Cliff Speegle

Cliff Speegle
Biographical details
Born(1917-11-05)November 5, 1917
Roosevelt, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedSeptember 5, 1994(1994-09-05) (aged 76)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1938–1940Oklahoma
1945Chicago Cardinals
Position(s)Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1941Wewoka HS (OK)
1942Capitol Hill HS (OK)
1946Bacone
1947–1949Oklahoma A&M (assistant)
1950Northeast HS (OK)
1952–1953Colgate (line)
1954Edmonton Eskimos (line)
1955–1962Oklahoma A&M/State
1963–1964Toronto Argonauts (assistant)
1965–1966Texas Western (assistant)
Basketball
1951–1952Catholic HS (OK)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1941–1942Wewoka HS (OK)
1942–1943Capitol Hill HS (OK)
1946–1947Bacone
1973–1982SWC (commissioner)
Head coaching record
Overall36–42–3 (college football)
Bowls1–0 (college)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Second-team All-Big Six (1939)

Clifton M. Speegle (November 4, 1917 – September 5, 1994) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater from 1955 to 1962, compiling a record of 36–42–3. During his tenure, Oklahoma State was 0–8 in the Bedlam Series, their rivalry game against the Oklahoma Sooners. Speegle was fired in 1962. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma from 1938 to 1940.

Speegle began his coaching career in 1941 as the head football coach at Wewoka High School in Wewoka, Oklahoma. The next year he served in the same capacity at Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City. Speegle served at Del Rio, Texas as an instructor in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. In 1945, he played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Chicago Cardinals. Speegle was hired as the head football coach at Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1946.[1] He was also the athletic director at Bacone before leaving the school in 1947.[2]

From 1947 to 1949, Speegle was an assistant football coach at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College—now known as Oklahoma State University–Stillwater—under head football coach Jim Lookabaugh. In 1950, he was the head football coach at Northeast High School in Oklahoma.[3] He left Northeast after a season to go into the insurance business, but returned to coaching in the winter of 1951–52 as head basketball coach at Catholic High School in Oklahoma City. In 1952, Hal Lahar, newly-appointed as the head football coach at Colgate University, hired Speegle as his line coach.[4]

  1. ^ Mayfield, Joe (September 3, 1946). "Cliff Speegle Named Bacone College Coach". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. p. 43. Retrieved September 12, 2024 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  2. ^ "Speegle Will Quit Bacone College Job". The Norman Transcript. Norman, Oklahoma. United Press. January 6, 1947. p. 3. Retrieved September 12, 2024 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  3. ^ "Cliff Speegle To Coach At NE High". The Enid Morning News. Enid, Oklahoma. Associated Press. July 29, 1950. p. 8. Retrieved September 12, 2024 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  4. ^ "Speegle to Coach Line for Colgate". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. April 3, 1952. p. 20. Retrieved September 12, 2024 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.