Enoch J. Mills Explained

Enoch J. Mills
Birth Date:23 July 1880
Birth Place:Pleasanton, Kansas, U.S.
Death Place:Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Player Sport1:Football
Player Years2:1899–1901
Player Team2:Colorado Agricultural
Player Years3:1903
Player Team3:Denver
Player Years4:1904
Player Team4:Fort Worth
Player Sport5:Baseball
Player Years6:1899
Player Team6:Colorado Agricultural
Player Years7:1901
Player Team7:Colorado Agricultural
Player Positions:Quarterback (football)
Center fielder (baseball)
Coach Sport1:Football
Coach Years2:1904–1906
Coach Team2:Fort Worth
Coach Years3:1907
Coach Team3:Polytechnic (TX)
Coach Years4:1908–1909
Coach Team4:Baylor
Coach Years5:1918–1919
Coach Team5:Colorado
Coach Sport6:Basketball
Coach Years7:1907–1908
Coach Team7:Polytechnic (TX)
Coach Years8:1908–1910
Coach Team8:Baylor
Coach Years9:1918–1924
Coach Team9:Colorado
Coach Sport10:Baseball
Coach Years11:1907–1908
Coach Team11:Polytechnic (TX)
Coach Years12:1909
Coach Team12:Baylor
Admin Years1:1907–1908
Admin Team1:Polytechnic (TX)
Admin Years2:1908–1911
Admin Team2:Baylor

Enoch Josiah "Joe" Mills (July 23, 1880 – October 3, 1935) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach, college athletics administrator, author, naturalist, and hotelier. He served as the head football coach at Fort Worth University from 1904 to 1906, Polytechnic College—now known as Texas Wesleyan University—in 1907, Baylor University from 1908 to 1909, and the University of Colorado Boulder from 1918 to 1919.

Early life and athletics career

Mills was born and raised on farm near Pleasanton, Kansas.[1] He was the brother of Enos Mills, naturalist, author, and homesteader. Mills played college football at Colorado Agricultural College—now known as Colorado State University— from 1899 to 1901. He also played baseball at Colorado Agricultural as a center fielder in 1899 and 1901. Mills moved on to the University of Denver, quarterbacking the football team in 1903. He was elected captain for following season, but left for Fort Worth University in 1904, where he served as captain and coach of the football team.[2] [3] He remained as football coach at Fort Worth for the 1905 and 1906 seasons before leaving in 1907 for Polytechnic College—now known as Texas Wesleyan University—to serve as athletic director.[4]

Mills married Ethel Steele, a former public school teacher in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 18, 1908.[5]

Mills was hired as the athletic director at Baylor University in 1908.[6] He was the eighth head football coach at Baylor University, serving for two seasons, from 1908 to 1909, and compiling a record of 8–8. He was also the second head basketball coach at Baylor, coaching two seasons, from 1908 to 1910, and tallying a mark of 19–10. In addition, he was the head baseball coach at Baylor in 1909, amassing a record of 9–12.

Later life, death, and honors

Mills worked as a reporter for the Fort Worth Telegram and operated a number of resort hotels in Colorado. He helped to establish Rocky Mountain National Park in north-central Colorado.[7] Mills died on October 3, 1935, in Denver, Colorado, after suffering a skull fracture in an automobile crash six days earlier.[8] Joe Mills Mountain near Estes Park, Colorado in Rocky Mountain National Park is named for him.

Head coaching record

Football

Notes and References

  1. Book: Mills, Joe . A Mountain Boyhood . University of Nebraska Press . 1988 . 0-8032-3126-1 . xi . November 8, 2012 . registration . a mountain boyhood joe mills. .
  2. News: . Enoch Mills Honored . Pleasanton Enterprise . . June 19, 1908 . 1 . August 18, 2021 . .
  3. News: . University Coach Here For Season . . . September 12, 1905 . 5 . August 18, 2021 . .
  4. News: . To Direct Athletics . . . January 19, 1907 . 2 . August 18, 2021 . .
  5. News: . Prominent Couple Springs Surprise . . . May 19, 1908 . 7 . August 18, 2021 . .
  6. News: Brown . Al . Baylor Gets Coach Mills . . . April 26, 1908 . 11 . August 18, 2021 . .
  7. News: . Enoch Mills Funeral Is Likely . . . October 5, 1935 . 7 . August 18, 2021 . .
  8. News: . Joe Mills, Hurt in Denver Auto Accident, Dies . . . October 3, 1935 . 9 . December 5, 2018 . .