View source for Richard F. Gallagher

{{short description|American football player, coach, and executive; basketball coach; baseball coach}}
{{About|||Richard Gallagher (disambiguation){{!}}Richard Gallagher}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Richard F. Gallagher
| image = Dick Gallagher, American coach, in 1959.png
| alt = Richard F. Gallagher sitting at a table with a football in his hands in 1959
| caption = Gallagher in 1959 after signing to become the general manager of the [[Buffalo Bills]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|10|28}}
| birth_place = [[Ironton, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|3|29|1909|10|28}}
| death_place = [[Canton, Ohio]], U.S.
| alma_mater = 
| player_sport1 = Football
| player_years2 = c. 1929
| player_team2 = [[Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers football|Kentucky Wesleyan]]
| player_years3 = 1930
| player_team3 = [[Ironton Tanks]]
| coach_sport1 = Football
| coach_years2 = 1931–1932
| coach_team2 = [[Pedro High School|Pedro HS (OH)]]
| coach_years3 = 1933–1939
| coach_team3 = [[Ironton High School|Ironton HS (OH)]]
| coach_years4 = 1940–1942
| coach_team4 = [[William & Mary Tribe football|William & Mary]] (assistant)
| coach_years5 = 1946–1947
| coach_team5 = [[William & Mary Tribe football|William & Mary]] (assistant)
| coach_years6 = 1947–1949
| coach_team6 = [[Cleveland Browns]] (ends)
| coach_years7 = 1950–1952
| coach_team7 = [[Santa Clara Broncos football|Santa Clara]]
| coach_years8 = 1953
| coach_team8 = [[Chicago Cardinals]] (assistant)
| coach_sport9 = Basketball
| coach_years10 = 1933–1940
| coach_team10 = [[Ironton High School|Ironton HS (OH)]]
| coach_years11 = 1946–1947
| coach_team11 = [[William & Mary Tribe men's basketball|William & Mary]]
| coach_sport12 = Baseball
| coach_years13 = 1947
| coach_team13 = [[William & Mary Tribe baseball|William & Mary]]
| admin_years1 = 1954–1959
| admin_team1 = [[Cleveland Browns]] (scout)
| admin_years2 = 1967
| admin_team2 = [[San Francisco 49ers]] (scout)
| admin_years3 = 1960–1966
| admin_team3 = [[Buffalo Bills]] ([[General manager (American football)|GM]])
| admin_years4 = 1968–1976
| admin_team4 = [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] (director)
| overall_record = 8–18–2 (college football)<br>14–12 (college basketball)<br>14–12 (college baseball)
| bowl_record = 
| tournament_record = 
| championships = 
| awards = 
| coaching_records = 
}}
'''Richard F. Gallagher''' (October 28, 1909 – March 29, 1995) was a [[baseball]], [[basketball]] and [[American football]] coach and administrator who served as an assistant with the [[Cleveland Browns]] and [[Chicago Cardinals]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL) in the 1940s and 1950s. Gallagher also coached at high schools in his native [[Ohio]] and was the head baseball and basketball coach at the [[College of William & Mary]] in [[Virginia]] from 1946 to 1947. He spent three years as head football coach at [[Santa Clara University]] in [[California]] in the early 1950s, and ended his career by becoming the general manager of the [[Buffalo Bills]] and later the director of the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]].

Gallagher grew up in [[Ironton, Ohio]] and was a star athlete in high school. He attended [[Kentucky Wesleyan College]], where he continued to play sports. After graduation, he played briefly for the semi-professional [[Ironton Tanks]] in 1930 before starting a coaching career. He first coached in [[Pedro, Ohio]] and then at [[Ironton High School]] before getting his first college coaching job in 1940 as an assistant at William & Mary. Gallagher served in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] during [[World War II]], and returned to William & Mary after his discharge in 1945. He was promoted to head coach of the school's baseball and basketball programs the following year, and led the [[William & Mary Tribe men's basketball|William & Mary Tribe men's basketball team]] to a 14–12 [[Winning percentage|win–loss record]] in the 1946–47 season. Gallagher then joined the Browns, where he stayed for three seasons before resigning to take the head coaching job at Santa Clara. He compiled a record of 8–18–2 in three years at Santa Clara.

Gallagher subsequently returned to the Browns as a scout, and remained with the team until 1960, when he became the Bills' general manager. After six years in Buffalo, he resigned to become a scout for the [[San Francisco 49ers]]. He stayed in that job for one season before joining the Hall of Fame as the second director in its history. Gallagher retired in 1976. He died of [[esophageal cancer]] in 1995.

