View source for Thomas A. Barry

{{Short description|American football player and coach, lawyer, industrial adviser}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Thomas A. Barry
| image = Thomas A Barry.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Barry at Brown University, {{circa|1902}}
| birth_date = {{circa|1879}}
| birth_place = [[Brockton, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date|1947|12|27}} (aged 68)
| death_place = [[Hollywood, Florida]], U.S.
| alma_mater = 
| player_sport1 = Football
| player_years2 = 1899–1902
| player_team2 = [[Brown Bears football|Brown]]
| player_positions = [[Halfback (American football)|Halfback]]
| coach_sport1 = Football
| coach_years2 = 1903
| coach_team2 = [[Bowdoin Polar Bears football|Bowdoin]] (assistant)
| coach_years3 = 1904
| coach_team3 = [[Tulane Green Wave football|Tulane]]
| coach_years4 = 1906–1907
| coach_team4 = [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish|Notre Dame]]
| coach_years5 = 1908–1910
| coach_team5 = [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]]
| coach_years6 = 1911
| coach_team6 = [[Denver Pioneers football|Denver]]
| coach_sport7 = Baseball
| coach_years8 = 1908–1911
| coach_team8 = [[Wisconsin Badgers baseball|Wisconsin]]
| coach_years9 = 1911
| coach_team9 = [[Denver Pioneers football|Denver]]
| overall_record = 31–9–5 (football)
| bowl_record = 
| tournament_record = 
| championships = 
| awards = 
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1902 College Football All-America Team|1902]]) 
| coaching_records = 
}}

'''Thomas Austin Barry''' ({{circa|1879}} – December 27, 1947) was an American [[college football]] coach and player, lawyer, and industrial adviser. He served as the head football coach at [[Tulane University]], the [[University of Notre Dame]], the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin]], and the [[University of Denver]]. Barry attended [[Harvard Law School]] and [[Brown University]], where he played on the football team and was named an [[1902 College Football All-America Team|All-American]] in 1902.

==Early life==
A native of [[Brockton, Massachusetts]],<ref name=obit>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=60ohAAAAIBAJ&sjid=foEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4514,8628563&dq=barry+coach+notre-dame&hl=en VET COACH DIES], ''Schenectady Gazette'', December 27, 1947.</ref> Barry attended [[Brown University]], where he played on the [[Brown Bears football|football team]], and received [[varsity letter]]s in 1899, 1900, and 1902.<ref>''2009 Brown Football Media Guide'', p. 87, Brown University, 2009.</ref> He served as the team captain in 1902, and led Brown to its first win against [[1902 Penn Quakers football team|Pennsylvania]], 15–6, in which he scored all of his team's points. Barry scored on a 50-&nbsp;and 31-yard [[rush (American football)|run]] and a 28-yard [[Field goal (American and Canadian football)|field goal]].<ref>''2009 Brown Football Media Guide'', p. 63, Brown University, 2009.</ref> It was the first time he had ever attempted to kick a field goal.<ref name=alumni/> That season, [[Caspar Whitney]] named him to his [[1902 College Football All-America Team|All-America]] first team and [[Walter Camp]] named him to his second team.<ref name=brown>Gordon M. Morton III, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bHIh6VNh_4kC ''Brown University Athletics from the Bruins to the Bears''], p. 23, Arcadia Publishing, 2003, {{ISBN|0-7385-1252-4}}.</ref><ref>Caspar Whitney, [http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/Outing/Volume_41/outLXI04/outLXI04r.pdf The Sportsman's Viewpoint], ''Outing Magazine'', p. 503, January 1903.</ref> He also played on the [[Brown Bears baseball|baseball team]], and ''[[The Boston Post]]'' later wrote, "he became pioneer in the art of stealing home and not once in his college career did he fail to beat the throw to the plate. He stole home against [[Harvard Crimson baseball|Harvard]], [[Dartmouth Big Green baseball|Dartmouth]], and [[Yale Bulldogs baseball|Yale]]."<ref name=alumni/> Barry graduated from Brown in 1903.<ref name=brown/> He later graduated from [[Harvard Law School]].<ref name=denver>[https://www.nytimes.com/1911/01/25/archives/barry-to-coach-denver-athletes.html Barry to Coach Denver Athletes], ''The New York Times'', January 24, 1911.</ref>

