison/.
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