When T. Fred “Prof” Holloway retired in 1973 after 35 years as a professor of physical education and legendary head coach of the SUNY Cortland soccer team, he had established a legacy of excellence, inspiration and tradition that today, a generation later, remains the standard by which Cortland athletes, past and present, continue to measure themselves and their accomplishments.
T. Frederick Holloway was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1904, the son of a machinist. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1912 settling in Waterbury, Conn., where, as a youngster growing up and attending high school, he developed an interest in and a love for athletes that ultimately would touch the lives of hundreds of college athletes.
During his years at Waterbury’s Crosby High School, "Prof" captained the school’s track and cross country teams and competed in soccer and swimming. After high school, he enrolled in Springfield College and there continued his athletic endeavors playing soccer, running cross country and participating in gymnastics while earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical education. He would later receive a Ph.D. from New York University.
“I didn’t realize until I was almost out of college,” he confided to a newspaper reporter several years after his retirement, “that I was better as an athlete than I thought. We just didn’t have the coaching. I guess that’s why I got so interested in coaching.”
So "Prof" entered coaching in 1929, beginning as a physical education instructor at the University of Pittsburgh and, in 1934, serving a year as assistant head master and director of athletics of the Foxwood School on Long Island.
Then, in 1936, he accepted a position as coach and instructor of physical education at the little known Cortland Normal School (enrollment 850) where he began what was to become an unrivaled tradition of winning in the sport of soccer that continues today, more than 50 years later. His “Red Mules,” a name he coined to distinguish his soccer teams from “Chugger” Davis’s Red Dragon football teams, posted a remarkable record of 191 victories, 94 losses and 23 ties during the tenure of his 35 years as head coach, suffering only two losing seasons under his tutelage. His teams appeared in three NCAA tournaments and captured six SUNYAC championships.
During his era, he was also a stalwart in national soccer coaching circles. As one of the country’s preeminent coaches, “Prof” chaired the founding committee of the National Soccer Coaches Association, an organization over which he later presided; he served as chairman of the New York Region NCAA Soccer Selection Committee; and he designed a statistical system for the selection of All America collegiate soccer players - a prestigious rank to which 20 of his players were named.
As his prominence in the sport of soccer grew and his devotion to the game and hit players was becoming legendary, "Prof" was frequently singled out by his peers for recognition. In 1958, he was selected by the members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America to receive their most coveted laurel, the Annual Honor Award. The citation accompanying the award characterized Cortland’s soccer coach as “author and educator, leader of youth and leader of men, sportsman, athlete, coach, teacher, tireless worker and standard bearer for the sport of soccer.”
And in 1987, SUNY Cortland formally honored its long-time and beloved coach by dedicating its newly renovated soccer field to T. Fred “Prof” Holloway.
UPDATE: Holloway passed away Nov. 11, 1990 at age 86.