==Coaching career==
After graduation from Brown, Barry coached the football team at [[Bowdoin College]] in 1903.<ref name=alumni/> The following year, he played [[minor league baseball]] for [[Albany, New York|Albany]] in the [[International League|Eastern League]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121107190904/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/403706171.html?dids=403706171:403706171&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+04,+1907&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=OLYMPIC+GAMES+COMMITTEE+TO+RAISE+$50,000+FOR+TRIP.&pqatl=google OLYMPIC GAMES COMMITTEE TO RAISE $50,000 FOR TRIP. Meeting Held at New York and Plans for Contests in London Arranged--Tryout Meets in East and West], ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', Dec 4, 1907.</ref> and coached football at [[Tulane Green Wave football|Tulane]].<ref name=alumni/> During the 1904 season, he led the Olive and Blue to a 5–2 record.<ref>[http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=2652 Thomas Berry & J. Janvier Records by Year] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828205232/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=2652 |date=2011-08-28 }}, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved December 11, 2010.</ref> Barry coached [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]] from 1906 to 1907 and amassed a 12–1–1 record.<ref>[http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=113 Thomas A. Barry Records by Year] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807172717/http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=113 |date=2007-08-07 }}, College Football Data Warehouse, December 10, 2010.</ref> Several years earlier the [[Big Ten Conference|Western Conference]] (now the Big Ten) had denied Notre Dame admission because of its small enrollment. In hopes it would help gain an invitation, Barry ensured Notre Dame followed the Western Conference regulations, but to no avail.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=223ISGqEoIcC ''Rockne of Notre Dame: The Making of a Football Legend''], p. 30, Oxford University Press US, 2002, {{ISBN|0-19-515792-3}}.</ref> In a Notre Dame alumni publication in 1931, an article titled "Coaches Before Rockne" wrote of him:

<blockquote>Barry had a good system of coaching. He believed in leading his men, never in pushing them, and in giving every man a fair trial, playing no favorites&nbsp;... A proof of Barry's football knowledge came forward in 1907. The material was terrible and things looked mighty gloomy. He knew his men, however&nbsp;... the team was tied for championship honors [with [[1907 Indiana Hoosiers football team|Indiana]]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/brownalumnimonth316brow#page/154/mode/2up ''Brown Alumni Monthly, Vol. XXXI], p. 155, Brown University, January 1931.</ref></blockquote>

Barry left Notre Dame to take over as the coach of the [[Wisconsin Badgers football|football]] and [[Wisconsin Badgers baseball|baseball teams]] at [[Wisconsin Badgers|Wisconsin]] from 1908 to 1910. In football, he amassed a 9–4–3 record.<ref>[http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=110 J.A. "Tom" Barry Records by Year] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214010723/http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=110 |date=2010-02-14 }}, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved December 10, 2010.</ref> Notre Dame invited Barry back as its head coach, but he declined to pursue his career in law.<ref name=alumni/> In January 1911, the [[University of Denver]] hired him as its head football and baseball coach,<ref>[https://archive.today/20120712125524/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/698624122.html?dids=698624122:698624122&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jan+25,+1911&author=&pub=Boston+Daily+Globe&desc=BROCKTON+BOY+IN+NEW+BERTH&pqatl=google BROCKTON BOY IN NEW BERTH; University of Denver Gets Barry. All-America Halfback When at Brown in 1903. Has Been Coaching at Wisconsin], ''The Boston Daily Globe'', January 25, 1911.</ref> and Barry coached the football team to a 5–2–1 record in his only season there.<ref>[http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=162 Thomas "Tom" Berry Records by Year] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214024804/http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=162 |date=2010-02-14 }}, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved December 10, 2010.</ref>