==Early life and college==

Gallagher was born and grew up in [[Ironton, Ohio]], a town on the state's border with [[Kentucky]] along the [[Ohio River]].<ref name="Gallagher hired at Santa Clara">{{cite news|title=Dick Gallagher Santa Clara Football Coach|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19500320&id=igw0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=dHgIAAAAIBAJ&pg=1219,6410637|access-date=October 1, 2012|newspaper=Lodi News-Sentinel|date=March 20, 1950|agency=United Press International|location=Santa Clara, Calif.|page=4}}</ref> He played three sports at his local [[Ironton High School]].<ref name="Gallagher hired at hall of fame">{{cite news|title=Gallagher Brings 'Hall' 40 Years Experience|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=July 31, 1968|page=14}}</ref> After graduating, he attended [[Kentucky Wesleyan College]] and played on the school's football team.<ref name="Gallagher hired at Santa Clara" />

==Coaching career==

Gallagher got his first coaching job at [[Pedro High School]] in [[Pedro, Ohio]] near his hometown of Ironton after playing briefly for the [[Ironton Tanks]], a semi-professional football team, in 1930.<ref name="Gallagher hired at hall of fame" /><ref name="Gallagher joins Browns">{{cite news|title=Browns Sign Gallagher to Coach Ends|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=June 15, 1947|page=20A}}</ref> He spent two years there before becoming the head football and basketball coach at Ironton High School in 1933.<ref name="Gallagher joins Browns" /> While at Ironton, he coached future [[Chicago Bears]] star [[halfback (American football)|halfback]] [[George McAfee]] as the team won the state football championship in 1935.<ref name="Gallagher hired at hall of fame" /><ref name="Gallagher Santa Clara PD" /> Gallagher left Ironton in 1940 to take a job as an assistant coach for the football, basketball and baseball teams at the [[College of William & Mary]] in [[Virginia]].<ref name="Gallagher hired at Santa Clara" /><ref name="Gallagher joins Browns" />

After two years at William & Mary, Gallagher enlisted in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] in 1942 during [[World War II]].<ref name="Gallagher hired at Santa Clara" /> He rose to the rank of [[lieutenant commander]] before his discharge in 1945, when he returned to the college and became head baseball and basketball coach in 1946–47.<ref name="Gallagher hired at Santa Clara" /> His basketball team had a 14–12 win–loss record that year, and his baseball team was 9–9.<ref name="Tribe media guide" /><ref name="W&M baseball records" /> He was hired later in 1947 by [[Paul Brown]], the head coach of the [[Cleveland Browns]] in the [[All-America Football Conference]] (AAFC), as an [[Wide receiver|ends]] coach.<ref name="Gallagher joins Browns" /> Gallagher replaced [[Red Conkright]], who had taken a job as an assistant with the [[Buffalo Bills (AAFC)|Buffalo Bills]].<ref name="Gallagher joins Browns" /> He spent three seasons in Cleveland, tutoring receivers including [[Mac Speedie]] and [[Dante Lavelli]], who was later inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]].<ref name="Gallagher hired at Santa Clara" /><ref name="Gallagher hired at hall of fame" /> He also served as a scout for Cleveland.<ref name="Gallagher Santa Clara PD">{{cite news|last=Sauerbrei|first=Harold|title=Gallagher Is New Grid Coach at Santa Clara|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=March 20, 1950|page=24}}</ref> The Browns won the AAFC championship in each of Gallagher's years with the team.{{sfn|Piascik|2007|pp=81, 121, 146}}

Gallagher took a job in 1950 as head football coach at [[Santa Clara University]] in [[California]].<ref name="Gallagher Santa Clara PD" /> He had previously turned down a head coaching job at the [[University of Pittsburgh]], and took over at Santa Clara for [[Len Casanova]] when Casanova accepted the Pittsburgh position instead.<ref name="Gallagher Santa Clara PD" /> "Naturally I regret leaving the Browns," Gallagher said at the time. "I realize it is because of my association with Paul Brown that I am getting this opportunity. It looks like an interesting year in professional football coming up and I'd like to be part of it. But everyone has ambitions to become a head coach and this looks like a good opportunity."<ref name="Gallagher Santa Clara PD" /> He was given a three-year contract paying a $12,500 salary.<ref name="Gallagher Santa Clara PD" />

