Coach Bob Cummings : the chronicles of a legendary football coach
(Book)

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Circulation copy is bound in a three ring binder.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Nomination packet compiled by Henry L. Bledsoe, Jr. in an effort to nominate Coach Bob Cummings to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. (As of 2010, Cummings has not been inducted.) Materials primarily concern Cummings' career as a high school football coach at Isaac Litton High School in Nashville, Tenn. from 1947 to 1953 and consist mostly of photocopies of both newsclippings and school yearbooks. Detailed win-loss records have also been compiled for each of his seasons at Litton, including scores and opponents. Some reproductions of illustrations and photographs, mostly from newspapers and yearbooks, are also included.

There is only fragmentary information about Cummings' other coaching work elsewhere. Due to the detailed nature of the content, this collection can be used to gain a snapshot of high school football in the late 1940s and early 1950s in Nashville, Tenn. including information on Coach Cummings, individual players for Litton, and their opponents. There are occasional reminiscences and endorsements by former Isaac Litton high school players, recommending that Cummings be inducted into the Hall of Fame and also reflecting on the legacy of Coach Cummings, not only as a football coach, but as a man of integrity who taught the boys under his tutelage to play "until the last whistle" and give it their all - lessons that many boys carried with them into manhood.

Cite as: Coach Bob Cummings: The Chronicles of a Legendary Football Coach by Henry L. Bledsoe; Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

Nashville Public Library does not have intellectual property rights to these materials. This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code).

Henry L. Bledsoe, Jr.;,Gift;,2006,Acc. 2006.045.

Bob Cummings was born on May 30, 1922 in Portland, Tenn. where he grew up and graduated from high school. He then attended Vanderbilt University for a short time, but enlisted in the Marines during World War II and was sent to Georgia Tech for further training. He played football at both schools. During the war, he was sent overseas to the Pacific theatre. After the war, he became assistant coach at Isaac Litton High School in 1946, becoming head coach the following year. He coached there until 1953, and while there, compiled a record of 55 wins, 12 losses and 3 ties. Three of his teams won Nashville Interscholastic League titles. From 1955 until 1966 he coached for short periods of time at Vanderbilt University, Georgia Tech, University of Kentucky, and University of Miami. In 1966, he became head coach at Hendersonville (Tenn.) High School where he remained until 1972, establishing a 45-26-3 record. From 1973 to 1976 he served as head defensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints in the National Football League. In 1980, he coached at Beech High School in Goodlettsville, Tenn. where football was a new program. He retired from coaching in 1984. With his wife, Sarah, he had five children, and at the time of Bledsoe's writing in 2005, was living in Franklin, Tenn.

In English

Rehouse;,2007;,Tracey Howerton.

No further accruals are expected.