- Charles Shira
-
Charles Shira Sport(s) Football Biographical details Born September 23, 1926 Died January 2, 1976 (aged 49) Place of death Jackson, Mississippi Playing career 1943–1944
1949–1950Texas A&M
ArmyPosition(s) Tackle Coaching career (HC unless noted) 1951
1952
1953
1954–1956
1957–1966
1967–1972Tennessee (assistant)
Mississippi State (assistant)
Edmonton Eskimos (line)
Mississippi State (line)
Texas (DC)
Mississippi StateAdministrative career (AD unless noted) 1967–1976 Mississippi State Head coaching record Overall 16–45–2 Statistics College Football Data Warehouse Accomplishments and honors Awards - 1950 All-America first team (INS)
- 1970 SEC Coach of the Year
Charles N. Shira (September 23, 1926 – January 2, 1976) was an American college football coach and athletic director. He served as head coach from 1967 to 1972 and compiled a combined record of 16–45–2. Shira received the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year award in 1970, the only season of his tenure in which his team finished with a winning percentage above .500. He also served as the Mississippi State University athletic director, at first concurrent with his head coaching duties, and then as his sole responsibility until his death in 1976.
Contents
Early life
Shira attended college at Texas A&M University, where he played football as a tackle from 1943 to 1944.[1] He received an appointment to attend the United States Military Academy,[1] and was admitted as a Cadet in 1948.[2] Shira played football for Army under Earl Blaik from 1949 to 1950.[1] In 1950, he was named Army's most valuable player and to several All-America teams,[1] including the International News Service first team.[3] After the season, he appeared in the Blue–Gray Classic all-star game.[4] Shira did not remain at West Point to graduate, however,[2] and the following year, he served as an assistant coach at Tennessee before moving on to a position at Mississippi State in 1952.[1] There, he worked alongside fellow assistant Darrell Royal under head coach Murray Warmath.[1]
Coaching career
He received a degree in mechanical engineering from Mississippi State University in 1954. When Royal took over as head coach at Texas, he hired Shira as his top defensive assistant, in which role he remained from 1957 to 1966.[5]
In 1967, he was hired by Mississippi State as its head football coach and athletic director.[6][5] In his first season, his team won two games, followed by none the following year.[7] Mississippi State improved to 3–7 in 1969.[7] That year, Shira served as the coach for the Gray squad in the Blue-Gray Classic.[8]
Mississippi State posted a surprising six-win season in 1970, including a victory over their intrastate rival, Ole Miss. For the accomplishment, the Southeastern Conference named Shira its Coach of the Year.[7] In 1972, having compiled a combined record of 16–45–2, Shira resigned as head coach to focus on his duties as athletic director.[1] In 1975, the National Collegiate Athletic Association imposed a two-year probation on Mississippi State for possible rule violations.[9]
He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on November 20, 1975, and died on January 2, 1976 in a Jackson, Mississippi hospital two days after suffering a second stroke.[1] A Mississippi State athletic facility, Shira Complex, is named in his honor. It was originally built in the 1970s for the football team, and now houses an indoor FieldTurf surface used by the track and field teams.[10] One of his sons, William G. Shira,[1] graduated from Mississippi State in 1979 with an aerospace engineering degree and, as of 2006, was a vice president of Gulfstream Aerospace.[11]
Head coaching record
Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Mississippi State Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (1967–1972) 1967 Mississippi State 1–9 0–6 T–9th 1968 Mississippi State 0–8–2 0–4–2 9th 1969 Mississippi State 3–7 0–5 10th 1970 Mississippi State 6–5 3–4 T–7th 1971 Mississippi State 2–9 1–7 10th 1972 Mississippi State 4–7 1–6 9th Miss State: 16–45–2 5–32–2 Total: 16–45–2 References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Burial to be in Starkville; Shira Funeral Services Today, Florence Times-Tri Cities Daily, January 3, 1976.
- ^ a b 1999 Register of Graduates and Former Cadets, United States Military Academy, 1999, p. 4-225.
- ^ ESPN College Football Encyclopedia, p. 1220, New York: ESPN Books, 2005, ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.
- ^ The History (PDF), 2007 Army Football Media Guide, United States Military Academy, p. 162, 2007, retrieved June 2, 2010.
- ^ a b Shira New Coach At Mississippi State, Sarasota Journal, January 11, 1967.
- ^ As Shira Takes Over, Getting Staff State's Big Problem, The Tuscaloosa News, January 14, 1967.
- ^ a b c Michael B. Ballard, Maroon and White: Mississippi State University, 1878–2003, p. 201, University Press of Mississippi, 2008, ISBN 1578069998.
- ^ 32nd Blue-Gray Tilt Set in Montgomery, Sarasota Journal, December 26, 1969.
- ^ Harold Stout, There's Always A Warm Greeting At State, Times Daily, January 3, 1976.
- ^ Shira Complex, Mississippi State University, retrieved June 2, 2010.
- ^ Engineering college honors 2006 Distinguished Fellows Thursday, Mississippi State University, February 21, 2006, retrieved June 2, 2010.
Mississippi State Bulldogs head football coaches W. M. Matthews (1895) • J. B. Hildebrand (1896) • No team (1897–1899) • L. B. Harvey (1901) • L. Gwinn (1902) • Dan Martin (1903–1906) • Fred Furman (1907–1908) • W. D. Chadwick (1909–1913) • E. C. Hayes (1914–1916) • Sid Robinson (1917–1919) • Fred Holtkamp (1920–1921) • Dudy Noble (1922) • Earl Abell (1923–1924) • Bernie Bierman (1925–1926) • John W. Hancock (1927–1929) • Chris Cagle (1930) • Ray G. Dauber (1931–1932) • Ross McKechnie (1933–1934) • Ralph Sasse (1935–1937) • Spike Nelson (1938) • Allyn McKeen (1939–1942) • No team (1943) • Allyn McKeen (1944–1948) • Arthur Morton (1949–1951) • Murray Warmath (1952–1953) • Darrell Royal (1954–1955) • Wade Walker (1956–1961) • Paul E. Davis (1962–1966) • Charles Shira (1967–1972) • Bob Tyler (1973–1978) • Emory Bellard (1979–1985) • Rockey Felker (1986–1990) • Jackie Sherrill (1991–2003) • Sylvester Croom (2004–2008) • Dan Mullen (2009– )
Categories:- 1926 births
- American football defensive tackles
- American football offensive tackles
- Army Black Knights football players
- Texas A&M Aggies football players
- Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches
- Mississippi State Bulldogs athletic directors
- Texas Longhorns football coaches
- Edmonton Eskimos coaches
- Mississippi State University alumni
- American mechanical engineers
- Deaths from stroke
- 1976 deaths
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