At Santa Clara, Gallagher brought in [[Mike Scarry]], a former Browns [[center (American football)|center]] and [[Case Western Reserve University|Western Reserve University]] coach, as an assistant.<ref name="Scarry with Gallagher">{{cite news|title=Brown Title Bid Recalls Champs|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=December 19, 1950|page=30|quote=Center Moe Scarry, who quit to accept the job as head coach at Western Reserve and who is now assisting Dick Gallagher at Santa Clara ...}}</ref> He also hired [[Ed Ulinski]], another former Browns player, as an assistant coach.<ref name="Ulinski promoted as Browns coach">{{cite news|title=Ulinski, Former Line Star, Replaces Ewbank as Browns' Tackle Coach|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=January 16, 1954|page=24|quote=Ulinski quit as a player in 1949 to join another Browns coach – Dick Gallagher – as assistant at Santa Clara, a West Coast school.}}</ref> The [[Santa Clara Broncos football]] team had an 8–18–2 record in three seasons under Gallagher.<ref name="Gallagher coaching stats Santa Clara">{{cite web|title=Richard Gallagher Coaching Record |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/richard-gallagher-1.html |publisher=Sports Reference |access-date=October 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113173723/http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/richard-gallagher-1.html |archive-date=November 13, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Gallagher resigned in late 1952 and was expected to rejoin the Browns to do scouting and personnel work.<ref name="Gallagher resigns at Santa Clara">{{cite news|title=Dick Gallagher Resigns as Santa Clara Coach|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UT4oAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2CMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5135,5526732&dq=dick+gallagher+santa+clara&hl=en|access-date=October 1, 2012|newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal|date=November 25, 1952|agency=Associated Press|location=Santa Clara, Calif.|page=5}}</ref> He was hired on a temporary basis to help Cleveland assistant [[Weeb Ewbank]] prepare for the [[NFL Draft]].<ref name="Cardinals sign Gallagher">{{cite news|title=Cardinals Sign Dick Gallagher As End Mentor|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=February 5, 1953|page=15}}</ref> In February 1953, however, he signed as an end coach for the NFL's [[Chicago Cardinals]] after considering a competing offer to assist [[Pappy Waldorf]] at the [[University of California]].<ref name="Cardinals sign Gallagher" /> Gallagher spent just one season in Chicago, returning to the Browns in 1954 as a part-time scout and personnel expert.<ref name="Gallagher rehired by Browns">{{cite news|last=Heaton|first=Chuck|title=Browns Will Open Grid Camp Today|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=July 25, 1954|page=5C|quote=Coaching changes have Ed Ulinski and Paul Bixler replacing Weeb Ewbank and Blanton Collier with Dick Gallagher also added to the Cleveland staff as a scout and personnel man.}}</ref> He spent the rest of his time working in the sales department of Luria Brothers, a steel dealer.<ref name="Gallagher appointed full-time">{{cite news|last=Heaton|first=Chuck|title=Brown Continues in Dual Role; Gallagher Heads Scouting Staff|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=July 1, 1955|page=29}}</ref> The Browns hired him full-time the following season, promoting him to head the team's scouting department.<ref name="Gallagher appointed full-time" /> The Cleveland won the NFL championship in 1954 and 1955.{{sfn|Piascik|2007|pp=324, 341}}

==Administrative career and hall of fame==

Gallagher remained with the Browns until 1960, when he was appointed the general manager of the [[Buffalo Bills]], a team in the new [[American Football League]].<ref name="Gallagher hired at hall of fame" /><ref name="Gallagher hired by Bills">{{cite news|last=Heaton|first=Chuck|title=Buffalo Is All Excited About Its Bills (Football); Gallagher Off to Fast Start|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=February 7, 1960|location=Buffalo, N.Y.|page=4C}}</ref> He was given a $25,000 salary.<ref name="Gallagher hired by Bills" /> In 1967, Gallagher was expected to rejoin Brown, who had been fired as Cleveland's coach in 1963 and was starting a new team called the [[Cincinnati Bengals]].<ref name="Gallagher to join Brown">{{cite news|last=Heaton|first=Chuck|title=Cincy Gets AFL Team|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=May 25, 1967|page=61}}</ref> He instead took a job as a scout and personnel executive for the [[San Francisco 49ers]] that August.<ref name="Gallagher with 49ers">{{cite news|last=Heaton|first=Chuck|title=Extra Points|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=August 13, 1967|page=6C}}</ref>

