Homer Norton | |
Birth Date: | 30 December 1896 |
Birth Place: | Carrollton, Alabama, U.S. |
Death Place: | College Station, Texas, U.S. |
Player Sport1: | Football |
Player Years2: | 1916 |
Player Team2: | Birmingham |
Player Sport3: | Basketball |
Player Years4: | 1915–1916 |
Player Team4: | Birmingham |
Player Sport5: | Baseball |
Player Years6: | 1916 |
Player Team6: | Birmingham |
Player Years7: | 1916–1919 |
Player Team7: | Birmingham Barons |
Player Years8: | 1920 |
Player Team8: | Greensboro Patriots |
Player Years9: | 1921 |
Player Team9: | Lakeland Highlanders |
Player Positions: | End (football) Outfielder (baseball) |
Coach Sport1: | Football |
Coach Years2: | 1919–1921 |
Coach Team2: | Centenary |
Coach Years3: | 1922–1925 |
Coach Team3: | Centenary (assistant) |
Coach Years4: | 1926–1933 |
Coach Team4: | Centenary |
Coach Years5: | 1934–1947 |
Coach Team5: | Texas A&M |
Coach Sport6: | Basketball |
Coach Years7: | 1921–1926 |
Coach Team7: | Centenary |
Coach Sport8: | Baseball |
Coach Years9: | 1924–1928 |
Coach Team9: | Centenary |
Coach Years10: | 1943–1944 |
Coach Team10: | Texas A&M |
Overall Record: | 143–75–18 (football) 49–43 (basketball) 62–37–1 (baseball) |
Bowl Record: | 2–2–1 |
Championships: | Football 1 National (1939) 2 SIAA (1926–1927) 3 SWC (1939–1941) |
Cfbhof Year: | 1971 |
Cfbhof Id: | 1464 |
Homer Hill Norton (December 30, 1896 – May 26, 1965) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Centenary College of Louisiana from 1919 to 1921 and 1926[1] to 1933 and at Texas A&M University from 1934 to 1947, compiling a career college football record of 143–75–18. His 1939 Texas A&M team went 11–0, beating Tulane in the Sugar Bowl, and was named 1939 National Football Champions national champion. Norton's record at Texas A&M was 82–53–9, giving him the second most wins of any coach in Texas A&M Aggies football history. He was fired in 1947 when his team went 3–6–1 and lost to Texas for the eighth straight year. Norton was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1971.
Norton played four different sports at Birmingham–Southern College and played minor league baseball with the Birmingham Barons prior to becoming a coach. In addition to football, Norton also coached basketball at Centenary from 1921 to 1926 and baseball at Texas A&M from 1943 to 1944.
Norton died of a heart attack on May 26, 1965, in College Station, Texas.[2]