Thomas Peebles

Thomas Peebles (March 18, 1857 – March 10, 1938) was the father of American cheerleading and the first college football coach at the University of Minnesota, in 1883. Peebles coached the team in three games in that early season. They lost two and won one.

Peebles was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States when he was 13. He graduated from Princeton University in 1882 and moved to Minneapolis the following year. There he taught philosophy at the University of Minnesota for five years. He was later president of a construction firm.

Career Peebles was a professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota, and coaching was something he did without pay. After several students found out he knew football from his time at Princeton, they coaxed him to give them pointers. After the initial practice in preparation for a game against Carleton College, Peebles "devoted many of his evenings to instructing the students in the rudiments of the game." He would later help other local teams learn the game, and then compete against the Frederick S. Jones-coached Gophers. Since Jones was from Yale, the games were "lively," as they were "a case of rivalry between Princeton and Yale."

In his later years, he founded a building company. The Thomas Peebles and Sons building company put up many homes in Minneapolis as the city expanded. Many of the houses still stand today. Later in life, Peebles lived in a house north of Cedar Lake in Minneapolis. Now the street behind his old house is named "Thomas Avenue" and the area is the "Peebles Addition to Minneapolis."

Death Peebles died on March 10, 1938, at his home in Minneapolis.

Head coaching record