Gallagher stayed in San Francisco for less than a year, taking over in 1968 as director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in [[Canton, Ohio]] after the death of its first director, [[Dick McCann Memorial Award|Dick McCann]].<ref name="Gallagher hired at hall of fame" /> He retired in 1976 and said he would spend winters in [[Florida]] and the summers in Canton.<ref name="Gallagher retires">{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Hymie|title=Hy Notes|newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=January 3, 1976|page=4C}}</ref> He died of [[esophageal cancer]] in 1995.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dick Gallagher|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19950330&id=xu40AAAAIBAJ&sjid=YgMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4516,8962493|access-date=October 2, 2012|newspaper=Toledo Blade|agency=Associated Press|location=Canton|page=23}}</ref>

==Head coaching record==
===College football===
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Santa Clara Broncos football|Santa Clara Broncos]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1950
 | endyear   = 1952
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1950 college football season|1950]]
 | name         = [[1950 Santa Clara Broncos football team|Santa Clara]]
 | overall      = 3–7
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1951 college football season|1951]]
 | name         = [[1951 Santa Clara Broncos football team|Santa Clara]]
 | overall      = 3–5–1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1952 college football season|1952]]
 | name         = [[1952 Santa Clara Broncos football team|Santa Clara]]
 | overall      = 2–6–1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Santa Clara
 | overall    = 8–18–2
 | confrecord =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 8–18–2
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

===College basketball===
{{CBB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | conference = | postseason = | poll = }}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[William & Mary Tribe men's basketball|William & Mary Indians]]<ref name="Tribe media guide">{{cite web|title=2011-12 Tribe Men's Basketball Media Supplement| date=17 October 2011 |url=http://www.tribeathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25100&ATCLID=205317893|publisher=College of William & Mary|access-date=October 1, 2012}}</ref>
 | conference = [[Southern Conference]]
 | startyear  = 1946
 | endyear    = 1947
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | season       = 1946–47
 | name         = [[1946–47 William & Mary Indians men's basketball team|William & Mary]]
 | overall      = 14–12
 | conference   = 6–6
 | confstanding = 9th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = William & Mary
 | overall    = 14–12
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 14–12
 | legend   = no
}}

===College baseball===
{{CBB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | conference = | postseason = | poll = }}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[William & Mary Tribe men's basketball|William & Mary Indians]]<ref name="W&M baseball records">{{cite web|title=Tribe Baseball |url=http://www.tribeathletics.com/fls/25100/data_import/files/bsb/history/BSBrecords.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=25100 |publisher=College of William & Mary |access-date=October 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314154423/http://www.tribeathletics.com/fls/25100/data_import/files/bsb/history/BSBrecords.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=25100 |archive-date=March 14, 2012 }}</ref>
 | conference = [[Southern Conference]]
 | startyear  = 1947
 | endyear    = single
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | season       = 1947
 | name         = William & Mary
 | overall      = 9–9
 | conference   = 4–5
 | confstanding =
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = William & Mary
 | overall    = 9–9
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 9–9
 | legend   = no
}}

==References==

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Bibliography===

{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Piascik|first=Andy|year=2007|title=The Best Show in Football: The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns|publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing|location=Lanham, MD|isbn=978-1-58979-571-6}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/richard-gallagher-1.html Richard Gallagher coaching record at Sports-Reference.com]

{{Navboxes| list1 =
{{William & Mary Tribe men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{William & Mary Tribe baseball coach navbox}}
{{Santa Clara Broncos football coach navbox}}
{{Buffalo Bills general manager navbox}}
{{1947 Cleveland Browns}}
{{1948 Cleveland Browns}}
{{1949 Cleveland Browns}}
{{1955 Cleveland Browns}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Richard F.}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:American men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Buffalo Bills executives]]
[[Category:Cleveland Browns coaches]]
[[Category:Cleveland Browns scouts]]
[[Category:Ironton Tanks players]]
[[Category:Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers football players]]
[[Category:San Francisco 49ers scouts]]
[[Category:Santa Clara Broncos football coaches]]
[[Category:William & Mary Tribe baseball coaches]]
[[Category:William & Mary Tribe men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:William & Mary Tribe football coaches]]
[[Category:NFL general managers]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:High school basketball coaches in Ohio]]
[[Category:High school football coaches in Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Ironton, Ohio]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Ohio]]
[[Category:Basketball coaches from Ohio]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]