Curley Byrd
Byrd as President of the University of Maryland
|
|
| Sport(s) | Football, baseball, track |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
February 12, 1889 Crisfield, Maryland |
| Died | October 2, 1970 (aged 81) Baltimore, Maryland |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1905–1907 | Maryland |
| 1908 | George Washington |
| 1909 | Georgetown |
| Baseball | |
| 1912 | San Francisco Seals |
| Position(s) |
|
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1911–1934 | Maryland |
| Baseball | |
| 1913–1923 | Maryland |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1915–1935 | Maryland (AD) |
| 1918–1932 | Maryland (asst. president) |
| 1932–1936 | Maryland (vice president) |
| 1936–1954 | Maryland (president) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 119–82–15 (football) 88–73–4 (baseball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2× Maryland State Championships (1913, 1914) | |
Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd (February 12, 1889 – October 2, 1970) was an American university administrator, educator, athlete, coach, segregationist, and politician. Byrd began a long association with the University of Maryland as an undergraduate in 1905, and eventually rose to the position of university president from 1936 to 1954.
In the interim, he had also served as the university's athletic director and head coach for the football and baseball teams. Byrd amassed a 119–82–15 record in football from 1911 to 1934 and 88–73–4 record in baseball from 1913 to 1923. Byrd Stadium, the university's current football field, and its predecessor were both named in his honor. In graduate school at Georgetown University, he became one of football's early users of the newly legalized forward pass, and he had a brief baseball career including one season as pitcher for the San Francisco Seals.
Byrd resigned as university president in order to enter politics in 1954. He ran an unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic candidate for Maryland Governor against Theodore McKeldin. Byrd later received appointments to state offices with responsibilities in the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. In the 1960s, he made unsuccessful bids for seats in each chamber of the United States Congress. Byrd was a proponent of a "separate but equal" status of racial segregation in his roles as both university administrator and political candidate.
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