Dean Cromwell

Dean Bartlett Cromwell(September 20, 1879 – August 3, 1962), nicknamed "Maker of Champions", was an American athletic coach in multiple sports, principally at theUniversity of Southern California(USC). He was the head coach of the USCtrackteam from 1909 to 1948, excepting 1914 and 1915, and guided the team to 12NCAAteamnational championships(1926, 1930–31, 1935–43) and 34 individual NCAA titles. He was the head coach for the U.S. track team at the1948 Olympic Gamesin London, and assistant head coach for the U.S. track team at the1936 Berlin Olympics.

Dean Cromwell

Cromwell in 1925
Biographical details
Born	(1879-09-20)September 20, 1879 Turner, Oregon,U.S.
Died	August 3, 1962(1962-08-03)(aged 82) Los Angeles, California,U.S.
Alma mater	Occidental College
Coaching career (HCunless noted)
Football
1909–1910	USC
1916–1918	USC
Basketball
1918	USC
Track and field
1909–1913	USC
1916–1948	USC
Head coaching record
Overall	21–8–6 (football) 0–2 (basketball)

In Berlin he was responsible for the expulsion of the only twoJewish Americansprinters (Sam StollerandMarty Glickman) from the 4x100m relay team, while trying to appeaseAdolf Hitler.

Early life

Born inTurner, Oregon,Cromwell moved to southern California with his family as a boy after his father's death, and attended Occidental Prep School andOccidental College,graduating in 1902. While at Occidental, he was a multi-sport standout athlete, playingfootballandbaseballand competing in track andcycling;in 1901 theHelms Athletic Foundationnamed him the outstanding athlete in southern California. After college, he worked for the telephone company, also continuing to compete in local amateur sports.

Career

After being hired as USC's track coach, he became known for his skill in developing star athletes. His many outstanding pupils includedFred Kelly(1912gold medalist in the110m hurdles),Charley Paddock(1920gold medalist in the100mand4 × 100 relay),Bud Houser(1924gold medalist in theshot putanddiscus;1928gold medalist in the discus),Jess Mortensen(1929 NCAAjavelinchampion, 1931 world record in thedecathlon),Frank Wykoff(1928,1932and1936gold medalist in the 4 × 100 relay),Ken Carpenter(1936 gold medalist in the discus),Earle Meadows(1936 gold medalist in thepole vault),Louis Zamperini(collegiate record-holder in themilefrom 1938–53),Wilbur Thompson(1948gold medalist in the shot put),Cliff Bourland(1948 gold medalist in the4 × 400 relay),Bill Sefton(two-time world record holder in the pole vault), andMel Patton(1948 gold medalist in the200mand 4 × 100 relay). Athletes coached by Cromwell eventually set individual world records in 14 events and relay world records in three others, and won 12Olympicgold medals during his time at USC.

Dean Cromwell plaque at USC'strack and fieldstadium "Cromwell Field"

Cromwell also served as the head coach of theUSC Trojans footballprogram from 1909 to 1910, and from 1916 to 1918. His involvement with USC football goes back even farther; he is known to have officiated USC games as early as 1903, and he played (along with the coaches of both teams) for USC opponentHarvard Schoolin a 1905 game due to the weakness of the Harvard roster. In his first term as coach, 1909 to 1910, he posted a record of 10–1–3, but this was exclusively against southern California competition, with no major colleges on the schedule. Like many schools, USC switched from football torugby,from 1911 to 1913. Cromwell returned as football coach in 1916, by which time USC's teams had begun to be known as the Trojans. By this point, the university was facing competition which more regularly included major colleges such asCalifornia,UtahandStanford,and his relative lack of expertise in the sport was more readily apparent. World War I also depleted the team's ranks in 1917 and 1918. In his final three years his record was still respectable at 11–7–3, though only 4–4–1 against major colleges. In his final season in 1918, USC was 2–2–2. They did not play a home game in Los Angeles until December 14 due to a citywide ban on public gatherings during theSpanish fluepidemic. Cromwell was replaced as head football coach following the season byGus Henderson.During his tenure, Cromwell compiled a 21–8–6 record. Apart fromSam Barry,who took over the 1941 team in the wake ofHoward Jones' death, Cromwell was the last USC football coach for whom it was not his primary sport. He also coached theUSC basketball teamin 1918, though they only played two games against theLos Angeles Athletic Club,losing both.

