| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 9, 1928 Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | October 18, 2023 (aged 95) Gainesville, Georgia, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1947–1949 | Ohio Wesleyan |
| Basketball | |
| 1946–1950 | Ohio Wesleyan |
| Position(s) | Center, linebacker (football) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| c. 1957 | Fairmont HS (OH) (assistant) |
| 1958 | Fairmont HS (OH) |
| 1959–1961 | Kent State (backfield) |
| 1962–1967 | Washington University |
| 1968–1970 | Kent State |
| 1977 | Lake Braddock SS (VA) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 45–37–3 (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 CAC (1964, 1966) | |
David George Puddington (July 9, 1928 – October 18, 2023) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Washington University in St. Louis from 1962 to 1967 and at Kent State University from 1968 to 1970, compiling a career college football coaching record of 45–37–3. Puddington was a native of Canton, Ohio. He played football and basketball at Ohio Wesleyan University. After serving in the United States Navy, Puddington began his coaching career as an assistant to Jack Fouts at Fairmont High School in Kettering, Ohio. He was appointed head football coach there in 1958 and led his team to a 9–0 record and a seventh-place ranking among high schools in the state that season. In 1959, Puddington moved to Kent State, where he served as backfield coach under Trevor J. Rees for three seasons.[1]
Puddington resigned as head coach at Kent State following the 1970 season, noting "the prevailing contagious negativism on campus and in the community". Four students had been killed that May in the Kent State shootings.[2] Puddington returned to coaching for one season in 1977 at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia.[3]
Following his coaching career, Puddington worked in fundraising and public relations for Ohio University, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Thomas Edison State University, and Morrisville State College. He and his wife, Jean, moved to Lowville, New York in 2009.[4] Puddington died on October 18, 2023, at the home of his son, Jim, in Gainesville, Georgia. He was 95.[5]
- ^ "Dave Puddington Is Washington Bear Grid Coach". Edwardsville Intelligencer. Edwardsville, Illinois. March 20, 1960. p. 6. Retrieved October 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ "Puddington To Quit At Kent State". Reading Eagle. Reading, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. November 13, 1970. p. 20. Retrieved October 18, 2016 – via Google News.
- ^ Cascio, Chuck (December 15, 1977). "Lake Braddock School Is Seeking New Head Football Coach". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
- ^ "Puddingtons to celebrate 65th anniversary". Observer-Dispatch. Utica, New York: GateHouse Media. August 22, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ^ "David Puddington Obituary". Gainesville, Georgia: Memorial Park Funeral Home - Main Chapel. October 20, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
