Tom Nugent

Thomas N. Nugent (February 24, 1913 – January 19, 2006) was an American college football coach and innovator, sportscaster, public relations man. He served as the head football coach at the Virginia Military Institute, Florida State University, and the University of Maryland. His career record was 89–80–3. Nugent is credited with the development of the I formation.

Early life Nugent, a native of Lawrence, Massachusetts, attended Ithaca College in upstate New York, where he played baseball, basketball, football, and track, and earned ten varsity letters.

In his first game as a collegiate coach, William & Mary routed VMI, 54–6. The Indians' head coach, Rube McCray, said he would never lose to a former high school coach.

Before the 1951 season, VMI was said to have "the finest assortment of material since Bosh Pritchard and Joe Muha." The Keydets finished 7–3 for a share of the Southern Conference co-championship. In January 1952, the Washington State University was reportedly interested in hiring Nugent as its head coach.

Florida State Nugent took over as head coach at Florida State University in 1953, and brought with him the I formation.

In 1954, Florida State finished with an 8–3 record and earned an invitation to the 1955 Sun Bowl, the school's first postseason game on New Year's Day. They were defeated by Texas Western, 47–20. Reynolds said, "He put FSU on the map in the early years." His overall record at Florida State was 34–28–1.

Maryland At the first practice before the 1959 season, Nugent addressed his team, "Hi, I'm Tom Nugent and I hate West Virginia." That season, he led the Terrapins to the best season of his tenure and finished with a 7–3 record. The Terrapins also defeated seventh-ranked Syracuse, 22–21.

Nugent amassed a 36–34 record during his tenure at Maryland.

Under Nugent, in 1962, Maryland integrated its football team after Darryl Hill caught the eye of Maryland assistant coach Lee Corso, who had been encouraged by Nugent to find a black athlete to play for his team. Hill became not only the first African-American football player at Maryland but the first in the Atlantic Coast Conference and at any college or university in "the old South."

Later life Upon the conclusion of his coaching career, Nugent worked as a sports broadcaster. In the late 1960s, he spent four years with ABC affiliate WPLG in Miami. The Florida State University Hall of Fame inducted Nugent in 1983. He has also been inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. In 1998, he received the Ithaca College Alumni Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. The National Football Foundation bestowed upon him the Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award in 2000.

Nugent was married to wife Peg in 1941, and the couple had five sons and four daughters. He survived his wife, who died in 2002. He retired, first to Indian Harbor Beach, Florida in the 1980s, and then the Westminster Oaks Health Center in Tallahassee, Florida, where he died of congestive heart failure on January 19, 2006.

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