After retiring, Cromwell continued to serve as an advisor in track and field, and briefly was the field announcer for theNational Football League'sLos Angeles Rams.He died at age 82 at his Los Angeles home after suffering a heart attack; he had suffered a previous attack in March of the same year. He was survived by his wife Gertrude and their three sons; his cremated remains were interred at Twin Oaks Cemetery in Turner, Oregon. He was inducted into theNational Track & Field Hall of Famein its inaugural class in 1974, and into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in its second class in 1995. He is also a member of the Occidental College Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Cromwell can be seen as a contestant on the December 16, 1954 edition ofYou Bet Your Life(season 5, episode 14).

Controversy

In order tocurry favorwithAvery Brundage,U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman, Cromwell joined the isolationistAmerica First Committee,of which Brundage was a founding member and organizer.

As a coach in Berlin in 1936, Cromwell held the only two Jewish American sprinters —Marty GlickmanandSam Stoller— away from the 4x100m relay team. It is said that he wanted to please Brundage, the head of the United States' National Olympic Committee (NOC), which was then called the American Olympic Committee (AOC), and who was soon the head of the IOC. Brundage was a well-known Nazi supporter, who wanted not to offend Adolf Hitler by being a Jewish emissary. He never regretted his actions.

Despite coachingJesse Owensin Berlin, Cromwell held racist opinions ofAfrican-Americanathletes. "The Negro excels in the events he does because he is closer to the primitive than the white man," he wrote inChampionship Technique in Track and Fieldin 1941. "It was not long ago that his ability to sprint and jump was a life-and-death matter to him in the jungle. His muscles are pliable, and his easygoing disposition is a valuable aid to the mental and physical relaxation that a runner and jumper must have."

USC named its track and field facility Cromwell Field after him, which in the 2020s sparked controversy.In January 2023, USC announced it would rename the fieldAllyson FelixField, after the 11-time Olympic medalist who is a graduate of the university.

Head coaching record

Football

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
USC Methodists(Independent)(1909–1910)
1909	USC	3–1–2
1910	USC	7–0–1
USC Trojans(Independent)(1916–1918)
1916	USC	5–3
1917	USC	4–2–1
1918	USC	2–2–2
USC:		21–8–6
Total:		21–8–6

Writings

• The High Jump',published in 1939, International Sports, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
• Championship Technique In Track And Field, A Book For Athletes, Coaches, And Spectators,written in collaboration with Al Wesson, published in 1941 by Whittlesey House/MaGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.

See also

• USC Trojans
• List of college football head coaches with non-consecutive tenure

References

Additional sources

• Porter, David L., ed. (1988).Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: Outdoor Sports.Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.ISBN0-313-26260-8.
• "Dean Cromwell Mourned by Sports World."Los Angeles Times.August 5, 1962.
• 2006 USC Football Media Guide
• "Marty Glickman at Jewish Virtual Library". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved June 7, 2010; Jewish Athletes – Marty Glickman & Sam Stoller ". U.S. Holocaust Museum. Stanley Meisler (July 23, 1996).
• "Nazi Games Exhibit Details Discrimination, Deception: Two American Jews were booted off track team, apparently to spare Hitler embarrassment". Los Angeles Times
• Glickman tells of '36 Games ". Syracuse Herald Journal. January 20, 1980
• Mistake of 1936 Olympic Games Not Forgotten ". Los Angeles Times. March 29, 1998.
• Charles Chi Halevi (April 10, 2000). "Games of Shame".
• The Jerusalem Post, Howard Z. Unger (March 31, 1998).

External links

• Dean Cromwellat theUSATFHall of Fame(archived)
• Dean CromwellatFind a Grave