==Later life and legacy==
In 1944, Barry retired from practicing law and moved from [[Providence, Rhode Island]], to [[Hollywood, Florida]], where he remained until his death. He died in his home on December 27, 1947, at the age of 68.<ref name=obit/> Barry has been inducted into the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame.<ref>[http://www.brownbears.com/sports/m-footbl/FB_History/Hall_of_Fame Brown Hall of Fame], Brown University, retrieved December 10, 2010.</ref> In February 1947, ''[[The Boston Post]]'' named him to the "All-Time Big Ten" of Brockton athletics, and the article's author wrote "Tom Barry was undoubtedly the most distinguished athlete Brockton has ever produced".<ref name=alumni>[https://archive.org/stream/brownalumnimonth476brow#page/18/ ''Brown Alumni Monthly, Volume XLVII''], p. 18, Brown University, March–April 1947.</ref> Fighting Irish football legend [[Knute Rockne]] called Barry "the man who laid the football foundation at Notre Dame."<ref name=alumni/>

==Head coaching record==
===Football===
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Tulane Green Wave football|Tulane Olive and Blue]]
 | conf      = [[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association]]
 | startyear = 1904
 | endyear   = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1904 college football season|1904]]
 | name         = [[1904 Tulane Olive and Blue football team|Tulane]]
 | overall      = 5–2
 | conference   = 3–2
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Tulane
 | overall    = 5–2
 | confrecord = 3–2
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1906
 | endyear   = 1907
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1906 college football season|1906]]
 | name         = [[1906 Notre Dame football team|Notre Dame]]
 | overall      = 6–1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1907 college football season|1907]]
 | name         = [[1907 Notre Dame football team|Notre Dame]]
 | overall      = 6–0–1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Notre Dame
 | overall    = 12–1–1
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin Badgers]]
 | conf      = [[Big Ten Conference|Western Conference]]
 | startyear = 1908
 | endyear   = 1910
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1908 college football season|1908]]
 | name         = [[1908 Wisconsin Badgers football team|Wisconsin]]
 | overall      = 5–1
 | conference   = 2–1
 | confstanding = 3rd
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1909 college football season|1909]]
 | name         = [[1909 Wisconsin Badgers football team|Wisconsin]]
 | overall      = 3–1–1
 | conference   = 2–1–1
 | confstanding = 4th
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1910 college football season|1910]]
 | name         = [[1910 Wisconsin Badgers football team|Wisconsin]]
 | overall      = 1–2–2
 | conference   = 1–2–1
 | confstanding = T–5th
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Wisconsin
 | overall    = 9–4–3
 | confrecord = 5–4–2
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Denver Pioneers football|Denver Ministers]]
 | conf      = [[Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference|Rocky Mountain Conference]]
 | startyear = 1911
 | endyear   = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1911 college football season|1911]]
 | name         = [[1911 Denver Ministers football team|Denver]]
 | overall      = 5–2–1
 | conference   = 3–1–1
 | confstanding = T–2nd
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Denver
 | overall    = 5–2–1
 | confrecord = 3–1–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 31–9–5
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Navboxes
|list =
{{Tulane Green Wave football coach navbox}}
{{Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coach navbox}}
{{Wisconsin Badgers football coach navbox}}
{{Wisconsin Badgers baseball coach navbox}}
{{Denver Pioneers football coach navbox}}
{{Denver Pioneers baseball coach navbox}}
{{1902 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Thomas A.}}
[[Category:1870s births]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century players of American football]]
[[Category:American football halfbacks]]
[[Category:Bowdoin Polar Bears football coaches]]
[[Category:Brown Bears baseball players]]
[[Category:Brown Bears football players]]
[[Category:Denver Pioneers football coaches]]
[[Category:Denver Pioneers baseball coaches]]
[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches]]
[[Category:Tulane Green Wave football coaches]]
[[Category:Wisconsin Badgers baseball coaches]]
[[Category:Wisconsin Badgers football coaches]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Brockton, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Plymouth County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Broward County, Florida]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Hollywood, Florida]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from Massachusetts]]